Articles

Chip Breaking Logan Clutch at Graff-Pinkert's Seminar

Graff-Pinkert held a seminar at its facility in which we showcased a solution to the age old problem of long stringy chips that clog up screw machines when working with materials such as aluminum and copper. Graff-Pinkert's salesman Rex Magagnotti suggested that Logan Clutch could program an automated high/low clutch for a Wickman multi-spindle that would automatically execute intermittent cuts to break the chips. It was an adaptation of an old school approach of notching a cam that could peck drill to break chips. Logan Clutch's engineers successfully accomplished this feat and presented the product on a Wickman 1-3/4" at Graff-Pinkert's Screw Machine Innovations Seminar.

A Hydromat Just How You Want It

Graff-Pinkert just got in two Hydromats, an HB45-12 bar machine, HB45-12 Chucker, and an HW25-12 bar machine! We offer hydromats with saw, bar feed and inverter, and then customers can choose from our wide selection of units to get the right configuration for their specific jobs. Why buy units you don't need, just because a machine happened to have those units? Because Graff-Pinkert is one of the few Hydromat resellers that actually stocks Hydromats at our facility, we have the flexibility to sell you a cleaned and painted machine that will arrive on your floor ready to run.

Wickman 1-3/4": How to Change Pins and Bushings of Upper Quadrants

The following videos give step by step instructions for changing the pins and bushings of the upper quadrants of a Wickman 1-3/4" 6-spindle. The videos were shot at Graff-Pinkert's facility. Click "read more" to see the second and third videos.

Part 1: Changing Pins and Bushings on Upper Quadrants of Wickman 1-3/4"

CNC Swiss Lathes

Graff-Pinkert has sold numerous brands of CNC Swiss Lathes for many years, including Citizen, Star, Hanwa, Tsugami and Tornos.

Swiss-type lathes are often not actually made in Switzerland, such as Star, Citizen, and Tsugami which are manufactured in Japan, Hanhwa, which is produced in Korea, Manurhin which is produced in France, or Swistek which is produced in China. Tornos is the most famous of the Swiss machine producers actually from Switzerland.

How to Change Acme-Gridley Spindle Bearings, Parts, I, II, III

This video is a step by step instruction on changing spindle bearings on an Acme-Gridley screw machine. The demonstrator is is Don Anger, considered one of the top Acme service people in the world.

Part I: Removing the Spindle Bearings

Part II: Changing the Bearings

It's a Wonderful Business

Yesterday was an emotional day for me. I gave out end of the year bonus checks to the employees of my used machinery company, Graff-Pinkert, holding impromptu talks with each person after delivering each envelope. I thanked each person for their contribution, asked them how they could improve next year and how I could help them. Paternalistic, very old school.

I found myself holding back my tears during some of the sessions. I scurried to an empty shop office to pull myself together — and wept.

Changing Pins and Bushings on a 1-3/4" 6-spindle Wickman

Three part video on the process of changing the pins and bushings of the lower quadrants of a 1-3/4" 6-spindle Wickman screw machine.

Part 1: Removal Of The Lower Quadrants.

Part 2: Replacing The Pins and Bushings

Part 3: Reinstalling The Lower Quadrants

Buy a Screw Machine for 179

Matthew Lesko, That crazy guy on TV advertising "Free Money" form the Government

I normally deal in subtleties — close calls on whether to buy a machine, take a gamble, hire a new person, eat a piece of pie. But occasionally a deal comes along that is so breathtakingly clear you just shake your head and say YES!

We are in one of those odd moments. When the handwriting on the wall is so clear even a blind man can read it.

Graff-Pinkert History Lesson

The photo above is a Graff-Pinkert ad in the Serial Number Reference Book For Metalworking Machinery 7th Edition from 1979. Graff-Pinkert & Co. has undergone a lot of changes since my grandfather Leonard Graff and his cousin Aaron Pinkert started the used machine tools business back in 1941. We've been in business almost three quarters of a century, and it's mind boggling how many multispindle screw machines we've sold and then ended up buying back decades later, which we then refurbish and sell to new customers.

Machines I'm Thankful for and More

I'm thankful for our 8-32 Euroturn (ZPS). Rigid, fast, accurate. A modern beautiful, multi-spindle, almost as beautiful as the Czech women who live where it's built.

I'm thankful for traditional cutting oil. No, not the water soluble stuff which destroys beautiful machine tools.

I'm thankful to live and work in a country which still manufactures many of the best parts in the world at competitive prices.

I'm thankful for all our Wickmans, solid, high precision multi-spindle screw machines, great for quick changeover. Why buy any other machine?

Graff-Pinkert - Screw Machines, Hydromats, CNCs