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Wabeco machine tools are made by Walter Blombach GmbH, Am Blaffertsberg 13, D-42899 Remscheid, Germany, phone: 02191 -597-0, Fax 02191-597-40
e-mail: WABECO-Remscheid@t-online.de
It is reported that lathes and millers sold under the Prazi II Apollo label appear to be the same as the current Wabeco machines even to the series numbers.
The company, long established in the machine-tool field, currently makes a range of small lathes and vertical milling machine with both conventional and CNC controls. The lathe range consists of two basic models, each with a different kind of bed: the series 2000 twin-bar type (in production since 197S) and the more conventional series 6000 in cast-iron with inverted V ways.
The bar-bed lathes, although heavily built and of excellent capacity for the amount of room they occupy on a bench, are of essentially simple construction and specification - there is no tumble reverse (although a pair of gears is available to cut left-hand threads), power cross feed or screwcutting gearbox available; all have a 110mm (4.3") centre height with the cheapest example, the D2000, being limited to 350mm (13.8") between centres compared to the 500mm (19.7") of the more highly specified D2400E and D3000E variants.
All models are fitted with taper-roller bearing headstock spindles bored to pass 20mm and fitted with a No. 3 Morse taper centre. The D2000 has, in basic form, a countershaft drive (of clever design) using smooth-running Poly-V belts to produce speeds of 90, 180, 310, 470, 900 and 1600 rpm from the range-standard 1.4 kW motor - a useful spread, but too fast on the lowest setting for successful screwcutting by the amateur.
The D2400E and D3000E are both fitted with a very quiet, electronically-controlled, variable-speed headstock spindle drive as standard (optional on the D2000) with a rather more useful range of 45 to 2300 rpm. Despite the compact nature and economy of using a variable-speed drive, the makers have decided to enhance the slow-speed capabilities of the lathe by including a speed-reducing countershaft between the motor (which is mounted under the headstock) and spindle; one hopes that, at the lowest speed, there is still sufficient torque to tackle large-diameter turning and slow threading - although it cannot, of course, be equal to that provided by a proper backgear assembly.
The leadscrew, protected by a simple top cover, runs between the bed rails and is fitted with a direct-acting graduated handle at the tailstock end - although some versions include a right-angle bevel box which causes the operating handle to be brought out at a right angle to the bed.
Unless you can afford to buy a Hardinge HLV precision toolroom lathe, your chances of enjoying separate electronic control of the spindle and carriage travel are almost zero; however, that is exactly the system employed on the D2400E and D3000E models - separate, electronically-controlled motors allow both spindle rotation and tool advance rates to be independently set. The carriage drive motor, combined with its speed-reducing gearbox in a unit that looks remarkably like a windscreen wiper motor assembly, is mounted at the headstock end of the lathe behind the rear bed rail with a toothed belt used to take the drive to the centrally-mounted leadscrew.
In use, if the "textbook" speed and feed setting for the particular combination of workpiece diameter, material and tool angles do not produce perfect results then, by experimentation, adjustments can be instantly made to one, or both of them, until things improve. Another important advantage of an independent, electrically-driven carriage is that it reduces the number of gears involved in the transmission of power; gear drives are bad news for surface finish, they induce vibrations which, whilst usually hidden in the "roughness" of ordinary turning, become much more evident in the finer finishes that high-quality machines are able to generate. Unfortunately, this ease of use comes at the expense of a complication in the way that screwcutting is provided; if a full screwcutting gearbox were available the problem would not arise - the price would simply be a lot higher - instead, realising that generating threads is an infrequently undertaken task, the designers settled on a system which uses toothed wheels and belts. This unusual arrangement - in theory subject to variations in the thread pitch as the drive belts stretch - works, in practice, perfectly well. It has the bonus of almost completely silent operation but, in comparison with a set of ordinary gears, is a comparative nuisance to set up.
The engagement of the power and screwcutting feeds is by a chrome-plated, ball-ended, 3-position selector lever on the lower front face of the headstock; in its middle position the lever puts the drive into neutral whilst moving it upwards selects the screwcutting feed - and downwards the variable-speed electrical drive.
A useful option on all Wabeco lathes is a vertical drilling and milling unit mounted behind the bed - the same head units being used on the company's self-contained milling machines. Various fittings to mount on the lathe bed are available to extend the unit's usefulness - a T-slotted boring table, vice and rotary table being amongst the mst popular.
The D2000 measures 980mm x 400mm and weighs approximately 59 kg; the other two bar-bed lathes measure 1250mm x 360mm - and weigh 65kg.
For detailed photographs of the Series 2000 lathes click HERE.
Details of the cast-iron bed Series 6000 lathes can be found HERE.
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