Buying old VMC's (was: Mazak V10N VMC)

There is loads off this kind of machines on ebay. To my big disappointment I have found really good VMC's costing even less than I have used on my knee-mill and retrofit! Machines in the age you are talking about is in the range $1500 to $5000. Take a look here: http://listings.ebay.com/aw/listings/list/category25276/index.html?from=R9 . There are new ones listed almost every day!



I would REALLY like one myself, but there are a few problems for me. First of all I live in Norway, and shipping them here is not that easy (or cheap!!). This also means I take a greater risk, because returning it (some firms offer to take them back if you are not happy with them) would mean I have used loads of money on nothing but shipping LOADS of iron back and forth from USA.

Other factors are they normally need WAY much more power than my electrical system is made for. And they are normally HUGE (at least for a hobby machine!). I have no room for one now, and that is the main reason for me not getting one now.



And thanks for bringing up the subject, I really wanted to know this myself!



Is there someone out there with experience in this kind of machines willing to offer some advice on what to look for, what to avoid and so on. I already knew to avoid hydraulic machines, but other advices are most welcome! I'm sure there is quite a few out there with loads of experience in this area!



Anders

-----Opprinnelig melding-----
Fra: Jon Elson [mailto:elson@...]
Sendt: ty 11.11.2003 07:16
Til: CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com
Kopi:
Emne: Re: [CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO] Mazak V10N VMC





fuddham wrote:

>I have found a Mazak V10N Machine. The machine is a 1983 model and
>have a mazatrol controller on it. I am thinking about getting the
>machine for my home shop, but do not know much about the machine. I
>do not know if the controller is operational now or not. It was
>fully functional when taken out of service. What would be a good
>range of prices for this machine? Would this machine be hard to
>retrofit? If anyone knows details of this model you can contact me
>offlist at fuddham@.... I am in need of a larger machine with a
>tool changer and this look like it would fit the bill.
>
>

Well, from the date, it is probably a DC brush motor servo. (If it is
hydraulically powered, RUN, fast, from this deal!) But, it likely
has resolvers, not optical encoders, which are hard to use with
PC CNC controls. Expensive converters are available, but it is
usually cheaper to remove the resolvers and install encoders.

Even if the control does still work when you get it, controls of this
vintage should be considered fragile, and you should expect that it
may develop a serious problem that will be very expensive to fix.

Jon





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