Key Questions to Ask When Ordering Heavy duty CNC lathe machine

Looking for a new CNC machine tool? Answering these 7 important questions will help you focus your search, save time and frustration, and ultimately guide you toward a sound financial investment.

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1. Why do you need a new CNC machine? You may be replacing an existing piece of equipment, wishing to add capacity, or upgrading to newer technology that will make you more productive. Or perhaps you want to move into new markets with more demanding requirements. Whatever the reasons, it’s important to keep your goals clearly in mind so you don’t end up with less machine than you need, or overpay for features you won’t use.
2. What materials will you be machining? If the CNC machine you’re looking for will work exclusively on easier-to-machine materials such as aluminum, a lighter-duty piece of equipment may be just fine. On the other hand, if the machine tool will be machining more difficult materials, such as titanium or stainless steel, you’ll need heavier-duty construction for greater stability, and a more powerful spindle drive to maintain higher spindle speeds and feed rates. You’ll also want to consider if there are possible material changes that may affect you in the future. For example, if you expect to make brass parts that carry potable water, recent regulations require the use of no-lead brass, which is a harder material to machine than traditional brass.
3. What tolerances do you need to hold? If you plan to run close-tolerance parts you’ll need a more rigid, stable machine tool that has the power and structural design necessary to quickly remove material while maintaining accuracy. You will also benefit from a machine that monitors inevitable temperature variations and provides thermal compensation to provide more precise machining throughout the cycle.
4. How much material do you need to remove? Again, lighter duty machines may be adequate for removing certain materials or near-net-shape parts. On the other hand, if you plan to work from solid stock, forgings or cast iron you’ll need a CNC machine that has adequate horsepower, torque and heavy-duty construction.
5. High-volume or one-offs? Manufacturers who produce high-volumes of parts need faster, sturdier and more reliable equipment to reduce cycle times and downtime than those who deal with prototypes or low-volume parts runs.
6. How complex are the parts that you produce? More sophisticated, multi-faceted parts, such as turbine blades, impellers and airframes, require a greater number of operations than simpler parts. Although you may be able to produce these parts by using multiple CNC machine tools, it’s often far more efficient to perform as many operations as possible on a single machine, such as a multi-purpose lathe or vertical machining center (VMC) capable of 5-axis machining. These machines require fewer costly fixtures and specialized tools, reduce operator time per part, provide greater flexibility and increased spindle usage.
7. Are you running families of parts? CNC machines with more sophisticated and interactive controls provide the flexibility to reduce setup times, manage production schedules and even monitor materials usage. For example, some machine tool controls enable users to simply enter the parameters for a family of parts and the control then writes the program. All of which leads to greater productivity and profitability.

There are more questions to ask, of course, and more answers to consider, including the true cost of CNC machine ownership beyond the initial price. That’s why it makes sense to talk to people who have the information you need. Gosiger CNC machine specialists have the experience and expertise to help you find the best solution for your unique requirements. Call them today.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit Heavy duty CNC lathe machine.

Thanks to Gosiger CNC machine Sales Engineer and Project Manager, Jim Czekaj for his contributions to this article.

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Your advice please. We run a six machinist shop, doing maintenance and short run (up to, say 500 pieces, but more often four to twelve pieces) production work on historic railroad equipment.

We have been sending the larger quantities of production work out, since our shop is currently set up with only manual machines, but that has become an increasingly expensive option. We are planning to purchase a CNC lathe to bring this work in-house and cut costs. This machine would be used mainly for brass, bronze, and mild steel parts up to 4" or 6" in diameter, but mainly 2" and under. Most of these parts are short (say 8" or less), but we could be turning quantities of threaded “staybolts” that are 1-1/2" x up to 24"+ long.

Our machinists are very bright and quick learners, but we are universally lacking in recent or extensive CNC experience. Accordingly, we would need a machine that quick to learn, and easy to tool and program.

The question then is, “What to get?” The lathe wouldn’t be used anywhere near full time, so buying something new is probably out of the question. We have concerns, perhaps unfounded, that older machines might lack needed support in both parts and programming. If so, how old is too old? What brand or model of control is the leader for casual operators? What type of control should be avoided?

A machinery dealer nearby is currently offering a Clausing CNC engine lathe, 15" x 46". It has a “Fanuc 20-T 2 axis CNC control with RS232, Teach Cut Mode”, Constant Surface Speed Comp. Would this be a good choice? What is a reasonable price for this machine?

Strasburg Rail Road Mr. Anderson ( I feel like I am in the "Matrix" saying that )

You did not specify the tolerances that you *must* hit when machining.
So unless there is something incredibly tight about the thread class, or other really tight tolerances, then I think you could get away with any old cnc lathe.

What I mean by that is any used cnc lathe that is in decent shape.

The important factors to be considered are this: (and others will list more that I've forgoten)

1 condition of the machinary for the money being spent.

