Toolroom lathe: Weiler Primus

When I first discovered your channel you had the shaper and the pantograph. I doubt many people saw those and thought, "that's just like my shop!"

I keep coming back because I like seeing the kinds of work you do and the way you solve problems. There's pleasure in seeing a skilled craftsman in action, and in hearing them think out loud as they work. I like watching Adam Booth even though his roughing passes move more metal than I put in a whole project, and Kurtis from Cutting Edge Engineering even though I'll never refit hydraulic cylinders longer than my house. Your knowledge, your interests, your standards, and your sense of humor make the channel worth following. The machines just keep pace with you as you grow.

I'd rather watch you learn how to get the most out of a machine that costs more than my house than see you struggle with the limits of a machine you've outgrown.

not sure about the $$ vs value of this, for 20k you could have bought a really really good hlv-h, and they aren't sophisticated to maintain
even Schaublins 135 come up from time to time at that price range in auctions, sure it will be somewhat of a project, but the end value is much much greater and depreciation non existent for that level of machines, not so much for Primus...

Keep the vids. coming. I love the machines. My shop is small and I love your 'spacial' solutions. Rock on Stefan!!

Very, very nice! You seem to do really well. Did you ever consider moving into a little bigger house so you can get more or bigger tools?

Stephan, i can relate to the people that can not relate. I mean, producing Flux Capacitor parts on a Deckel Patnograph, i could relate to that, that is what my mum is doing while watching soap operas since her eyesight stopped her from knitting socks - but moving from a manual toolmakers Lathe to, erm, a better manual toolmakers Lathe - that is a tad bit much don't you think?

Your videos are great! My situation is similar since I have been doing full time consulting and R&D work since the 1980:s in precision mechanisms and electronics. My shop is both a hobby and work tool used daily.
I am partial to Weiler lathes, have a 80:s condor that is my best all round lathe ever. Never found the stability of the crosslide on it to be an issue, tried a solid toolpost, felt no significant advantage. Controls are pretty much the same as Yours, but mine is a 6011 green rounded older one. Never used the newer condors. The electric brake has now failed me twice, I am not going to restore it again. Have been warned not to use the electric brake on the highest rpm:s because of the high transient loads on the gearbox. I intend to put a VFD on it and rewire the electrics. This should also give a softer adjustable braking action. The lever operated C5 closer on mine is great, also have the lever feed on the tailstock with integral C5 holder which makes it useful for more duties than as an airhose hanger...

We had 2 Weiller Primus lathes in our production shop. Beautiful precision machines. With the collet attachment and a Mitutoyo 3 axis DRO fitted, they were superb to operate.

There's one big problem with that lathe. The problem is that it's in your shop and not mine. Congratulations! It's such a good feeling to acquire a newer upgraded machine.

Gorgeous machine, congrats Stefan!

Thank you for the great video and congrats in new machine! I just bought Weiler 120 CNC lathe from marketplace from Germany 😁 i plan to retrofit it with new controler so it was nice to hear it is a heavy duty machine worth investing time into 😅

WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR NICE RUSSIAN INTRO MUSIC I WONDER?

Very cool equipment to me it's your skill set is why I watch toe tools are something to drool over looking forward to see the development of the new lathe.

I have a shop in my basement with tools that have been paid for by using them. It's both a hobby and a business. It grew over time and I buy increasingly better quality and more expensive tools. I find what you are doing to be very relatable. I'm sure that many other people do as well.

Lovely machine. Looking forward to the compound mods and dro fitting.

Proudly Made in India

how is a weiler compared to a leinen? my favourite was always the leinen dlz 160

I put my lathe on two off-cuts from an 8” white oak beam that was about to be converted into firewood by a local timber framing company.

I was told to soak the beams in mineral oil to prevent moisture from the air getting into the wood, which should stabilize the dimensions of the beams regardless of the air humidity.

Excellent , hearing your thoughts on this processes is illuminating. Do not worry, I will still hate you for your amazing machines and the ever increasing awesomeness of your shop. Keep up the great work and congrats on the new lathe.

A wonderful machine. Excited to see it when it has the slide covers and everything else. There seems to be a possible way to alter the oil cover a little to eliminate the crashing possibility.

In the late 70's I worked ( "Praktikum" for Uni) at a UK machine tool manufacturer, same contrast of old and new, still made old school mechanical and hydraulic 2 and 3D copy mill machines but were beginning to use CNC machines in their manufacture while being behind on modernising their own product. Needless to say long gone.

