Davenport 5-Spindle Model B CNC

The Davenport Model B was introduced by the Davenport Machine Tool Company in Rochester, New York in the early twentieth century. It quickly became the dominant small-diameter multi-spindle screw machine in the United States, with hundreds of thousands of units eventually produced. Its 5-spindle cam-driven design was optimized for brass screw machine work — producing millions of connectors, fittings, and precision small parts for the electrical, plumbing, and automotive industries. Davenport Machine continues to manufacture and support the platform as a CNC system today.

The Davenport's 5-spindle design was the result of its original engineering for small brass parts — the 5-spindle arrangement provided sufficient simultaneous operations for the typical complexity of small screw machine parts while keeping machine size and cost lower than 6-spindle platforms. European manufacturers like Index and Schutte chose 6-spindle designs to maximize the number of simultaneous operations for more complex parts. For simple-to-moderate parts, 5 spindles is sufficient; for parts requiring many operations, 6 spindles offers a clear advantage.

Cycle times on the Davenport Model B CNC typically range from 3 to 20 seconds per part depending on part complexity, material, and operations required. Simple brass parts — connectors, fittings, contacts — can cycle in 3 to 8 seconds. More complex parts with drilling, threading, and form tool operations may cycle in 12 to 20 seconds. At 5 seconds per part, the machine produces 720 parts per hour; at 10 seconds, 360 per hour. Annual production capacity at typical uptime is 2 to 5 million parts per year.

Yes — the Davenport has one of the most active used and rebuilt machine markets of any machine tool platform in North America. Dozens of rebuilders and dealers specialize in Davenport machines, and complete rebuilt units with CNC control retrofits are widely available in the $80,000 to $250,000 range. Tooling, spare parts, and consumables are abundantly available from multiple North American suppliers. This active secondary market is a significant economic advantage of the Davenport platform over European multi-spindles with smaller North American installed bases.

Davenport Machine offers the Model B CNC with their proprietary PC-based servo control system, which is designed specifically for the Davenport architecture and familiar to operators trained by Davenport. Third-party CNC retrofits using Fanuc or Siemens Sinumerik controls are also available through independent rebuilders for shops that prefer to standardize on a major control platform. The Davenport-developed control provides guided programming specifically designed for the 5-spindle architecture.