Chester Super lux

[simon brown 3Participant @simonbrown3]

hi all,

wanted to ask your thoughts on the Chester Super Lux mill?

one thing i like it the spindle to bed distance,as need 18inchs

min so any reviews would be welcome.

on the other hand would seem a bridgeport can be brought

for around the same cost….but to find one that is in good condtion

and question mark on the spindle to bed height….any thoughts

welcome

[simon brown 3Participant @simonbrown3]

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

I have the 626 mill.

That has a spindle to bed measurement of 320mm….but mine has a riser block added to give me more headroom and cost me less than the price differential between the Super Lux and mine….(£70…. For the material…!)

Plus the 626 has a 1.5 hp motor versus the 1hp of the SL…..price difference between the 2 is around £600….

Depends on what else you want….

Oh, btw, I converted mine to inverter/3phase motor and still would have had change from the £2100 price tag buy a power feed too…..

Pay yer money takes yer choice……

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

duplicate post…oops..

Edited By John Rudd on 01/05/2017 21:08:48

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

The 18" figure is the table to spindle nose distance before any tooling is put in place. Do you need 18" under the tool? It may be possible to extend this distance with a spacer piece as 628 owners often do but it would not be as simple as the 628 version, you would need something about 7" x 11" x whatever height you needed under the column.

Martin C

[simon brown 3Participant @simonbrown3]

Posted by Martin Connelly on 02/05/2017 11:32:56:

The 18" figure is the table to spindle nose distance before any tooling is put in place. Do you need 18" under the tool? It may be possible to extend this distance with a spacer piece as 628 owners often do but it would not be as simple as the 628 version, you would need something about 7" x 11" x whatever height you needed under the column.

Martin C

hi Martin,many thanks for the reply-should have added with cutter fitted will work out just fine.

just in 2 minds,as will be used for light jobs/alloy work mostley and wanted to see if anyone has one

a few years/jobs on as very handy with it being posted/new etc but still an amount of cost,to buy it

and no good if in a year its worn out/problems but as ever with these things somtimes it how you

look after it.

[simon brown 3Participant @simonbrown3]

Posted by John Rudd on 01/05/2017 21:08:01:

I have the 626 mill.

That has a spindle to bed measurement of 320mm….but mine has a riser block added to give me more headroom and cost me less than the price differential between the Super Lux and mine….(£70…. For the material…!)

Plus the 626 has a 1.5 hp motor versus the 1hp of the SL…..price difference between the 2 is around £600….

Depends on what else you want….

Oh, btw, I converted mine to inverter/3phase motor and still would have had change from the £2100 price tag buy a power feed too…..

Pay yer money takes yer choice……

intresting.are you happy with it? cheers.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

The Super Lux I measured is in an industrial workshop used by a number of people and has been in use for a number of years. The only issue is that since it has to comply with PUWER regulations the safety guard must work and the plastic it is made of is not very robust. It has been replaced a number of times due to the table being moved with a power feed and a vice catching it.

Martin

PS, nearly forgot that the knob that is used to engage/dis-engage the fine feed fell apart but was easily replaced with an off the shelf al. alloy one.

Edited By Martin Connelly on 02/05/2017 11:50:08

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

A major gotcha with the Super Lux, and similar square column machines, is the limited Y axis coverage of the spindle. Typically the spindle centre line only goes to a bit beyond the middle of the table which can prove very restrictive if handling larger components. The usual general purpose position of the ram on Bridgeport machines lets the spindle centre cover pretty much the whole Y width of the table. A lot more coverage available if you actually move the ram and far more with a bit of creativity.

Another gotcha concerns the relatively large head which can seriously obstruct visibility with smaller work forcing you to peer round the side when you'd prefer to look as near as possible to straight down. A related issue is the limited space each side of the head for setting up. On a Bridgeport you can wind the table over far enough to get the vice, clamps or whatever well off to one side of the head giving excellent visibility for setting up. Heck if you really need room on a big job you can swivel the turret round for unobstructed access to the whole table. Never gone that far myself but been tempted.

This sort of thing, and especially the impact on what you do, doesn't show up on brochure analysis unless you really have your wits about you. I sold my Lux style machine after a couple or 3 years and went Bridgeport because the aforementioned limitations were driving me nuts. Truth to tell I very rarely do work which couldn't have been got onto the Lux, albeit often with considerable patience and creativity, but the Bridgeport is so much easier having the space to make most jobs simple walk up – fix – cut events. That said I remain impressed by the amount of work holding and cutting capability a Lux puts on your bench.

When contemplating any of the larger Home Shop mills I'm convinced that the correct procedure is to assess what capability you loose relative to a Bridgeport. Easy enough to compare basic work accommodation dimensions from the brochure but its where you run out of room that sets the limits and stretches vocabulary. For example drilling at an angle burns up space and smaller machines can be seriously limited in this respect. For something of Lux size maybe consider what you can do to a 6" cube beyond the straightforward vertical drilling and facing or side cuts.

Could be a useful article there for MEW Neil. Mostly drawings illustrating the geometry and space needed for more complex operations. Along with set-up suggestions to win back the 1/2" or 10 mm that makes enough difference to squeeze a job in.

Clive.

[Martin ConnellyParticipant @martinconnelly55370]

I have had a look at the Super Lux spindle relative to the table. With the table wound fully towards the column the spindle centre line is just about in line with the edge of the table, this is with a DRO mounted on the back of the table. Winding the table as far as it will go away from the column the spindle centre line is only over the third tee slot in the table.

