G80 in an OSP, by default, does a bunch of things that you don't want, at least in the older models. We worked around this by changing our post to output G00 Z(ret_ht) instead of G80. As far as your other issue, no idea. C

Sorry, James, too busy to drag that old horse out again just now. Don't understand you; the machine goes where you tell it to, doesn't it? OP I think Kitamura makes a decent machine, better than decent actually, but if you buy an Okuma, please don't put a Fanuc on it. Fanuc guy has been here all day, again, and machine still throws alarms every [30] minutes...

How about the fact that OSP controls and electronics are supported by the same company as the iron? One of our Fanuc controlled machines has been down for a MONTH (hopefully we'll get her running today, so far so good) while Fanuc and the machine manufacturer have pointed the finger at each other about this and that and the other thing. There is a Fanuc office a half hour from here; can I call them? NO. I have to call ph****** 888 FANUC US every hour and talk to some guy who doesn't know me from a hole in the ground and doesn't care a whole lot about my predicament. The Okuma guys know they'll not sell you another machine if they bone you on service and support, the Fanuc guys don't care. The OSP is a more intuitive control than the Fanuc from a programming and operation perspective. We've had one OSP board failure in hundreds of thousands of hours of run time; Fanuc is pretty good, dut OSP uptime has been better fior us. I think buying an Okuma with a Fanuc on it is like buying a 6-cylinder Camaro...

That is a pretty solid control, though not my favorite, and we've not experienced any problems with ours. With that control, the machine must be [10]-[12] years old or so? If you've not experienced this issue before I'd suggest looking hard at anything different in your shop recently

Ground issues typically show up in serial communication more than things like what you're describing, but you never know. I have seen things like what you described with Fanucs when the control enclosure (the main electrical cabinet, usually) got really hot. I also caused something similar by turning the pulse handle on one of our Okumas during auto mode a few years ago, but I cannot remember exactly how.

Nice! I am going to remember that one, Wally C

I'm with Heavy Chevy on that; for instances where that won't do, we have a handful of stepped split bushings that we made out of aluminum which have a big enough range of diameters that we can typically find something that'll fit the jaws on the machine. C

Hanita and Garr both make some nice variable pitch stuff that you can really bury in the stock; I think SGS is on board now as well. The Garr is, I believe, the least expensive, but I have no experience with them; the Hanita have been pretty impressive when I have used them. C

Drill, countersink, tap; run a 65% tap drill and you should have minimal problems. As you said, always csink heavy with a form tap to prevent bulging. C

Micro 100, Horn, Scientific Cutting Tools, Harvey, Circle (who I cannot stand, but they might have something for you)

No, just parts with no threads in them from time to time, but considering how many holes that little dude tapped I don't think we had many problems. I think that you could easily run 30SFM with Hy-Pros in aluminum, but you have to watch the RPM and feedrates so you stay in the machine's happy place. Good luck

Interesting quote from someone who asks for help, gets two quick answers, and never returns

You have a point; my guys run [2] or [3] machines at a time, so not an option (or desireable for us). What was that little guys name at the K who did the tapping, Brian; Hung, or something like that? Dude was a tapping fool.

Like the man said, keep the SFM down because high rpm leads to synchronization issues. We run a 7/64 drill for M3 roll tapping in 6061 and 7075 aluminum all day long with no problems; pushing the high limit on minor diameter, but in is in. 15 SFM with sh!tty coolant all day long with OSG Hy-Pro TiN 1.5P taps. If you want to spend a few bucks, call the Tapmatic guy and have him talk to you about Synchroflex. Tapping arms on the bench are a work-around, not a solution. C

I believe that The Robert E. Morris Company has the NYC territory for Okuma, Hardinge, etcetera, and that Maruka is the Mori store down there. We have millions of dollars of Okuma machines and would kiss Robert E. Morris if he was alive, and I have dealt with Maruka a little with goood success. C

I've used some of their carbide bars when I don't feel like spending the fortune that Sandvik wants; I think I will switch to their stick tools exclusively soon, but I'm still looking for good Capto makers...

That's what we're here for! We've had [2] TRAK 1840 lathes since 2001, one of which we sold to make room for the 2460, and they have been good to us. Our preventive maintenance in non-existent in that area, and we've had some guys working over there that were pretty rough on the equipment, but the machines stood the test of time well. If you are still in the search mode, you might want to look at Romi machines as well; if we didn't already have a handful of SWI machines in the work area, I would've looked hard at Romi because they seem like a nice machine and have a powerful CNC on them. C

Depends on what shape the bore is; if it is a figure eight, then roughing first will help, if it is a triangle, then roughing isn't going to do much for you. That being said, roughing first is often a smart play; you may also consider stress relieving the blanks of you have in-house heat treating capability.

We do it all day long I would suggest a collet (like a Dunham arbor, or an expanding 5C soft collet) in the ID to finish

We just bought a TRAK 2460SLX and it seems like it should be a decent machine, I wasn't wild about the Haas and we already had some SWI machines so that tipped the scale in their favor. I don't think the Haas is a bad choice, though, particularly if your guys already have experience with them. And this is bad why? There are companies building machines in both of these countries that are very good

OK, so I got my Seco boring bars (which, not surprisingly, look just like Sandvik boring bars with different laser marking and a white coupling protector) and they look nice; saved $150 on the three tools over Sandvik, but I am going to keep searching for better deals. C

That is essentially a trunnion with one unsupported end, is it not? Not the beefiest looking rig I have ever seen. C

I have travelled back from the future with this video: Haas UMC-750 C

Sorry; I didn't read your OP closely enough. Good luck!