Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Re: Kearney and Trecker

Hello Dough and Jon,
It depends on what type of work you are aiming.
Possibly it will be a good investment if you have to do dozens of
mold plates per day that you later put on a Blanchard grinder.
If there are only few large parts with little metal removal and a lot of tool changing then
the retrofit will never pay off.
Like in my case for a Grafenstaden mill. Only Siemens control, software motors, drivers and encoders are 32K$. Still no screws and
nothing else.
With that little work ..... no hope ...... no retrofit... . period.
So if you have a lot of that big kind of work, then get a VERY close look at the machine and
then evaluate.
But keep in mind that with the same money you are able to get a whole shop
equipped of small size precision machines. That pay of much faster.
Good Luck
Sven Peter.

PS. If I would be able to start again like 11 years ago. I would go with small tooling parts
and not big monsters.

dougrasmussen@... wrote:

> Hi Jon,
>
> Not sure I agree with all you've said. $30,000 might not handle the
> retrofit if you go high end. I followed the partial retro of a K&T
> once. They put the then current state of the art AB control on it.
> As I recall, just for the operator panel they were over $4K (I did
> some of the machining on the front panel). That was a few years
> back, but $30K just scratched the surface of that retrofit.
>
> Besides the control, you have all the issues involving the ways, ball
> screws, spindle, etc. Then you have the old tool changers that
> aren't ever able to do the 5 second chip to chip changes of the new
> machines. Upgrading all of that means big, big bucks.
>
> I have alot of respect for good old iron, but I have a feeling some
> of the new crop of high horsepower, high speed, 20,000 rpm 50 taper
> horizontals will eat these old ones for breakfast.
>
> Doug
>
> --- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@y..., Jon Elson <jmelson@a...> wrote:
> >
> >
> > Yup, that may be true. But, the same people who buy the old iron
> for
> > $25 pay $10000 to have it hauled to their facility, put a new $30000
> > control and drives on it, and then sell it for $250,000 to $500,000!
> > Because, there is just nothing made today that can handle the work
> > envelope and material removal rate under a million Dollars.
> >
> > Jon
>
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