Have you also looked at GDW lathes too?

Dein Englisch ist wirklich beneidenswert gut👍 viel Spaß mit der Maschine

Nice machine. Great video and overview. Runs really nice, and hope it will serve you well.
I watch your videos, even if I do not own any machines (other than maybe a drill, a file and 3d printer and a set of taps and dies :D)

Emco V13 is best tool room machine,also Weiler is still on market so am understand your choice

"...gear train directly to the spindle, which is wrong" now I'm curious why!

How do you like those Kimtech wipes? I'm finding the larger blue box kimtech wipes to be extremely linty. Would like to know about how you clean your machine tools and parts.

COngrats mate !
Weiler is one of the BEST lathes one can get!

nice lathe and well talk through. I am wondering have you ever used the electronic lead screw like rocketronics els4 it is german company. i really want to hear your opinion on that one.

I have a hlvh and a 10ee and I feel relatable. don’t worry about or feed the trolls. 😉

I think its great that you buy expensive machines. Machines that most of us could never buy (or WOULD never buy) so we get to see how a pro shop does stuff.
The cleverness, precision and intricacy of what you do are the real stars anyway, the machines are just tools. 👍

What the hell was that noise you made at the start?! 😅

Cheers, I really like the new lathe, and am looking forward to seeing the content it creates. ^____^

Congratulations on the purchase of a beautiful Weiler Primus lathe. To be honest, I was impressed with your Emco Super 11. This new lathe is over the top and I look forward to seeing all the amazing work you will do with it.

Hi Stefan :-) such a beautiful machine. Thank you very much indeed for sharing your passion. I've been watching your videos for years but I can't remember if I've ever said hello before, so hi. And many thanks. Mein name ist Barney.

Nice lathe, I like the controls at the tail stock end.

Polycarbonate is nice until it gets some UV or chemical aging, then it's a bit of a time bomb. I suppose you could make the best chuck shield ever with some Al extrusion and wire reinforced glass panels.

Congrats on the new machine. Who doesn’t work to upgrade their shop with better machines and tooling?!!

what you teach is priceless and timeless. your teachings will never be outdated.

I think your willingness to share what you know with everyone is why your channel is popular, I'm just happy you got a machine you wanted. Keep the videos coming.

Sorry about the Trump supporter like feedback, but you are doing just fine.

Congrats on the new machine! Looks very robust and useful :)
Enjoy...

Niceeeeeeeee 😀

Looks like a really nice machine made for professionals-

Thanks for the excellent overview of the lathe. At some point in the future it would be really interesting to me if you could demonstrate the tolerances, runouts etc., so that I can see the difference between an expensive machine of such quality compared with a good hobby lathe.

HOW ABOUT A CNC MACHINE

I missed this when it came...
TOS is one of the brands that always show up in the Netherlands. For the first time in 18 years I started working at a place that didn't have a TOS but did spend over 50k on a rebuild schaublin 125... And all our cnc mills are DMG and Bridgeport. We do just slightly bigger parts than you 😂, my previous mill at my old workplace could fit 3 out the 4 mills on its table but it was 40 years old.

Wie immer, alles einfach klasse, Presentation, Charme und beste Laune. Danke Dir dafür. Werde ab und zu meine Kommentare auf Deutsch hinterlassen, ich mag die Sprache dermaßen und es muss einfach sein.

This is the nicest 'small' lathe out there. It is a cut above the Emco, but it should be noted that the Emco lathes are quite good, just not tool room quality. But I believe there are 2 versions of the Primus, there is the geared head version and the belt driven version, said to be extremely quiet. If I could choose any lathe from the entire universe, I might chose the belted Primus for it's quiet nature. There was also a milling column that bolts to the bed, very much like Emco, but more robust. For it's size, this is a very full-featured lathe.

I say we vote if Stefan is allowed to evolve in his activities,
seriously, congrats on the new sweetheart! A few years ago i was lucky to be able to drag one of those small revolver head (260) into my garage, i love collets now. Best regards from belgium

Nice lathe! You mentioned rebuild project for cheaper lathes. Just wondering, are the Primuses for 12k Є usable for most of the work or worn so much to require good amount of rebuild? What parts likely need to be repaired?
Thank you!

Hi Stefan. Nice machine! I've got a similar machine Weiler primus VCD. I would like your advice on an issue I have, which is that the cross and longitudinal feed are not engaging. I see that the lead screw is not turning. Thanks 👍🏿