South Bend

I agree that it is sad, but my recent experiences(2nd quarter of last
year) say it was time.

I had purchased a magnaturn 612 CNC lathe on the after market and was
trying to get parts for it and manuals etc.

Call after call unanswered, un-returned and only a frustrating voice
mail system. WEB...E-mail ....you have to be kidding. this company was
still in the 1940's I think.

The software that ran this lathe was ca '84 or so. Clunky. you couldnt
run the lathe from the keyboard...you had to initiate the command at the
keyboard then punch start key on machine.....jogging was loads of fun as
you can guess.

proprietary program storage system designed to use 2 disk
drives.....poor error messages, etc.


After long talks with the factory....came out that the source to the
software had been lost when they moved....Had been offering to help them
make it more useable...in return for discounts, trade out on parts or
whatever....

later heard they were in negotiations with a CAD/CAM software company to
re do it

The machine itself(this version(5 phase stepper), not the other
hydraulic version) was very nice hardware and the perfect size for a
home shop...too bad all is now lost.