Well I finally dropped the money to get a CNC lathe into the home garage to complement the Fadal 4020. I had look high and low for a used lathe that wasnt beat to shit or priced above what it should have been. Alot of machine dealers believe they have gold when it comes to CNC lathes that are 20 years old.
Really had a few things going against me,
1. Located in ABQ NM which is a barren waste land for machinery,
2. I wanted a small size to fit in the smaller bay of my 3 car garage since Fadal take a good chunk of the larger section
3. The ability to move it around with a pallet jack if needed.
4. No desire to convert a manual lathe to cnc or swap controller to something else.
5. Wanted a Engine CNC lathe to fit the type of non-production work I would do with it.
I was left a few models that would work for my need. Bridgeport EZ-trak lathe, Romi M17 or C420 lathe, Protrak 1630 lathe, Haas Toolroom Lathe Tl-1. Not a large section due to size. I had quotes drawn up for a 2001 Ez Path II SD for 16k and 2012 Prototrak 1630SX for 20k before rigging and shipping to NM. Shipping for either lathes added another $2400 to the cost and still couldnt see the conditon of the lathes without flying out to see them which would have added a 500-700 to the cost by the end. Almost kicked off the prototrak but it didnt appear to have extra M-codes to control secondary equipment such as a collet closer or any stupid thing I came up with. By chance I ran across a add that was post on a machinery forum about a Haas TL-1 located in ABQ but the guy now lived in FL.
His For Sale Add
2020 haas tl1 with less than 100 cutting ours on it.
A2-5 3000 rpm spindle
Tailstock
Riggid tapping
Comes with an array of cxa tool holders turning tools true bore alignment system 6 jaw chuck spindle adapter to use chuck without true bore system high pressure coolant through muzzle system jgs reamer holder. And some assorted measuring tools
Received this machine September of 2020 and ended up having to move and no longer have the space or time. It is currently sitting in storage in Albuquerque NM and I am in fl so I will have to coordinate with the storage for you to see the machine however it is currently wrapped up and ready for shipping so if it gets unwrapped to view I doubt they will re-wrap the machine for you but are able to load onto a trailer. Asking $35,000 for everything. Can't figure out how to attach pictures so message me and we will work out how to send pictures.
Everything screamed scam to me but what do I have to lose in scheduling a time to see the machine since Im in ABQ. The machine was in ABQ but the coolant tank and tooling was in FL so that added to the issues. I was able to call the Haas rep to see if he knew about the machine or the backstory. He did remember selling the machine to the guy and agreed he couldnt have many hours since it was in a home garage compared to a shop. I found some time to see the machine but there was no power to the machine. Still a risk but a much smaller one than a 20 year old lathe I think. We finally came to a agreement about payment for the machine and how much to hold back till the machine accessories arrived in ABQ.
Total Price $30,800
$27K for the main machine
$3,800 for the accessories.
-Coolant tank
-14 CXA tool holders with 3 of them being gang style
-His cutting tools, not much
-6 jaw chuck
- True bore alignment system for doing gun barrels.
I turned down the measurement tools and JGS reamer tool. Tooling I have a bunch of and not sure I care to do barrels.
Now the logistics of payment and retrieving the lathe almost made me say fuck this. His buddy was a pain to schedule time with and I wasnt willing to send payment till I was there it grab it. First schedule time was called off since it was a banking holiday and he didnt trust I would send the money. Not sure why since I have no desire to lose my good paying job that his MIL also works at. I had already transferred $1k as down payment. Next I was suppose to drop off a trailer and his buddy would drive it over sometime in the two days which was so so but I would have to pay him $150 and drop off a rented trailer for him to use. In the end I snuck out of work for 4 hours to retrieve the lathe. I never did pay his buddy $150 since he only dropped the lathe off behind the tilt trailer and didnt help pull it up or push it up with the trailer. Seriously fuck that guy.
Used a Come-A-along to pull the lathe up the trailer. Wore my ass out using a shitty HF come-a-long for 45 mins. I stopped once the deck would rotate to level.
Reversed the operation to pull the lathe off the trailer. Fuck load easier and had my dad help unload. We did have to correct the rotation using a 2x4 while unloading.
Sunk a anchor into the garage floor to get the lathe fully off. Epoxy floor held up really well dragging the lathe across it.
300 Hours of power up which is total tiime powered on versus cutting time.. Which is a joke. Most shops would have that in 2-3 weeks versus a year.
