HES 24NCS-D Lathe

This is a Centroid T400 retrofit to a midsize flatbed turret lathe from around 1979. The retrofit was completed in April 2008.


The machine has a ca. 25HP DC spindle, hydraulic chuck and 8-position hydraulic turret. The three-speed headstock is manually shifted.

This machine was originally equipped with a McDonnell Douglas Actrion control. This was an impressive control for its day, but after 29 years it was showing its age....

At right is the work area, showing the chuck, tailstock and back of turret.


Here is the machine late in the retrofit, before the new paint was applied and the guards reinstalled.

The new control uses 3kW AC brushless drives and motors. The Z servo motor is direct-coupled; The X motor is offset and belted in the back of the carriage.

At right is the control cabinet with Centroid SD1 AC servo drives in the upper left. We retained the original GE ValuTrol DC spindle drive, which occupies the right half of the cabinet.

The PLC and logic power supplies are located on a subpanel inside the left cabinet door. PLC I/O and logic for this machine turned out to be relatively simple.


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Copyright © 2008 Marc Leonard
Last updated 23-Sep-2008 MBL