Early Deckel NC Machines
This chapter is bound to be rudimentary, since so little is known of these machines.
It appears that Deckel tried from the mid-60ies to automate machining in a flexible manner. According to the "Technische Mitteilungen" of 1/69 a "programmable" jig borer version of the established LKB was introduced in 1967. This was called the "PKB" (Programmable Koordinate Boring).
Since "programming" was achieved by cams adjusted with optics, one is hard pressed to call this "NC".
A 1977 edition of the Deckel assessory catalog mentiones several catagories of machines:
NC milling and boring machines with tapeless push-button straight line control system
E3
E3L
E3LV
NC milling and boring machines with continuous path control system:
C3
C3L
C3LV
V410
Universal machining center:
PF5C
NC machining centers:
V400
S500
An S500 was recently on german EBay, unfortunately with an unusable picture. Some of these machines are still around (esspecially the E3), but they are very few and far between. Since most of them are too big for a small shops, they have little chance of survival.
For now this chapter will simply be filled with pictures as found on the internet, in the hope that someone with knowledge will contribute something eventually.
C 3L from 1978 (below):
Note the "Eimeldingen" NC rotary table XA 800x600. Maschinenfabrik Eimeldingen ("Markgraeflich Badische Industrieverwaltung GmbH & Co." ) was supplying accessories to Deckel.Operator and Service Manual available on request.
From a Deckel product line brochure approx. 1973 (but not sure):
Control Fanuc 260 A. Did it ever go into production?