Martin C

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

Martin

Obviously Y axis travels vary with breed and, maybe date of manufacture. The one you looked at clearly has more Y table travel than mine did. More usefully arranged too. As I recall things mine took the spindle centre line from just off the table on the column side to just past the middle Tee slot. My DRO scale was on the front. Although I bought mine from Chester it wasn't actually a Lux, same style, different breed.

Clive

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Posted by simon brown 3 on 02/05/2017 11:43:41:

Posted by John Rudd on 01/05/2017 21:08:01:

I have the 626 mill.

That has a spindle to bed measurement of 320mm….but mine has a riser block added to give me more headroom and cost me less than the price differential between the Super Lux and mine….(£70…. For the material…!)

Plus the 626 has a 1.5 hp motor versus the 1hp of the SL…..price difference between the 2 is around £600….

Depends on what else you want….

Oh, btw, I converted mine to inverter/3phase motor and still would have had change from the £2100 price tag buy a power feed too…..

Pay yer money takes yer choice……

intresting.are you happy with it? cheers.

Very happy with it! I previously had an Eagle 30 round column mill ( inverter 3ph motor conversion too…) before I bought the 626……

[JonParticipant @jon]

Chester used 1 1/2 pony motors on these for years, current spec 1hp same as my Zay 7045 bought from Chester in 2004 new £930 when they were £1500.
Warco uses 2hp spindle motor.

Used to keep looking at the 626 but such a short X axis travel around 14". Don't look at parts up to 14" long the cutters ideally need to clear so your 2 1/2" cutter will take 5" of max length obtainable bringing it more like 9". Lux without power feed will get 23 3/4" X axis travel, with power feed 21 1/2".
Far quicker and easier to change speeds on Lux's, 626 have to faff about with belts.
626 have to compare with the Lux not Super Lux which has power head elevation, my gearbox packed up 7 yrs ago and not prepared to pay £240 when whole machine cost £930.

Limiting factor on Lux's is the slow spindle speed, doable but takes an eternity having to slow feeds down.
The head is real heavy full of gears and oil.
Second Clives findings buy a decent torch or send X axis 11" down, I do it regular.
May need that height of the Lux's with normal tooling, regularly run within 1 1/2" of maxing out on height with a low vice.
If have the option choose R8, though MT3 never been a problem – ever with finger collets.

Have the Bridgy style power feed on as well on the right, meant for the job ones will interfere with some jobs and on wrong side to see dro.

Have had the Super Lux since June 2004 used daily for small scale production mainly aluminiums. A Bridgeport I could do jobs 3 to 4 times quicker and leave a better finish and have to go that route if I can spare two months downtime.

Have a mate who has two Lux's, a 626 and Model T Super. He has had a Bridgeport, his words will cut with blunt cutters and is more robust but virtually no other gain over the Lux's.
Wouldn't say its about looking after the tools its about using them whether or when the will break or wear out, all imports will.

[JellyParticipant @jelly]

If I was in your shoes I’d be looking for a Bridgeport Copy, or possibly a fixed head vertical or universal machine second hand; something that would accept 40int tooling ideally.

Whilst ‘a well known auction site’ is my go-to, actual auctions are often better, and machine tool dealers are frequently very reasonable on price.

The best chances to get one which doesn’t need much work is a machine which is just being replaced with something more modern, or from a manufacturer winding up.

Unfortunately it can take a bit of hunting to find “the one” so if time is of the essence, it’s a case of either buying new or paying a little more than your budget unfortunately.

[Tony – CHUKParticipant @tony-chuk]

Hi Simon,

Not sure where you are in the world, but we will be at the Doncaster Show next week and I will be taking both the 626 and Superlux, so if you wanted to do a hands on comparison you are more than welcome, you may even be lucky enough to bump into one of the many people who I know attend the show that have these machines!

(Obviously you can come along to our showroom at anytime!)

 

I hope this helps,

 

All the best,

Tony (Chester Machine Tools)

Edited By Tony – CHUK on 04/05/2017 11:39:36

[simon brown 3Participant @simonbrown3]

hi all,

thanks so much for all the replys-amazing! really helpfull to read and hear what you think/advise thanks so much.

so…………………next step is to go and veiw a couple of diffrant mills and make a choise and get it done!

[John RuddParticipant @johnrudd16576]

Posted by Jon on 03/05/2017 15:04:34:

Far quicker and easier to change speeds on Lux's, 626 have to faff about with belts.

I have an inverter/3phase conversion on my 626…..rarely have to change the belt arrangement to go faster or slower….the Eagle 30 was much the same…

It does depend on the work environment, I agree, but for the hobbyist, my setup works fine for me…and did t cost the earth to implement..,

[simon brown 3Participant @simonbrown3]

Posted by Tony – CHUK on 04/05/2017 11:39:07:

Hi Simon,

Not sure where you are in the world, but we will be at the Doncaster Show next week and I will be taking both the 626 and Superlux, so if you wanted to do a hands on comparison you are more than welcome, you may even be lucky enough to bump into one of the many people who I know attend the show that have these machines!

(Obviously you can come along to our showroom at anytime!)

I hope this helps,

All the best,

Tony (Chester Machine Tools)

Edited By Tony – CHUK on 04/05/2017 11:39:36

hi tony,many thanks for the details-have just sent you a messge/pm

look forward to hearing.

best regards.

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