Buying a used Fadal in 2023?

[Garwood]

"if not Fadal then what for $60k"

Are you serious? There are thousands of options besides Fadal.

If you said you wanted 3 used VMC's 2 used CNC lathes, tooling and inspection for $60k I'd think that's a tall order, but maybe doable with some time.

Just a few weeks ago there was the same kind of thread here only the guy seemed to have a brain to go with his cash and he bought a half dozen-ish CNC mills and lathes- High end stuff- including 5 axis for around $50k total at auction.

Good used 4020 VMC that will smoke a Fadal should be easy to find for $15k or less.

 

[RC Mech]

Smoke a Fadal would only mean faster-than-glacial tool changes. That’s the real problem.

Otherwise anything newer than 2000 are pretty decent. One thing I’ll give them (shallow pockets as I have) is no GD hydraulic pump running ad-nauseum. Just spindle fans & air hogs.

 

[LOTT]

What’s the asking? Website has some bullshit about “activating pricing”.

$38k.

 

[ducesrwld]

late to the party did OP swoop this one up? i've bought several fadals for lets say scrap value even had one of those have a nice little calmotion control upgrade in there that wasn't advertised. some guys just love giving away fadals.

 

[Vancbiker]

….. some guys just love giving away fadals.

Is that because they came to understand that faster, more accurate, and capable machines resulted in better competitiveness and profitability?

 

[mmurray70]

Smoke a Fadal would only mean faster-than-glacial tool changes. That’s the real problem.

Otherwise anything newer than 2000 are pretty decent. One thing I’ll give them (shallow pockets as I have) is no GD hydraulic pump running ad-nauseum. Just spindle fans & air hogs.

The Glacial tool changes are easily fixed by putting your tools in proper order. Even then the toolchanger is still slow, but its not nearly as bad. I can live with it. Running multiple parts at once makes the toolchanges less of a problem too.

I also really like the fact that it has no hydraulic pump. This is a huge bonus. Very nice and quiet machine, and one less thing to give out. My machine is a retrofit and I put the spindle fan on a SSR so it cuts in and out now when spindle is on, and shuts off 30s later or something like that. I put a regulator on the spindle air purge and turned pressure way down. I even insulated the vane pump for spindle cooler. Hardly makes a sound now idling.

 

[ducesrwld]

Is that because they came to understand that faster, more accurate, and capable machines resulted in better competitiveness and profitability?

of course....no one is arguing there are better more capable machines out there. just saying for a lot of shops these vintage fadals are undervalued and for a good chunk of shops hard to beat. to answer your question one shop was moving up to a larger machine (and newer, faster, etc), one shop was standardizing on one mfg that started with an H, and 2 shops were closing up due to retirement).

 

[fillipyang8]

"if not Fadal then what for $60k"

Are you serious? There are thousands of options besides Fadal.

If you said you wanted 3 used VMC's 2 used CNC lathes, tooling and inspection for $60k I'd think that's a tall order, but maybe doable with some time - code for me! If you're struggling with a programming assignment or just need some extra help, our team of experts is here for you. This team provide affordable and reliable programming services to students worldwide. Whether you need help with Java, Python, C++, or any other language, we've got you covered.

Just a few weeks ago there was the same kind of thread here only the guy seemed to have a brain to go with his cash and he bought a half dozen-ish CNC mills and lathes- High end stuff- including 5 axis for around $50k total at auction.

Good used 4020 VMC that will smoke a Fadal should be easy to find for $15k or less.

Totally agree with you sir!