$15,000 CNC Lathe- For FREE? 

$20 a piece! Just a bit of humor- I'm over the moon!

I appreciate you following along!! Lots to come!

I can't wait to power it up! I was able to backup the parameters prior to removing it from the last shop, so I hope its relatively pain free. The RPC will be an exciting build - I'm nearly done collecting parts for it.

Thank you! Same to you with your Deckel / Maho! I really love Deckels, FPs in particular are the best manual machines I've had the pleasure of using. I couldn't agree more, cleaning is always the best first step in a healthy relationship with an old machine!

I appreciate the suggestion! That would have been a good idea in the motor area, where the grime was especially thick.

Thanks!

Thank you! I know various years of machines have varying issues, but the proof is in the pudding. This lathe has had 25+ years of continuous operation, and both the operator and shop lead told me it consistently held +/-.0005", possibly tighter, but they rarely would do work tighter than that. I spent a lot of time in automation and controls and all of the components are of high quality. Yaskawa servos and drives, for example. Despite the dirt, which anyone would expect from a production machine of this age, the components are in relatively good shape- it wasn't really abused and had regular maintenance by Haas. Once we have power we will do a thorough check of all systems, including attempting to measure any wear.

After a few months of finding spots I missed... I think I've come to accept that I won't be getting them all.... But dang it I will try!

I have spent a decent amount of time around machines that cut nothing but graphite and carbon all day - those are entirely on another level compared to this. I've been lucky enough to avoid anything too nasty thankfully - I've heard some horror stories.