Awesome stuff Ricky. REALLY impressive machines.  (n/t)

That they are.. and I am not easily impressed in that regard!  (n/t)

Impressive equipment... and a Condor with a Ducati 350 single...
one of about only 3000 made..

PS.. here's one of my favorite lathes.

"Ducati 350-based single" might be more accurate. If ye'll note..
..Condor did cast their name into the tappet access coverplate.

And, to be fair, there were significant differences compared to the Ducati mill. Lower compression ratio (the better to run on low-octane fuel), modified oiling system, etc. Still, it was pure Ducati at heart, no arguing that.

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Flasharry
PS.. here's one of my favorite lathes...

Impressive!

Mind you, it's a mere pup compared to a really big lathe:

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www.hiwtc.com/products/huge-capacity-cnc-lathe-by-tacchi-16921-44267.htm



Manufacturer Tacchi
Model CTU 3500 x 19000
Year 1993
Control siemenssinumerik 880t
Swing over base plate 5100mm (16.73 feet)
Turning length 19000 mm (62.33 feet)
Feedrates 0 - 6000 mm/min
Spindle bore 160 mm (6.3 inches)
Spindle motor rating 90 kw
Spindle speeds 1?280 rpm.
Faceplate diameter 1500 mm (59.05 inches)
Headstock + tailstock positioning
1350 mm (53.15 inches) synchron. In x-axis direction
Carriage facing traverse x 1000 mm (39.36 inches)
Max. Workpiece weight 55 tonnes (metric) 4 station tool block
12 station turret with milling tools and Y axis
Separate milling attachment (arbour) tailstock with 420 mm (16.53 inches) quill diameter
Tailstock quill travel 200 mm (7.87 inches)
Chip conveyor

{Crodile Dundee mode}

That, my friend, is a lathe!

{/Crodile Dundee mode}

Indeed, that is a LATHE...
and here I am lusting for a 10" or so metal lathe and small vertical milling machine.. (and a suitable shop of course..) What would I make? Steam stuff, for sure.. (a nice horizontal mill engine would be a good styart, once I got my skill level back up to something above its current abysmal level..) Of course.. a simpler project would be a custom stainless handle for my 1939 Gilette Tech razor, which with a good blade shaves far better that any of the current multi-blade wonders..

Re: ..and here I am lusting for a 10" or so metal lathe and small vertical milling machine..
A 10-incher is a good practical size. And a vertical mill is the perfect complement for it!

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Flasharry
..a nice horizontal mill engine would be a good styart..

You know, I'd love to have a horizontal boring mill, like that Dixi in the main post. In their own way, they're THE Bee's Knees. However, I must admit they're not exactly a paragon of versatility...

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Flasharry
Of course.. a simpler project would be a custom stainless handle for my 1939 Gilette Tech razor, which with a good blade shaves far better that any of the current multi-blade wonders..

Ah, but could it keep pace with this Razor?

Would you pay $100,000 for a razor?

$100,000 can buy many things: a brand new sports car, a boat, or a ridiculously luxurious vacation, just to name a few. But if you already have a new Audi in your driveway, a yacht at the marina, and just got back from a trip around the world, perhaps you'd rather drop your cold hard cash on a limited edition iridium razor. The pricey item is crafted by Zafirro, a company which seems to have just one product in its lineup, and just 99 of the "Zafirro Iridium" razors will be made.



The handle of the razor is made entirely of iridium, an extremely scarce and expensive metal that is so dense it could survive a drop into molten lava. Most iridium that appears on Earth is the result of crashed meteorites. The blades of the beast are made from artificially grown sapphire, making them hypoallergenic, not to mention many orders of magnitude sharper than your average Bic. The company boasts a 10-year blade life, and backs it up with free sharpening for a decade if the razor ever dulls.

The Zafirro Iridium, while promising "generations" of enjoyable use, is clearly made for the millionaire who already has everything. The company says the upgrade from a traditional razor to the $100,000 model is like changing from a CB radio to an iPhone, but unless your morning shave takes place at the mouth of a volcano, we're not sure it's worth it.

Original article is HERE.

A $100K razor! Who'd have ever thunk?

Re: but could it keep pace with this Razor
I think it could.. The Tech is a classic design, and a great shaver, with the right blade... More importantly, its the face prep and lather that really make a difference..

