We used to have a huge old 5' archdale at work. The thing was a beast, with a mt5 quill taper and quite frankly the only machine tool I've ever used that kinda scared me. Kind of like a big old lathe in back gear, you could just feel the torque, and knew it wasn't stopping for anything....It was a bit too big for the work we did, so the Boss got rid of it, and got a much more appropriate size 3' one and man were they ever handy. If I ever have the space for one, I'd love to get one. This one is almost borderline too small, but it sure looks cool. If it was closer and cheaper I might find a spot for it in the barn and oil it up real good until I could find a more permanent home for it.
As big as that archdale was, one of our customers, Massiv dieform had ones that made it look small. As if the name didn't give it away, the machines they had in there made absolutely everything looks small. Fascinating place to tour around.
