I do not know when Lansing went to Korea. On about , I was shopping for a really big engine lathe. We needed a lathe which would swing work 60" in diameter over the cross slide x about 15 ft long. I did NOT want to buy a new import, so was shopping for a used American made engine lathe. One shopping trip took me to S & S Machinery down in Brooklyn, NY. S & S had a great number of Lansing lathes as new inventory on the floor. They told me they were teh US distributor for Lansing and explained the Lansing lathes were made in Korea. S & S had had machine tools made under their labels in Italy & Spain prior to this- stuff like boring mills, radial drills, engine lathes and precision grinders. They explained that they had various firms overseas they dealt with to build machine tools to their order and put their own brand-name on. Lansing was one such example. They had a wide selection of Lansing lathes and tried to convinceme to consider having them quote a custom built Lansing lathe for our job. I took alook at the new Lansings and said "no way". Not enough iron or bed width, and seemed too light when compared with a heavy duty LeBlond or big American. We never did buy a lathe from S & S, and it was my only real exposure to lansing lathes. For whatever reason, there were a number of the new Lansings on the floor with 8" holes in the spindles & double chucks. Who or what these were for is soemthing I never found out. No way that they looked heavy enough for that 8" spindle bore, and certainlynowheres near an Oil Country lathe. We did not need a big hole thru the spindle for the jobs we would be doing, so it was a moot point. I held out for a used US built lathe. We got a very heavy duty wide-bed LeBlond from Bob Yancey, and it has been a great machine ever since. Subsequently, we replaced our Nordic 25" lathe with a LeBlond NK heavy duty engine lathe, also supplied by Yancey Machine Tool. This NK series LeBlond lives up to Jim K's description of heavy duty LeBlond lathes.
You will get efficient and thoughtful service from BH.
Orders are on the rise at many machine shops serving oilfield and gas producers, but there's no telling how long the good times will last in the unpredictable energy industry. Shop owners must balance the benefits of expanding against the high cost of acquiring a machine like an oilfield lathe. Shops that buy used CNC machines may be better equipped to handle the ups and downs of this cyclical market.
Right now most of the United States is turning up the thermostat and bracing for another frigid winter. On a raw day, the arrival of the monthly heating bill seems to add insult to injury. Thankfully we have a little relief this year - the gas we put in our vehicles is the cheapest it&#;s been in&#;well, forever.
The bill at the pump and the heating bill illustrate the volatile nature of pricing and demand in the US Energy market. Shifts in the energy industry have a big impact on machine shops that supply parts to oil and gas producers. When business is good, oil and gas companies place orders for big, expensive components. When business slows, shop owners still have to make payments on the big, expensive oilfield lathes required to turn said components. Big bore oil country lathes are known for outstanding precision and dependability in addition to their size, which makes them suitable for many large diameter turning & threading applications. These capabilities come with a premium price tag, however.
Some shops expand by adding used CNC machines or retrofitting existing machines. And with analysts predicting increased demand for drilling equipment over the next five years, it&#;s a great time to add capacity if your shop serves the oilfield industry.
Learn more: 10 Must-Ask Questions When Buying Used Machinery
By buying used machinery that was manufactured recently, shop owners get updated features and user-friendly CNC controls at significant savings over new equipment. It can be challenging to find a recent model large capacity oilfield lathe, also called oil country lathes, however, machines do occasionally come on the market. MMI Auction has several of these models available currently. The Hwacheon Mega 100 x from pictured at the top of this article is equipped with Siemens 810D controls and a whopping 118 inches between centers. This behemoth is actually the smaller of two similar models currently available through Machinery Marketing International. A higher grade oilfield lathe model is also available: the Hwacheon Mega 100 x from has 236 inches between centers, in addition to a 32 inch chuck and 10.5 inch bore.
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If you want to learn more, please visit our website Oilfield Lathe For Sale.
CNC retrofits provide another option for cost-conscious shops. If a machine functions well but is outdated, a retrofit can upgrade the CNC, axis drives, and axis servomotors. Read more about the benefits and process of retrofitting machines that produce oilfield parts here. Alternately, a shop can purchase an older model machine that&#;s already been retrofitted with modern controls. This Warner Swasey SC36 Big Bore Lathe (pictured left) was retrofitted in with Fagor controls and all new electrical components. It has a 13 inch bore, 36 inch chuck, and a new 75 HP GE spindle motor. The axis and spindle drives were also replaced in , along with the servomotors, coolant motors and more.
Some shops would rather purchase an older machine and do the retrofit on site. This allows the shop to add specific capabilities, controls, and upgrades to meet the machine shop's needs. This Mori Seiki SL-80B from (below right) is fully functional as it is, but it would also be an appropriate purchase for a shop looking for a workhorse that they can upgrade later. It comes with a Fanuc 15T control, chip conveyor, complete coolant system, splash guard, tool holders, hand tools, and a 32 inch 3-Jaw Chuck.
The machines mentioned in this blog are just a few of the large-capacity lathes and big bore lathes available for sale from Machinery Marketing International as of December . MMI also provides full logistical support to help you move these large machines into your shop.
For more dilling equipment bucking machineinformation, please contact us. We will provide professional answers.
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