Need some help finding info on a Beaver CNC Lathe

[gn3dr]

Hi there
I have come across a Beaver Antares cnc lathe here in Ireland for sale but I cannot find anything out about it from all the usual web sources. Does anyone know anything about these machines?

It has Antares stamped on teh enclosure and a nametag from Beaver UK.
There is an Olivetti control system.

It's an unusual layout - when you open the machine the chuck faces directly out towards you. The toolpost and turret are between you and the chuck.
It has a 6 post rotating tool turret as well as a few toolposts.

There is a hydraulic system and it looks like this drives the chuck closing and also the 6 post tool turret.

The chuck is some kind of collet chuck but there is also a three jaw chuck included.
I can see a resolver motor driving one of the axes.

My original plan was to buy an old cnc lathe and replace the control system with a PC based Mach 3 system. I'm not sure if this is going to be a suitable lathe so would appreciate any info if people know anything about it.

The use of hydraulics is throwing me a bit - is this a good or a bad thing?

[Mark McGrath]

It is usual for the chuck on a cnc lathe to be hydraulically powered.It is also common for the turret although there are other ways.I have got a Beaver mill and lathe but not an Antares.
The guy who owns www.machinesupportservices.com in England is ex Beaver and knows about them all.He is the number one source for spares and service.We call him Beaver Mike.

Mark.

[gn3dr]

It is usual for the chuck on a cnc lathe to be hydraulically powered.It is also common for the turret although there are other ways.I have got a Beaver mill and lathe but not an Antares.
The guy who owns www.machinesupportservices.com in England is ex Beaver and knows about them all.He is the number one source for spares and service.We call him Beaver Mike.

Mark.

Thanks Mark
I appreciate that info. I've sent them an e-mail so hopefully they can help.

Is your lathe laid out the same as the Antares - i.e the chuck faces out at you when you look into the front of the machine. I was getting a bit hung up on that because i though it limited length of parts a bit much but having thought about it most work is done near the chuck anyway in my case.

[Mark McGrath]

Mine is conventional slant bed.Wickman built a lathe like you describe and so have several other companies but usually with platen tooling (aka gang tooling) rather than a turret.
The Antares must be old as I`ve not seen an Olivetti control for a long long time.
Unless this m/c was for pennies I wouldn`t touch it.I know stuff is expensive where you are and there`s not a lot of choice,but there are usually dead cnc m/c`s to get on the mainland quite cheaply.

[gn3dr]

Thanks Mark.
Yeah it is probably old alright - I've no idea how old. It has a combination of gang tooling (I wasn't sure what the correct term was, and this turret is also bolted down to the same bed as the gang tooling.)
It's not quite for pennies but it is cheap enough I think. Do you think it's worth a punt for €350?
I'm thinking about taking a chance on it. Generally I watch ebay.co.uk but mostly stuff on there goes for inflated prices.

[Mark McGrath]

If you`re planning on retrofitting it,the main thing to look at is the axis and spindle drives.At it`s age they will probably be dc analogue.I`m not sure if Mach can interface to an analogue drive which needs a +- 10 volts signal.There was a card called a Pixie that could do it but I`ve a feeling they might not be made anymore.On the other hand if the drives were of no use to you but of a type I use I might buy them.I would look at the drives and sort that out before I bought it or you would need to spend a bit extra replacing them also and off course the motors would probably need changed also.