Chevalier FBL-540

The Chevalier FBL-540 is the longest lathe Chevalier lists, with 157.5 in (4,000 mm) of cutting length. It weighs 59,400 lb (27,000 kg) and its enclosure is 378 in wide, which puts it in the class of machine that a building is planned around.

Four metres between chuck and tailstock on a slant bed is unusual. Flat-bed lathes are the common choice at this length; a slant bed keeps chips falling clear of the ways and puts the turret behind the part where the operator can see the cut. Chevalier builds it on a 45-degree casting with a torque tube structure, and calls the series a big bore lathe with box ways.

Capacity across the part is the series standard. Maximum cutting diameter is Ø37 in (940 mm), with Ø39.4 in (1,000 mm) of swing over the bed and Ø31.5 in (800 mm) over the cover. X travel is 19.3 in (490 mm). The 12-station turret takes 1 1/4 in x 1 1/4 in tools, or 32 x 32 mm on metric machines.

The spindle turns at 1,000 rpm on an A2-15 nose, and the maker advertises up to a 60HP motor. Support comes from a programmable tailstock that can travel the whole 157.5 in (4,000 mm), with an MT 6 quill 7.9 in (200 mm) in diameter. Steady rests are not mentioned on the page, yet no shaft of this length is turned without them, so they belong in the first conversation with the maker. The control is a Fanuc 0i-T.