[underthetire]

A lot of the newer swiss stuff can run coolant FYI.

[danrudolph]

Hmm, thanks for the heads up on the chemistry there. I wasn't aware the released compound was formaldehyde. Good to know.

For the job we have, the goal was to push the machine and process to the max to achieve the lowest possible part cost. I am turning at .005"/rev at 8000RPM, very fast. I'm sure you'll have more thermal stability if you take your time. Our tolerances were not super tight, except for a .036" hole .5" deep which was +.0005/-0 which we held no problem.

For setups, you have headstock collet, guidebushing and sub collet. The collet changeover is about 5 mins each, depending if you use the supplied chip guard in place. The guidebushing takes 10 minutes, including setting the tension on the stock. The bar loader takes probably about 15 minutes to adjust. We do not have to swap the channel liners for our barfeed, just adjust the magazine stops, lifter and barfeed collet. I usually do the machine changeover while another guy assists doing the barfeed setup. Not knowing your jobs, stocking the largest dia and turning down may be an option if you want to avoid GB/Collet/Barfeed changeovers.

FYI, we have a Citizen A20 Type 7, very nice machine. Capable of pretty amazing things with some creativity.