Any leads on a large vertical turning lathe? 14' table with a 18' swing.

[speedracing944]

I am in search of a large vertical turning lathe with at least a 14' table and 18' swing. Does anybody have a lead?




Speedy

[oldE]

Dominion Bridge in Lachine Quebec had one they used to turn a 22' diameter stainless steel turbine in 1983. I don't believe they are still in business.

"In 1998, Groupe ADF Inc, a steel company from Terrebonne, Quebec, purchased the assets (of Dominion Bridge). In November 2003, ADF closed the Lachine plant due to declining fortunes in the North American steel industry, which had been losing ground to cheaper Asian competitors for many years. To date, the Lachine plant remains closed and ADF is looking for a buyer."

Good luck.

Les

[will944]

I've only seen a handful of lathes that large. Pretty impressive.

The only company I know out your way that sells a lot of large machines in Bourn & Koch in Rockford IL. This may even be out of their league....but someone may be able to point you in the right direction.

Who do you work for? What parts are you manufacturing?

[deanp]

Did a quick google search and found this thread - maybe start with Remmeles and Production Tool as listed here.

Who has large VTL's - Practical Machinist - Largest Manufacturing Technology Forum on the Web

Searched "Who has large VTLs in US?"

Looks like Production Tool in Chicago is now under Monarch Companies:
http://www.monarchcorp.com/capabilities.html#heavy_fabrication

Remmeles is in MN:
http://www.remmele.com/AD/cap_index.html

[sammyg2]

I work with a couple shops who have VTLs that big or bigger, but AFAIK the VTLs are not for sale.

I'll keep my ears open.

[Jim Bremner]

There's a company in Irwindale CA that flips used machinery. I can't think of the name but they run on ebay all of the time. You might want to search for them, they buy nationwide and might know of a good used one.

[David]

Are you looking to buy or use? We have a 17' swing on our largest.

[David]

Oops, forgot a pic

[porsche4life]

^^^^ What does a lathe like that cost?

[David]

It was put in before I got here so I don't know. I understand it cost more to install than it did to buy.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by porsche4life

^^^^ What does a lathe like that cost?

Depends on condition and location, but new you'd be looking at around a $ mil installed, maybe more.
But, hard to find new stuff that's as good as restored old stuff. They don't make em like that anymore really applies to mills and lathes.
Back when iron was cheap.

BTW back to the OP:
There's a very large machine shop near Los Angeles that has a VTL you could drive a full service truck onto and turn.
Quite a bit bigger than what you describe you're looking for.

Anywho, the company has changed hands recently and I don't think their big VTL has turned a rev in a long time, probably not enough to pay for its keep.

It'd be worth a try, maybe they're in a situation where rasing capital is a priority, maybe not. Doesn't hurt to ask.
I'll PM the contact info just in case you're interested.

[sammyg2]

Oh, just thought of another one.

There was a company right around the corner from us when I worked in Santa fe Springs that buys very large old machinery, refurbishes it, brings it up to modern technology and sells and installs it.
It's called new Century machine tools, I hired a couple of machinists away from them years ago.

They might be able to find you what you're looking for.
The largest VTL they show on their web page is 12' but I bet they get find bigger ones.

New Century Machine Tools, Inc.

BTW color me jealous. I'm in the process of buying a used VTL for my shop but it's only got a 48" table.
That's all there is in the budget right now.
But .................. my 100" Cincinnati OD grinder is just about up and running after complete $54k overhaul/refurbishment.

One thing at a time.

[speedracing944]

Originally Posted by David

Are you looking to buy or use? We have a 17' swing on our largest.

We are looking to buy a used VTL but there is also opportunity for gain extra capacity through outsourcing. Do you have excess capacity on your 17'?

Speedy

[legion]

Is this for the 944S project?

[MBAtarga]

Originally Posted by legion

Is this for the 944S project?

Not a 944 project - one for the 911!
Rumor is, he's working on a redesigned cool collar!

[LWJ]

Let me know if you run into a dead end. I have a buddy whose family is in the machine tool biz in Michigan.

Larry

[David]

Originally Posted by speedracing944

We are looking to buy a used VTL but there is also opportunity for gain extra capacity through outsourcing. Do you have excess capacity on your 17'?

Speedy

It really depends on the time of year, now being our busy season and summer being the slow season. What we're really short on is machinists. Anyone know a good one in Houston or willing to move to Houston. At least 10 years experience machining large rotating equipment is required, i.e. electric utility sized turbines and pumps.