Really had a few things going against me,
1. Located in ABQ NM which is a barren waste land for machinery,
2. I wanted a small size to fit in the smaller bay of my 3 car garage since Fadal take a good chunk of the larger section
3. The ability to move it around with a pallet jack if needed.
4. No desire to convert a manual lathe to cnc or swap controller to something else.
5. Wanted a Engine CNC lathe to fit the type of non-production work I would do with it.
I was left a few models that would work for my need. Bridgeport EZ-trak lathe, Romi M17 or C420 lathe, Protrak 1630 lathe, Haas Toolroom Lathe Tl-1. Not a large section due to size. I had quotes drawn up for a 2001 Ez Path II SD for 16k and 2012 Prototrak 1630SX for 20k before rigging and shipping to NM. Shipping for either lathes added another $2400 to the cost and still couldnt see the conditon of the lathes without flying out to see them which would have added a 500-700 to the cost by the end. Almost kicked off the prototrak but it didnt appear to have extra M-codes to control secondary equipment such as a collet closer or any stupid thing I came up with. By chance I ran across a add that was post on a machinery forum about a Haas TL-1 located in ABQ but the guy now lived in FL.
His For Sale Add
2020 haas tl1 with less than 100 cutting ours on it.
A2-5 3000 rpm spindle
Tailstock
Riggid tapping
Comes with an array of cxa tool holders turning tools true bore alignment system 6 jaw chuck spindle adapter to use chuck without true bore system high pressure coolant through muzzle system jgs reamer holder. And some assorted measuring tools
Received this machine September of 2020 and ended up having to move and no longer have the space or time. It is currently sitting in storage in Albuquerque NM and I am in fl so I will have to coordinate with the storage for you to see the machine however it is currently wrapped up and ready for shipping so if it gets unwrapped to view I doubt they will re-wrap the machine for you but are able to load onto a trailer. Asking $35,000 for everything. Can't figure out how to attach pictures so message me and we will work out how to send pictures.
Everything screamed scam to me but what do I have to lose in scheduling a time to see the machine since Im in ABQ. The machine was in ABQ but the coolant tank and tooling was in FL so that added to the issues. I was able to call the Haas rep to see if he knew about the machine or the backstory. He did remember selling the machine to the guy and agreed he couldnt have many hours since it was in a home garage compared to a shop. I found some time to see the machine but there was no power to the machine. Still a risk but a much smaller one than a 20 year old lathe I think. We finally came to a agreement about payment for the machine and how much to hold back till the machine accessories arrived in ABQ.
Total Price $30,800
$27K for the main machine
$3,800 for the accessories.
-Coolant tank
-14 CXA tool holders with 3 of them being gang style
-His cutting tools, not much
-6 jaw chuck
- True bore alignment system for doing gun barrels.
I turned down the measurement tools and JGS reamer tool. Tooling I have a bunch of and not sure I care to do barrels.
Now the logistics of payment and retrieving the lathe almost made me say fuck this. His buddy was a pain to schedule time with and I wasnt willing to send payment till I was there it grab it. First schedule time was called off since it was a banking holiday and he didnt trust I would send the money. Not sure why since I have no desire to lose my good paying job that his MIL also works at. I had already transferred $1k as down payment. Next I was suppose to drop off a trailer and his buddy would drive it over sometime in the two days which was so so but I would have to pay him $150 and drop off a rented trailer for him to use. In the end I snuck out of work for 4 hours to retrieve the lathe. I never did pay his buddy $150 since he only dropped the lathe off behind the tilt trailer and didnt help pull it up or push it up with the trailer. Seriously fuck that guy.
Used a Come-A-along to pull the lathe up the trailer. Wore my ass out using a shitty HF come-a-long for 45 mins. I stopped once the deck would rotate to level.
Reversed the operation to pull the lathe off the trailer. Fuck load easier and had my dad help unload. We did have to correct the rotation using a 2x4 while unloading.
Sunk a anchor into the garage floor to get the lathe fully off. Epoxy floor held up really well dragging the lathe across it.
300 Hours of power up which is total tiime powered on versus cutting time.. Which is a joke. Most shops would have that in 2-3 weeks versus a year.
. Seems in the past companies used to offer a gang tooling setup for the TL-1 but seems to have fallen out of favor due to haas offering a tool changer from the factory I think.
