Optimum Lathe?

[flylo]

Traded for a like new (about 6 months old) Optimum lathe D 210x400 Item 342 0322. Looks like a nice little machine. What's so funny is the alum name plate reads OPTIMUM Maschinen- Germany Lathe. down lower it says Made in china, on the bottom it says USA. Truly a One World Economy Lathe, Anyone know about these. It heavy for it's size about 300# & came pretty well tooled. Going in the "Old Folks Home section"

[Euph0ny]

Optimum

http://www.optimum-maschinen.de/

is a German company that imports Chinese-built machine tools and fettles them to German industrial standards for sale in the EU. They commonly fit German electronics and motors, and perform some hand fitting and adjustment.

I don't have one myself (only an old Myford ML7), but my gunsmith here recently bought an Optimum-badged lathe, and he reports being very happy with its reliability, accuracy and repeatability.

[flylo]

I know this isn't the way to check accuracy but I went in the shop (has to be 120 degrees in there) & put the dial indicator on the outside of the chuck then turned it by hand & got no runout at all. This as a good sign as it the 1st lathe I've tried this with & no needle movement at all. I'll chuck something up & test it further when it's cooler as I was sweating a solid stream of water on the lathe.

[MrSleepy]

There's a thread here somewhere..where Nick Mueller shows and describes the lengths he had to goto to get his two Optimum lathes to be usable.

Both were largish 6-7 inch swing lathes and both had to be completely stripped , scraped and fettled before they were accurate enough for normal use..

Were he still an active member..I'm sure he'd be fairly damning of the Optimum lathes he owned (from new).

Rob

[flylo]

Maybe the guy I bought it from already did it? Or he got a coule bad ones or they've gotten better I don't know but I'll put this one against my Wabeco D6000 at least until I check it more. Tune in next week for the next exiting episode of as the lathe turns!

[dockterj]

Flylo, I did that once, it was hot I was in a hurry. Put the DTI on the lathe, gave the chuck a swing around and was amazed with 0 needle deflection! I'm an expert at centering a four jaw I thought. Then I realized the needle wasn't touching the workpiece

[MrSleepy]

Maybe the guy I bought it from already did it? Or he got a coule bad ones or they've gotten better I don't know but I'll put this one against my Wabeco D6000 at least until I check it more. Tune in next week for the next exiting episode of the lathe turns!

As Optimum are a more upmarket importer of the US Grizzly and UK Warco and Chester mold ( and probably one of the better ones)..I would expect that each different size of machine comes from a different factory.They may also have people in China to do regular visits to ensure quality.

Usually the larger the machine ..the better the quality...from the ones I've seen.

Rob

[flylo]

Flylo, I did that once, it was hot I was in a hurry. Put the DTI on the lathe, gave the chuck a swing around and was amazed with 0 needle deflection! I'm an expert at centering a four jaw I thought. Then I realized the needle wasn't touching the workpiece

That's exactly what I thought I did, so I made sure & not even a twich. It may turn out to be a POS but it looks & feels new, very precise & tight & I traded the 16" South Bend I started the " My lathe is uglier than your lathe" thread so I only have $200+$20/fuel. So I'll be OK.
It's just so funny to see Germany,china, & the USA on the same name plate.

[AiR_GuNNeR]

It's just so funny to see Germany,china, & the USA on the same name plate.

It's a Germina lathe....(don't say that too quickly in mixed company ).

[ikdor]

I think the Optimums are really from the Weiss factory in China. They seem to be making some custom brands for at least German and Dutch resellers.
I'm sure some specs are also defined by the local resellers.

I have one rebranded as a HBM(Dutch version) and am quite pleased with it. Not that I'm very demanding though. Notably also zero runout on the chuck straight out of the box.....

See how familiar it looks here:
http://www.weiss.com.cn/product/&pmc...dd5aa9f60.html

Igor