Slant bed 10-inch CNC lathe, 360×560 mm, 3500 rpm spindle, live-tool option.
The SL2000 family has been around for 15 years and, fun fact, the frame geometry barely changed because users kept saying: keep it, it cuts.
Metal jobbers in Sharjah live on thin margins, they hate scrap, they love predictability. A slant bed with an easy chip flow means less heat pile up in a pretty hot desert workshop. It sounds obvious but, yeah, sand dust everywhere, you do want enclosed guarding that seals properly, and SMEC sorted that part with automotive-grade gaskets.
Two lines, breathe, then the table, but first, context. People keep asking me on WhatsApp: does the turret index time feel sluggish compared to a Lynx 2100, is the spindle torque flat, will the machine hold ±0.005 mm after lunch break when the AC gives up. I threw it on my notes and built this tiny sheet.
| Spec | SL2000 | SL2000M (live tools) | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Max dia | 360 mm | 360 mm | same casting |
| Max length | 560 mm | 510 mm | live-tool gearbox eats space |
| Spindle rpm | 3500 | 3500 | identical motor |
| Live tool rpm | – | 5000 | radial BMT 55P |
| X/Z rapid | 30/30 m-min | 30/30 m-min | linear guideways |
| Power | 18.5 kW | 18.5 / 5.5 kW | main / live |
Numbers look dry yet, still, they tell the point. The M version compromises a bit on length but delivers drilling on center, cross-milling, small stuff like M6 thread whirling, saves a second op.
Now, a small detour, I keep mixing stories. A friend in Abu Dhabi Aero found out that the 12-station turret accepts a 25 mm boring bar if you pull the sleeve, nobody writes that in brochures yet here we are.
I called this chatter because it really came from shop floors, not PDF spec sheets.
Picture this, 60 mm EN24 bar, dry, because who likes messy coolant at open house. Feed 0.3 mm-rev, depth 4 mm per side, spindle at 1400. Chips yellow blue, surface passable. Cycle time cut by 11 percent compared to an older SL1500, mainly due to higher rigid tapping rpm. SMEC claims it, I clocked it, numbers stick.
Heading blunt, no poetry. Haas ST-20, Doosan Lynx 2100, Goodway GLS-2000, they all sit in same price tier, medsized, 10 in chuck. Where the SL2000 wins
* Slightly heavier bed, extra 400 kg, absorbs chatter on stainless
* Servo turret, no curvic coupling, index in 0.2 sec faster on average
* Tool setter as stock in UAE version, others upsell it
Weak spots exist, I do not hide them
* Sheet-metal fit not as slick as Doosan
* No built-in coolant chiller option, you need aftermarket
Contradicting myself, I still like it.
SL1500, SL2000, SL2500, same core casting, stretched or trimmed along Z. The 2000 sits sweet spot, can swing brake discs and yet small enough to load by 5-ton overhead crane common in Dubai sheds. Three iterative facelifts, latest got Y-axis on the SL2000Y but that is another SKU.
Random list again, yeah
– Grease guns gone, everything centralized lube, 1000-hour interval
– Spindle cartridge pulls out front, swap in 3 hours, I timed dealers doing it
– Turret alignment shimless, grind-on-bed, you loosen four bolts, re-zero with feeler leaf, done
Two bullet lines, good.
One guy on shift, he programs via Ethernet DNC, no fancy MES. Part family sized palm up to forearm. The SL2000 memory 2 GB, so drip feed rarely needed. If the power flickers, UPS inside control keeps it alive 20 minutes, that saved crashes more than once.
SMEC, born out of Samsung Machine Tools back in 1988, still runs a plant in Changwon, output around 7000 machines a year across 40 models. The SL line started 2006, went through three main upgrades. No, this is not some badge-engineered mystery mill, the casting shop sits right next to assembly, same compound.
Every container arrives in Jebel Ali, uncrated, rigged, power on within two days, shops rush. High ambient tests show spindle nose holding 38 °C stable with regular coolant, not chilled. For reference, Haas ST hits 44 in same room, measured with a FLIR pocket.
You want a slant bed that dumps chips fast, keeps tool eye level, takes a live tool bolt-on without redesign, then SL2000 or 2000M does the job. Faster than entry Taiwan machines, cheaper than big Japanese names. And if a bearing squeals you get NSK stock in Dubai, lead time 1 day.
A messy stream yet packed, done.
