Okuma LB 15, No more tomorrows

SDE

Well-known Member
I have run this machine since the fall of 89. I estimate that it has run at least 517 thousand parts. May 1st a Preventive maintenance inspection was performed on the machine and she wasn't the same machine after that. So it is being removed from service tomorrow.
After I had run 11 parts of an order of 15, I had added a total of .01 taper into the program for a part that was 3.7 inches long. I also told someone I thought it had .006 backlash and the maintenance man confirmed it. The machine is valued at $5000 and to replace the thrust bearings and fix other problems will be about the same money.

Tomorrow they will put a 1993 Okuma Cadet in its place and then that machine will be replaced in about four months by a Okuma 4 axis. We do not have the programing support necessary to put the 4 axis in place until fall. So the next 8 months will be full of CHANGE for me.

The Plant Superintendent has congratulated me on wearing out a machine, but it doesn't feel like a good thing to me. Then again, it serves as a reminder that nothing lasts forever.
SDE
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I hope you are not running too large of parts on the Cadet, it is smaller than the LB 15. We also had LB 25 for the real big ones. Our maintenance guys could rebuild those machines in less than a day. Of course it helped to have a machine shop dedicated to making parts for the lathes and other equipment. I have turned a lot of two cylinder John Deere pistons on one of those. I think the largest aluminum piston we ran on it was 10 inches in diameter and 13 inches long. OH the memories.Hope the new machine works good for you.
 
That's awesome. Machine shop jobs in this area usually don't last that long.

I worked some in where my uncle ran a Mori Seiki (sp?) that was roughly that size. That and a Fadal vertical mill were their "high tech" machines.

The next one down was ancient Rockwell Burgmaster nc turret drill. You program the X and Y and the depth was set manually for each tool on a small rotating drum. That thing had a mind of its own.

Everything else was manual.
 
When I work with tight nuts and bolts, I get a sharp pain in my elbow. My shoulders do not like me to raise my arms above my head. So I feel as if I am wearing out. Just not totally shot yet.
SDE
 
That was the demise of the LR-15 in our shop. Still have an LC-10 and an MC5VA from that vintage. Sorry for your loss.
 
For the last few years, I have been a one man show, with an occasional night shift assist. With two full time shifts we ran between 24 and 26K per year during the good years.
SDE
 
Pneumatic clutch and brake part. Friction Disc and hubs, both splined and keyed bores. From 4.56 to 9.4 O.D. and .512 to 2.255 I.D..
SDE
 

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