CNC Lathes Have Become An Essential Part of Modern Day Manufacturing
Lathes are essentially machines that can convert materials into various shapes. This is done by rotating the materials on the lathe drive and using various cutting tools to shape the piece mounted on the lathe. Lathes can be used to shape wood, metal or other material. Lathes, when they were first developed, used manual control of the tools to get the desired shapes. The final product therefore depended on the skill of the operator. CNC lathes nowadays are operated electronically and leave almost no room for error.
CNC Lathes - What Are They?
CNC is a short form of computer numerical controller . Lathes have computers attached to them that read instructions and control the movement of the machine tool that is being used on the lathe. It is a step forward from the first lathes that were manually operated and then switched over to electric motors to drive them.
CNC lathes use designs created by specialized software. A controller converts a digital signal into the required action. When a work piece is inserted into a lathe on a chuck, the rotary movement has speeds that can be controlled. These speeds will depend on the material being worked on or the type of cutting that has to be done. The computer controls the cutting action so that the finished product is as per the design. Lathes can even have a number of spindles, so that the same piece can be be oriented differently for obtaining cuts in various directions. This saves the time for removing the piece from the chuck and again mounting it in the desired different direction.
While CNC lathes do give very accurate results, they still require very well trained operators to ensure that final products have the accuracy that is needed. In addition they need the services of very experienced programmers who can give the necessary instructions to the lathe, from the blueprint of the item that is required to be manufactured.
Practical Advantages and Benefits
CNC lathes make for very good machines to be used on very hard materials, and to greatly reduced wastage. The precision of this method of metalworking allows raw forms to be of sizes very close to the final one. In large scale manufacture this can translate into huge benefits in raw material costs and hence final costs of products. Multiple operations such as drilling holes precisely can be done in the same operation, greatly reducing production times.
CNC lathes have almost completely replaced old manual lathes, and their programming and operation is something that every modern technical institute does train its students in. They allow the making of very complex parts, and greatly reduce rejections due to inaccuracies. This allows machinery designers to get parts of very high dimensional tolerances, which further increases efficiencies. Production rates of manufacturing goods are high and errors are fewer. The use of computers has also led to a reduction in setting up times for these lathes.
CNC lathes have come about as a result of technological advances, that have enabled computers to be linked to mechanical operations. They have led to reduction in costs, speed of production and greater accuracy.
View more at http://precisionproductionengineering.com
Lathes are essentially machines that can convert materials into various shapes. This is done by rotating the materials on the lathe drive and using various cutting tools to shape the piece mounted on the lathe. Lathes can be used to shape wood, metal or other material. Lathes, when they were first developed, used manual control of the tools to get the desired shapes. The final product therefore depended on the skill of the operator. CNC lathes nowadays are operated electronically and leave almost no room for error.
CNC Lathes - What Are They?
CNC is a short form of computer numerical controller . Lathes have computers attached to them that read instructions and control the movement of the machine tool that is being used on the lathe. It is a step forward from the first lathes that were manually operated and then switched over to electric motors to drive them.
CNC lathes use designs created by specialized software. A controller converts a digital signal into the required action. When a work piece is inserted into a lathe on a chuck, the rotary movement has speeds that can be controlled. These speeds will depend on the material being worked on or the type of cutting that has to be done. The computer controls the cutting action so that the finished product is as per the design. Lathes can even have a number of spindles, so that the same piece can be be oriented differently for obtaining cuts in various directions. This saves the time for removing the piece from the chuck and again mounting it in the desired different direction.
While CNC lathes do give very accurate results, they still require very well trained operators to ensure that final products have the accuracy that is needed. In addition they need the services of very experienced programmers who can give the necessary instructions to the lathe, from the blueprint of the item that is required to be manufactured.
Practical Advantages and Benefits
CNC lathes make for very good machines to be used on very hard materials, and to greatly reduced wastage. The precision of this method of metalworking allows raw forms to be of sizes very close to the final one. In large scale manufacture this can translate into huge benefits in raw material costs and hence final costs of products. Multiple operations such as drilling holes precisely can be done in the same operation, greatly reducing production times.
CNC lathes have almost completely replaced old manual lathes, and their programming and operation is something that every modern technical institute does train its students in. They allow the making of very complex parts, and greatly reduce rejections due to inaccuracies. This allows machinery designers to get parts of very high dimensional tolerances, which further increases efficiencies. Production rates of manufacturing goods are high and errors are fewer. The use of computers has also led to a reduction in setting up times for these lathes.
CNC lathes have come about as a result of technological advances, that have enabled computers to be linked to mechanical operations. They have led to reduction in costs, speed of production and greater accuracy.
View more at http://precisionproductionengineering.com