2 support of the machinary. for repairs ect...

3 tolerances that can reasonably be expected to be held on the machine

4 turning diameter, and length. (you have already said 8" od max, X 24" long)

5 you *will* want a programable tailstock for your longer bolts.

6 the amount of tools to be held in the turret ( I would think a minimum of 5-6 (or more, which is always better) for simple centering, ruffing, finishing, threading, and parting.

7 ease of operation. (you might want to think about a trainable machine, such as a Romi, or Milltronics.

That is all I can think of.
For recommendations of brands...well I will let others chime in on that one.
I cannot give you any info on the lathe you spoke of, but if Don T. chimes in, he might be able to, as he sells machinary, and he owns the board too.

Best of luck,
Doug. Kelly - If you have bright people, the ease of learning is less important than what your work is like. My questions would be how many toolchanges will there be per part, how many parts will there be per run, and how much material must be removed per part.

We bought a Milltronics ML20 in for $34K, because we thought we'd be using it as a 'teachable' engine lathe part of the time. This is similar to the machine you are looking at. Since then we have not used it that way even once. We are running production parts on it and pushing it way past what it was intended for. The conversational programming and teach mode were abandoned as soon as we got Edgecam working and built a code generator for it. The 'easy' modes are a big time waster on those machines and you give them up as soon as you learn a better way. I think they are mostly for marketing them to inexperienced shops such as you describe your own. One nice feature of the hybrid lathes like this is that they all have tailstocks, and have long bed lengths not usually seen in turning centers.

Our work load is from 1 part to 250, with the most between 10 and 50. Most parts have a lot of roughing, and we find 10/15 hp inadequate at times.

For ease of setup and tooling, get a machine with just an Aloris toolpost and change the tools manually. That will get old on multiple parts though. Ours has an 8 tool turret on it, and we often wish for 12 tools.

I have lots more to share. We are very close to you, just up the road in Willow Street, and I'd be happy to show you what we've done with what we have, and I believe it's applicable to what you are doing. Send me a message through the board and you can come up to see us if we can have a tour of your shops.

[ 08-04-, 05:08 PM: Message edited by: Mudflap ] Kelly:
Some thoughts on your lathe choices: In my shop like "Mudflap" i bought an electronic engine lathe. The machine i choose was a Romi M17. This is a similar machine to the one you are looking at from the local dealer. Unlike "Mudflap" we are in the repair and prototype end of the machine trade, no production and i think more similar to your situation. I use the machine in manual mode almost every day. It replaced a 15X50 inch Colchester manual machine and i use the REomi to do quick turning and "widget making every day. I like the "Guide" (easy programming system). I don't think it is a waste of time. I have a Cam program but rarely use it for lathe work. Can do most jobs right on the control and pretty fast. Draws the part ass i enter the moves i want, does roughing and finishing routiens with a single set of program lines.
Some thoughts about the electronic teach lathes.
First they will use the same tooling that you already have as the tool post is on the front side of the carriage. Some turret CNC lathes require left hand tooling because the turret is to the rear and the spindle runs backward to make your cuts. Not a big problem but will rrequire further investment of tooling that you most likely already have.
The opreation of this type of lathe is an easy step from the manual machines you already are running, again, easyt transition.
You might not need any type of turret, rathe you might be as happy with an Aloris block. That way you get unlimited tool capacity for any job. The time for tool changes will be longer but the flexibility will be better.
Aloris tool bolcks further enable use of long boring bars for short or long reaches. With a turret you have to keep the total length of your boring bars to what the job requires. So if you need a short rigid bar for example, you must cut the bar off so it does not extend past the turret. (prrevents indexing). This is easily done, but the next job that requires a longer bar, well you need to buy a longer bar.......
On my machine i set it up to use the MultiFix tool post system. I found that with the Aloris i could not get the parts to repeat in size (within .'). The MultiFix does better at that and is more rigid and is better at preventing the tool block from twisting when doing drilling off the post.
On the Colchester, be cautious. Some of the teach machines have special software that allows use of the quick proigramming but not real "G" code. Make sure that the machine does both quick and full G-code programming.
One of the advantages for me on the Romi was the spindle. It came with the option of being a D1-6 camlock. Nice thing about this is that all my engine lathe tooling fits. I can use my 4-jaw chucks, a nose mounted collet closer(can't use a manual rear drawbar due to the length of the headstock) 3-jaw chucks, 6jaw chucks, or even a face plate for turning between centers or holding an odd shape. Most CNC lathes have "A" type spindles and the chuck must be un-bolted to remove.
I would think that a machine that is flexible and easy to change over and use would be high on your requirements.
As a side note i would like to say welcome. I was the superintendant of the steam department for 10 years at "The Western Rail Museam" at Rio Vista Junction here in California. Done my share of tube ,flue and staybolt work over the years.
Cheers, Ross Cummings