Chevalier FBL-460L

The Chevalier FBL-460L is the long-bed model of Chevalier's A2-15 big-bore lathe. It keeps the 6 in (153 mm) spindle bore, the 1,500 rpm spindle and the 26.7 in (680 mm) cutting diameter of the FBL-460, on a heavier bed: net weight is 29,762 lb (13,500 kg).

A warning comes before anything else. On the maker's page the length rows in this model's column, cutting length, distance between centers, Z travel and tailstock travel, repeat the short-bed figures exactly. They cannot describe a long bed, so this page does not show them. The FBL-460L MC, listed beside it on the same bed, has 78.7 in (2,000 mm) of Z travel, which is the best indication of the size but is not a figure for this model. Get the lengths in writing from Chevalier.

What the table does state is the capacity around the part. Swing over the bed is 33.0 in (840 mm) and over the cover 26 in (662 mm), so a long tube or roll can be up to the cover figure along its length. Bar material up to 5.5 in passes through the spindle. The turret has 12 stations.

The tailstock is programmable, with a hydraulic quill of 4.3 in (110 mm) diameter, 4.7 in (120 mm) of stroke and an MT 5 taper hole. On long pipe work that quill usually carries a bull-nose centre, and the hydraulic drive lets the program set and release it. The bed is a 45-degree slant design and the control a Fanuc 0i-T.