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Dual spindle, Dual Turret live tooling lathes


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I am out of my element when it comes to these machines. There is a chance we might have some work that would suit this type of equipment. We would need a thru bore of about 3.0 inches and would be using mostly live tooling. Who makes the ones we should be looking at?

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5 minutes ago, bigprody said:

I am out of my element when it comes to these machines. There is a chance we might have some work that would suit this type of equipment. We would need a thru bore of about 3.0 inches and would be using mostly live tooling. Who makes the ones we should be looking at?

We have an Okuma LT3000ex. Twin turret/twin spindle. 3" through bore. We have an ABB robot feeding it. It runs on average 65% of the time 24/7. Absolutely awesome thermal comp. We can run for 24 hrs unattended and hold +/-.0005 bores without issue. The only issue we have had so far is we had a part that made 7-10" long tight spiral chips jam up the lower turret cover. I took them apart and pounded them back to working condition but they still leak a little so we ordered a new set ($7000). Other than that the machine has been awesome. Below is an in-cycle summary from our data collection software from 4/1 to today. 

image.thumb.png.ef8496de0e2379e64aac42fc18f48329.png

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27 minutes ago, bigprody said:

Thanks guys, we run mostly alum. and the tolerances are usually not too tight. We are looking at these to get some lights out hrs with a bar feeder. Sounds like both of you are already doing what we would like to do.

We run all aluminum, mostly easy tolerance. Chip management was the biggest hurdle to lights out mfg. We tried at least 10 different insert styles for finishing. In the end it is a very specific combo of insert and coolant pressure/delivery type that works for us. We can take a .005" deep finish cut at 3000 rpm on a 2-6" diameter piece and .002 ipr with the chips breaking into a fines. 

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Doug touched on the real issue with lights out. Chips and I have added my own coolant external pumps just for this purposes on some machines. OEM do a decent job, but once you start running the machines you see your problem areas and by adding your own with copper lines you can really get the flushing your needed. Another thing is rough with milling tools and use serrated edges. Small finish passes is right in line with what I have done also. The direct jet coolant nozzles some tools have really help break up chips and are a good investment.

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Chips should not be an issue, at least initially. As we do it now most of our product starts as saw cut extruded alum blanks. We stack as many into a fixture as we can and then run them on verticals. We would be wanting to bar feed some irregular shapes, do the work on one side, xfer to the other side and finish. Is bar feeding odd shapes rather doable?

I am sure though once we have a lathe on the floor turning work will start showing up.

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21 minutes ago, bigprody said:

Chips should not be an issue, at least initially. As we do it now most of our product starts as saw cut extruded alum blanks. We stack as many into a fixture as we can and then run them on verticals. We would be wanting to bar feed some irregular shapes, do the work on one side, xfer to the other side and finish. Is bar feeding odd shapes rather doable?

I am sure though once we have a lathe on the floor turning work will start showing up.

You can bar feed irregular shapes with a special spindle liner, providing it is a shape that can be chucked on. 

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Thanks Doug, that is our initial thought. You and the rest of the ones that have responded are very helpful here. When any of you respond to a post I make sure I read it hoping to tap off as much of your guys knowledge as possible.

Thanks again everyone and enjoy your weekend fellas.

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