1939 Tech: - in pretty good shape, and great shaver..

Then for a change we have my 1955 Slim, also a good razor:

and of course the best of the lot: 1940;s Dorko.. which gets used every once in awhile.

oh,, and the horizontal mill engine? I was think a Stuart #9 for a start..

Thanks for sharing such cool pics! (n/t)

My pleasure.  (n/t)

Nice  (n/t)

I really wish I could show you guys the prototype Hysek the Shop Manager was wearing.
Talk about nice!

But a promise is a promise, and it's a wonder he let me shoot photos of it to begin with.

I got to say, though, it's killin' me to have to sit on those photos!

Cool thanks. At first just looking at the pictures .........
I thought that was your basement. That's some shop.

Re: ..I thought that was your basement.
If only it were so!

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Robmks
That's some shop.

And that's actually only a small part of it!

Thanks for the great report!
That is indeed some impressive machinery.

I'm not sure I get why the Rolex guy was upset. It wasn't a Rolex factory, right? Was his upset-ness due to the fact that Rolex uses some of the same machines to build their own watches?

Re: I'm not sure I get why the Rolex guy was upset.
Thank you! I don't quite get it meself...

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Smaug
It wasn't a Rolex factory, right?

Nope, 'twas the company that's building the machine for them (Bumotec S.A. in Sâles, Switzerland).

If it were a proprietary one-of machine, a R₀lex design, then it would be understandable.

But it's a stock machine! Prominently displayed on the Bumotec web site!

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Smaug
Was his upset-ness due to the fact that Rolex uses some of the same machines to build their own watches?

They do use S-1000 machines already, this is simply an additional machine to expand their capacity. And plenty of other high-volume watch manufactures use the S-1000 as well, ye'll note. Again, a custom one-of machine tool would have been another thing.

Honestly, I don't know. As it was, I reckon the guy was pretty much just being a d₁ckhead because he could.

Cool machines! BTW that equipment would also be cheaper than Jessica too.  (n/t)

They are NOT inexpensive machines, mind you.
Indeed, you could buy three conventional mid-sized 5-axis milling machines from a reputable manufacture for what you'd spend on one S-191. Or a whole bloomin' rank and file of 3 and 4-axis machines!

Still, it wouldn't be all THAT hard to exceed the purchase price of an S-191 on a truly high-zoot watch or automobile.

But you're no doubt right in that an S-191 would be $$ peanuts compared to the maintenance costs of that particular model.

Wow! A really watch -wis- related topic! Top topic!!! (n/t)

Bro. Yannis!
BTW, did I miss your Full Report on the 2011 Matala Hippie Reunion?

Or is it still in the works...?

Ricky I had.... ..............
......., no time to take any pics, my good camera is still broken, we had to do a lot, everything went O.K. There are many things about it in the internet, the facebook of our site(visitmatala.com), in youtube of course, e.t.c.....

I am really sorry again, I have no report to make,.......

Ah well, I understand. No doubt you were busier'n a 1-legged man in a butt-kickin' contest.
Tell ye what, I'll waive the use of the Dread TTIWWOP Icon, and settle for an amusing anecdote or two..

Ricky: Thanks for a look into a side of watchmaking that few of us think about. (n/t)

You know, it's funny..
..I suppose it's true that not many WIS think about the manufacturing side. Even highly-skilled watchmakers who have no trouble disassembling and reassembling a complex mechanical movement may not be knowledgeable about (or even interested in) the special challenges involved in volume manufacturing of the same.

But as a manufacturing professional it seems perfectly natural to me, and I can't help but be intensely interested in that aspect of horology. Indeed, it was that side of the business that led me into this mad hobby in the first place.

Don't hessitate to indulge us even more. Thanks again. (n/t)

What a great post! Thanks hugely for taking the time to put that together. Great read  (n/t)

Thanks mate!
I hugely enjoyed putting it together, though, so no thanks are really needed.

mind blowing, could be the final statement of pennies to watches $$ to tools (n/t)

I hope you don't think it hubris when I say that, given just one of those machines, I could achieve a sort of One-Man Mini-Renaissance in American Watchmaking.
Or at least in Watch Case Making.

Sure I'd need a good partner when it comes to yon innards.

Glad i scrolled to the end.  (n/t)

Think of it as a reward for having read through the boring stuff, all the way to the end.