Amada LC-2515 AJ
Turret Sleeving

Amada LC-2515 AJ at a glance

Era

2010s

Tonnage

22 ton

Stations

58

Turret

Thick turret

Control

AMNC NT

The Apelio line is Amada’s punch-laser combination series, built from the 1990s and long out of production. A combination machine still carries a conventional turret, and those stations wear exactly as they do on a punch press — the laser head changes nothing about the punching side.

Where this machine is in its life

The LC-2515 AJ is a current-generation machine (2010s). If yours is showing turret wear, it is not because the machine is old — it is because it has been working. High-utilisation machines reach the same bore wear in a fraction of the calendar time.

On a machine this current, the dominant cost is not the repair. It is the production you lose while it is out, which is why the work is done on your floor in days rather than the machine going anywhere.

How a LC-2515 AJ turret wears

At 22 tons, the LC-2515 AJ is a lighter, faster machine, and its turret wear pattern reflects that. wear accumulates through sheer cycle volume rather than force per hit. A high-throughput shop can put more hits through a 22-ton machine in a year than a heavy press sees in five.

With 58 stations, work is spread across a wide turret, which is why wear on these machines is so rarely uniform. In practice a handful of stations carry the common tools and wear out well ahead of the rest. Most LC-2515 AJ jobs are partial as a result — the worn stations are sleeved and the sound ones are left alone, which keeps both cost and downtime down.

The tell is always the same: the fault stays with the station rather than following the tool. Move a tool that is producing bad parts to another station — if it runs clean there, the bore is worn, and new tooling will not change that. See holes out of round or burring on punched parts for the full diagnosis.

What sleeving a LC-2515 AJ involves

Each worn bore is machined to a precise oversize and a hardened USA-made steel sleeve is pressed in with an interference fit, restoring the station to Amada factory tolerance — typically within 0.0002″. Engineers travel to you; the LC-2515 AJ never ships. 2–3 days of downtime, typically $8,000–$25,000 depending on scope. After the first install your own maintenance staff can replace sleeves in future.

Set against $100,000–$500,000+ for a replacement machine — see sleeve or replace, including where replacing genuinely wins.

Is the LC-2515 AJ a thick or thin turret machine?

The LC-2515 AJ is a thick turret machine. Thick and thin describe the turret, not automatically the tooling — the two are quoted separately, and a machine has to be identified on both counts before sleeves or tooling are ordered.

Tonnage will not tell you either: several 22-ton Amada machines run thick turrets. If you are not certain what your press carries, send us the model and serial number and we will confirm it. See also thick vs thin turret and how Amada model numbers work.

How the LC-2515 AJ compares

These machines are easy to mix up, and the difference matters when you are quoting a turret job. Against the other Apelio models we cover:

• Amada Apelio — tonnage 33 ton, control Fanuc, era 1990s.
• Amada Apelio II 357 — tonnage 33 ton, control Fanuc 05PLA, era 1992-98.
• Amada Apelio III 357V — tonnage 33 ton, control Fanuc 16-L, era 1997-2001.
• Amada Apelio III 367V — tonnage 30 ton, control Fanuc 16-L, era 1999-2003.
• Amada Apelio III 2510V — tonnage 33 ton, control Fanuc FS-16LB, era 2001.
• Amada Apelio III 2610V — tonnage 33 ton, control Fanuc 16-L, era 2001.
• Amada EML-2515 AJ — tonnage 33 ton, control AMNC 3i, era 2018-present.

Sleeving is the same process across all of them. What changes is scope, and scope follows station count and how hard the machine has been run.

Beyond the turret

The LC-2515 AJ runs the AMNC NT control — current-generation, and not usually a candidate for retrofit. Where a machine of this age needs more than turret work, it is normally wear items: X/Y ball screws, LM guide rails, clutch and brake, work holder clamps, guide keys, springs and collars. All covered under complete overhaul, on-site, in the same visit.