Zimmermann FZ-5

[Chris Hall]

I've seen more than a few garages with Bridgeport mills parked inside. Gotta keep your wife happy though!

[Brian]

I've been limited to 'one' shop, being the basement, lol. I may attempt to convince her that it is a giant metal sculpture that would really spruce up the garage.

[Jack_Ervin.]

Chris,
I waited until Brian replied about the vise. Kurt is the vise of my choice. We had several in the tool room where I worked. They were of the two bolt configuration but I requested the one that was designated for CNC as I used it on a vertical machining center. I also used it on a Lagun mill which is comparable to Bridgeport. There were two major benefits as well as the precision it afforded. They were that I could simply mount and align the vise with a 12" Starrett square if my work was just needed to be close and not have to use an indicator to align the vise and I made a bracket that I could mount the vise on its side which I used to machine parts in that configuration.

By the way the precision repeat and holding of Kurt is phenomenal.

What you spoke of using a 90 degree knee block is what I used regularly.

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[Chris Pyle]

Perhaps it's not a unique machine but I hadn't seen one before:

http://www.machinio.com/listings/392706 ... s-il-60018

Is it really a router machine that can resist lateral loads or is it more of a precision drill press?

[Chris Hall]

Perhaps it's not a unique machine but I hadn't seen one before:

http://www.machinio.com/listings/392706 ... s-il-60018

Is it really a router machine that can resist lateral loads or is it more of a precision drill press?

That is a Wadkin LQ overhead recessing machine, a sort of mult-speed drill press with side thrust bearings to permit the use of profile cutters - woodworking "equivalent" to an engineers mill/drill machine - and a 3-axis table designed for patternmakers. It is a fairly unique machine. Here are some specs:

Throat 530mm (21").Maximum from chuck to to table 410mm (16"), Longitudinal traverse by rack & pinion 760mm (30"). Table size 840 x 480mm (33" x 19"). Vertical movement of table 200mm (8"). Table swivel 45° to left & right. Vertical movement of spindle (by hand or foot lever) 150mm (6"). Floor space (with full movements 1600 x 1900mm (63" x 75").. Height 1900mm (75"). Motor power 2hp.

Here's another pic:

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[Chris Hall]

Those Kurt vices look very nice indeed. They are also nearly $2000 I'll have to think about that carefully.

I received a quote today for crating the machine for export: 1,395€ + VAT (19%). That seems workable.

Also found out some more information. The FZ-5 does take ISO 40 spindles. Those are the same taper as CAT40 spindles in the US, but with a metric fixing bolt.

The machine dimensions...well, it's BIG.

Height: 2200mm (86.6")
Width: 1800mm (70.8")
Length: 2000mm (78.75")

Weight: 2000kg (4400lbs)

I'm thinking that the machine will have to be partly disassembled to fit through the front doors of my shop building.

[Brian]

Whoa, that is quite large. For the bridgeport we rotated the head down to get it under the shop door.

If you do this, or even just to get an idea of how perpendicular the head is, I ended up setting up a dial indicator on a bar chucking it into the collet and taking a full sweep of the bed. If the head is tilted in any direction it will appear in the sweep.

[Chris Hall]

It seems deals can be had on Ebay and elsewhere for Kurt vises, so I'm thinking this is something I may acquire later on for sure - thanks guys for the heads-up.

[Chris Hall]

Okay, I'm a bit further along in this process and have found out some things.

As expected, factory support from Zimmermann for a 44-year old machine would be zero.

I've found out there is a separate drive motor for the side-to-side movement of the main table:

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The seller sent me pictures of all the motor data plates, which has been somewhat helpful. I was able to see that the machine had been repainted at some point, as the paint had to be scraped off the data plates.

I'm not sure yet whether replacing the motors will be the best move or whether getting a transformer and load panel will make more sense. I'm leaning towards the latter. After all, if I get other machines from Germany, it would be far simpler to deal with hooking them up to a dedicated transformer than deal with the motor issue every time.

Now, the machine was listed on German Ebay for 4600€, however on machineseeker is was 3900€. I offered them 3600€. Curiously, they have now offered to sell me the machine for 3300€, without any prompting on my part. Perhaps I am the first person to be interested in the machine for a long time, I don't know, but it was nice to receive further discount without asking.

As noted previously, the shipping will be 1050€. I have now learned that crating for export will cost 1400€. So, all in, I should be able to land the machine in Boston for 5750€, which, as of today, is $6250.00. I told them that I accept their offer, pending seeing a video showing the machine in operation.

There's always a risk when buying a machine from afar without personal inspection. Many would not even do something so apparently foolhardy. I'm not sure it is worth flying to Germany to check it out. If I were to look at buying half a dozen machines, perhaps, it would be different. So, there's some risk involved. From what I can see, the machine looks to be in good condition, with no significant broken or missing parts. I'm thinking that the worst case scenario is that the machine is simply worn out and will need a complete rebuilding, meaning total disassembly and scraping of relevant surfaces. A machine tool can usually be brought back to perfect spec., and I've got THE book on machine tool reconditioning showing the scraping process in detail, so if it comes to that, I'm ready to tackle the work.

More likely, I think, is that most of the machine will work fine, and perhaps just one or two areas are worn and will need scraping to bring back to spec. I guess we'll see. There are no electronics to deal with, so any electrical issues should be straightforward.

The seller told me he is unaware of any missing or broken parts. Of course, you never know for sure until you take a thing apart.

The company is going on vacation at the end of this week, and won't be back until August 10th, so I'll be talking with them again at that point.

[Brian]

Germany is a lot nicer in August than the East Coast, so a trip may well be worth it.