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

Anders:
I would not worry too much about shipping costs. Moving machinery
is always expensive and remember, most of the shipping will be over
water, cheaper, and not over land. The US dollar is at a low right
now, so maybe the currency advantage that Europeans have can make
up for most of the cost of shipping.
You have to worry about support for such a machine. Buy a machine
from a firm that sells new machines in your area.
The age of the VMC's that you are talking about is such that the
company no longer makes spare parts. You will probably have to buy
a new spindle for the machine at the very least. Also, have a
dealer check out the machine that you bought.
What you could do is have an agent in this country buy the
machine or inspect it and have it taken in for inspection by the
company that made it. If the company gives it a thumbs down, then
you have not spent much on shipping. Someone here has to inspect it
or you have to get it from a reliable seller on eBay.
I'm not sure how many people are in Norway or how dense the
population is in your area. I would look at getting something from
Poland, Germany, Switzerland or Austria. But, if you don't speak
Polish or German, maybe this is not much help.
I have purchase machinery from England and had good luck doing
that. Shipping did not seem to be outrageous. Maybe
this is the way to go given that England is just across the Baltic.
There are some tools that I can only seem to get from Europe, so
I just have to take a chance that the vendor is honest and fairly
represents what he sells. You could easily go to England to inspect
the machine, too.
If the amount of money you are spending is large enough, you can
just take a trip to whoever is selling it and get a first-hand
look. It's not like driving to LA from San Diego, but it will save
you some money in the long run.
Hope this helps. -Jim


--- In CAD_CAM_EDM_DRO@yahoogroups.com, "Anders Blix"
<anders.blix@t...> wrote:

> 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@p...]
> 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@a... 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
>
>
>
>
>
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]