Anybody Ever Run an Oerlikon Engine Lathe?

GregSY · Mar 28, 2023

So you DO reverse the spindle if you want to spindle to run in reverse.

What the seller is talking about is unrelated to the spindle...he's talking about the stuff that runs off the leadscrew and how the carriage feed direction is changed.

The seller is obviously proud of that lathe....no one on Earth would pay $45K for a lathe of that size and shape unless it were the last one on Earth. You can buy a hundred lathes in better shape for less. I like the lathe, but...

Let's not forget, too, that parts would be all but unavailable and anything that broke would need to be made by you using you other lathe....

Peter S · Mar 28, 2023

boslab said:
The lathes are good, a fair bit like a Mauser ( also into weapons)
Mark

Mark,
You might be thinking of Meuser? Not related to the armament company as far as I know.

I have used a couple of smaller Meuser lathes and they were nothing special, in fact I didn't like them at all.

Garwood · Mar 28, 2023

GregSY said:
So you DO reverse the spindle if you want to spindle to run in reverse.

What the seller is talking about is unrelated to the spindle...he's talking about the stuff that runs off the leadscrew and how the carriage feed direction is changed.

The seller is obviously proud of that lathe....no one on Earth would pay $45K for a lathe of that size and shape unless it were the last one on Earth. You can buy a hundred lathes in better shape for less. I like the lathe, but...

Let's not forget, too, that parts would be all but unavailable and anything that broke would need to be made by you using you other lathe....

You can buy a used top shelf CNC lathe of the same capacity, but magnitudes more capable, useful, accurate, etc.

I feel we have come to a time in history where the folks with the majority of the machine tool spending power also speak G-code as a primary language.

If you have room for a lathe like that you also have room for a nice Mori-Seiki TL40 or Mazak M4.

boslab · Mar 28, 2023

Dad may well have been wrong on origin, he seemed to think Sweden or Norway ish, he was in the British army up the scapa flow where the British fleet parked ships ,
Though everyone in my family served in the army or navy, his dad was Royal Marines, misspelled Mauser sorry, the lathe people made stuff for big guns I was told, however hearsay’s not admissible so I stand corrected, thank you, ( the meuser or whatever in work was quite good, hell of a range on the gearbox!)
Heavy was craven or Nile’s, 1” cuts were easy but the floor shook a bit ( vibration through your feet, you knew it was working!)

guythatbrews · Mar 28, 2023

boslab said:
Dad may well have been wrong on origin, he seemed to think Sweden or Norway ish, he was in the British army up the scapa flow where the British fleet parked ships ,
Though everyone in my family served in the army or navy, his dad was Royal Marines, misspelled Mauser sorry, the lathe people made stuff for big guns I was told, however hearsay’s not admissible so I stand corrected, thank you, ( the meuser or whatever in work was quite good, hell of a range on the gearbox!)
Heavy was craven or Nile’s, 1” cuts were easy but the floor shook a bit ( vibration through your feet, you knew it was working!)

From the little bit of reading I've done upon seeing this lathe.

The Oerlikon guns were made in north central Sweden in the Oerlikon quarter of Zurich.

Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon was started there in 1876 and they made all sorts of stuff. Guns, locomotives, and maybe this lathe, too.

Plans for the oerlikon 20mm were smuggled into England during WW2 so the guns could be made there. The gun your dad fired may have been made somewherw in England. Hats off to him by the way.

Peter S · Mar 28, 2023

guythatbrews said:
The Oerlikon guns were made in north central ~~Sweden~~ Switzerland in the Oerlikon quarter of Zurich.

The 20mm Oerlikon were made in Switzerland, but also in other countries.

The Bofors were a Swedish gun but made in other countries.

It is not unusual to see WW2 Oerlikon and Bofors outside RSA buildings (The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association) here in NZ. Quite a few larger enemy guns also, brought back to NZ after WW1.

Oerlikon featured in the news in recent years, I seem to recall on bribery charges re. weapons sales.

guythatbrews · Mar 28, 2023

Peter S said:
Likewise, the Bofors were a Swedish gun but made in other countries.

It is not unusual to see Oerlikon and Bofors outside RSA buildings (The Royal New Zealand Returned and Services Association) here in NZ. Quite a few larger enemy guns also, brought back to NZ after WW1.

Doh! Switzerland!

guythatbrews · May 11, 2023

Hey it's sale day. I watched this ebay lathe and got an offer for $10,000 off. So now this beast can be yours for the low, low price of 35K!

Garwood · May 11, 2023

guythatbrews said:
Hey it's sale day. I watched this ebay lathe and got an offer for $10,000 off. So now this beast can be yours for the low, low price of 35K!

Needs another zero removed.

m-lud · Dec 19, 2023

Old thread but would like to shed some lihgt on the size of the Headstock looking small.

Guythatbrewhisbeer said.
The condition appears very good and the very nice paint job looks original. The bed is massive with integral chip tray and full length base. It must be geared head, not VS, but the headstock is curiously tiny, very thin. Not at all what you'd expect for a 20HP geared head lathe..

Me:
The headstosk looks narrow because the headstock only has the spindle and the backgear counter shaft inside. There is a substantial gearbox in the base that uses belts to drive the spindle.
Similar to what Monarch did with the 10ee.

I purchased a Mitsubishi LH-300-au
Oerlikon made some kind of deal to let Mitsubishi make or copy their lathes

This thread made me take a good look at the lathe I eventually bought. So similar in features that I discovered they were related.
While I was leaning on it talking about it the more I liked it. I gave $4,000 for mine. That's more than I should have paid without wotk for it. :wrong:

This lathe has more going for it than mine but I doubt It's condition is better than mine.

This lathe is still listed on ebay but the price has dropped to $25,000. It's still out of line.
If this lathe is in as fine of condition as it appears,

What do you think would be a fair price for this lathe?

If I had work for it and it was in good of condition as it looks, I think I would give $15,000 rather than buying a new Grissly.
Although I dont know how good Grissley's are.

I can tell you, if you dont already know, that the quality of what Oerlikon built was impeccable.
I almost let a jewel of a lathe slip through my fingers because of my buy "American" attitude.
The Mitsubishi label didnt show it's Swiss roots.
I have always known Swiss, German machinery was high quality from their printing presses I ran years ago.
Japanese machinery is quality also but I'm just an old Union guy that tried to stick to buy USA built. I gave up on that but still try.
Thats impossible in today's world.

guythatbrews · Dec 19, 2023

Please post pics of your lathe! I agree they'll never sell that one for 25k. It's worth what someone will pay. Make them an offer you might be surprised.

If you have a buy American attitude stay away from grizzly!

m-lud · Dec 19, 2023

Here are a few photos. I have a thread started in the,
Schaublin, Cazeneuve, Weiler, Graziano, Mori Seiki, subforum. More details there.
I still have to continue with that thread. link below.

Mitsubishi HL-300-au / Oerlikon ? 12.795 x 29.527 Toolroom lathe

I bought this lathe and there isnt a lot of information out there. Lathes Uk has a writeup on it with some photos on it in a smaller BC length. http://www.lathes.co.uk/mitsubishi/ This is a photo of it coming home. This is after a wipe down with degreaser, it will clean up better. The paint is...

www.practicalmachinist.com

Tony's UK website has a great write up with some catalog photos. Mitsubishi HL-300-au