Hi guys,
Well, I bought an FP1 about 6 weeks ago when I was not ready for it, my workshop is still a shambles but taking shape slowly. I now have 3phase power to the Deckel. I was actually hoping to get a nice lathe first then a milling machine but the FP1 was so nice I felt I couldn't pass.
I missed out on a PBR Didactic 500mm BC that the seller of the Deckel saw and said was in really good nick. Very few good lathes have come up for sale here in South Africa in the past year. There is a long bed Hembrug A1 going in Durban that I haven't seen except in fotos, complete with 3 and 4 jaw chucks, a quick change toolpost, both steadies, most of a taper turning attachment, and a dividing head on the headstock (?) Original motor replaced with a 3phase and VFD included. I feel I want a lathe with the capabilities of swinging a big faceplate, so I think I will pass on that one.
Our internet was down for about a week (joys of living in the sticks) and this morning when it came on again I see this Mazak offered only 300km away. The ad has been running a few days and the seller says I'm the only caller so far. He has single phase power and has been running it with a VFD and says he can't get full power to the motor and some contactors are faulty, which doesn't seem too much of a problem to sort out.
Getting the Deckel into where I want it proved more difficult than I thought it would be and I feel reluctant to do the same with a lathe ... but old iron disease being what it is ... The Hembrug weighs in at about 750kg and the seller reckons the Mazak to be about 900kg but it looks to be a lot heavier from the pix.
Any opinions about either of these machines? Oh and the guy with the Mazak is willing to cut me a deal on a Spartan 600 (?) shaper if I take both. I want a shaper with downfeed this one looks to be manual only downfeed.
Thanks,
Ant
Well, I bought an FP1 about 6 weeks ago when I was not ready for it, my workshop is still a shambles but taking shape slowly. I now have 3phase power to the Deckel. I was actually hoping to get a nice lathe first then a milling machine but the FP1 was so nice I felt I couldn't pass.
I missed out on a PBR Didactic 500mm BC that the seller of the Deckel saw and said was in really good nick. Very few good lathes have come up for sale here in South Africa in the past year. There is a long bed Hembrug A1 going in Durban that I haven't seen except in fotos, complete with 3 and 4 jaw chucks, a quick change toolpost, both steadies, most of a taper turning attachment, and a dividing head on the headstock (?) Original motor replaced with a 3phase and VFD included. I feel I want a lathe with the capabilities of swinging a big faceplate, so I think I will pass on that one.
Our internet was down for about a week (joys of living in the sticks) and this morning when it came on again I see this Mazak offered only 300km away. The ad has been running a few days and the seller says I'm the only caller so far. He has single phase power and has been running it with a VFD and says he can't get full power to the motor and some contactors are faulty, which doesn't seem too much of a problem to sort out.
Getting the Deckel into where I want it proved more difficult than I thought it would be and I feel reluctant to do the same with a lathe ... but old iron disease being what it is ... The Hembrug weighs in at about 750kg and the seller reckons the Mazak to be about 900kg but it looks to be a lot heavier from the pix.
Any opinions about either of these machines? Oh and the guy with the Mazak is willing to cut me a deal on a Spartan 600 (?) shaper if I take both. I want a shaper with downfeed this one looks to be manual only downfeed.
Thanks,
Ant