Tom Gardner wrote:

On 10/20/2014 11:19 AM, Pete C. wrote:

Tom Gardner wrote:

On 10/19/2014 4:24 PM, Ignoramus9750 wrote:
On 2014-10-19, Tom Gardner wrote:
On 10/18/2014 2:33 PM, Gunner Asch wrote:
Id be posting a Craigslist ad for them in North Dakota. Given their
work size..they would be good lathes for oilfield work. Even if they
dont cut to .0002..they would be suitable for oilcountry production

Im assuming they are Spanish made based on the name. Nothing wrong
with that btw. Good stuff.

Gunner


What's the difference between these and new? How are they obsolete?


New ones are faster, more accurate, Ethernet enabled, etc.

i


But the market for "good" machines vs "great" machines doesn't exist
except as scrap? I guess it is that big of an advantage in production
and depreciation. It makes sense, who wants to be a second or third
rate producer.

The market for used "good" machines certainly exists, but it's in
smaller non-production shops so those beasts are just outside the
acceptable size range. To a large extent if you can't move it with your
1T truck and a decent trailer it's too big to be useable/affordable in
those markets. That puts the limit at something around 10k-12k weight,
or a nice small VMC.


A few more years of 3D printing and they will ALL be obsolete!

A few more decades perhaps. Current 3D printing aint' even close except
for very high end very expensive setups that require not just a super
expensive 3D printer, but also a furnace for sintering metal and plenty
of other ancillary equipment to produce what a used VMC can produce for
a fraction of the cost. Yea, 3D printing can do complex internal stuff
you can't readily do on a VMC, but that stuff is also rarely needed for
real world parts.