It would be really really cool to have a CNC lathe in the machine shop. I want to prototype hardware for the pens I make so ALL of the parts can be made in USA.
Thanks
Manny
Thereās several people that have expressed their interest in a CNC lathe. I, for one, second that request.
Now, whoās got $100K? 
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If we had 100 people who had $1k, we could do it. Iāll raise my hand as one, if someone finds the other 99.
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I donāt know that I could do $1000, but I would be in for a couple hundred at any rate. I want to cut complex profiles & multi-start threads, & everyone seems to agree this is the way to do it.
Does multicams cnc lathe add on work on our cnc router?
Not on a classic series AFAIK
Thanks,
Alyssa
Just throwing this out thereā¦
drool ā¦
Iām going to take a look at it on Tuesday.
They arent all $100k
Just a quick search on goolge shows many less than $10k
Yep, you can get some basic machines for about that price (and some even less), but there is additional tooling and such which raise the price. My research into the subject indicates that we could expect to have to spend between $20-$24k for a complete prototyping (as to opposed to a HAAS style production) CNC lathe.
The real problem with this purchase is what we have seen in the difference between the use the CNC router gets versus the use the HAAS gets. The user interface and level of effort required for a 3D (as opposed to the 2 1/2D of the CNC router) require considerably more effort. I believe this is why the HAAS has so few users making use of it. I also suspect a CNC lathe would have roughly the same degree of use because of that hurdle.
More then the equipment, we need to find a combination that makes it easy to use the machine to make parts.
Yes, CNC is the way to go for complex profiles; however, there are really no issues with cutting multi-start threads on a manual lathe like our Colchester. Folks have been doing it for over a hundred years.
I speak under corrrection, but a CNC lathe really doesnāt offer much beyond what a regular late offers. The only reason I can see to to get such a beast is for production machining, something DMS really does not want to get involved in. I applaud every one at the DMS who is using the space to prototype stuff for commercial purposes, but when our machinery is used for production then, aside from the exploitation, it places our 501 status at risk.
It is understandable that members might use our machines for production for a period while they are transitioning to commercial operation, but it makes no sense to buy production machines and subsidize people who really need to go buy their own machines or contract out the work.
Iāve yet to see anyone do 3D on the HAAS, itās all been 2Ā½D. And the MultiCAM is a 3D machine. So Iām not sure where youāre going with that. Also, Iām not willing to capitulate that the MultiCAM is getting more use than the HAAS, despite the fact that itās much easier to use, based on what Iāve seen.
As far as cost, you get what you pay for. $120K gets a brand new machine capable of spitting out complex finished parts 24/7/365 with almost no human interaction. I canāt imagine what youād get for less than $10K that would be worth even that much money, save for the rare extremely good deal.
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I disagree. It is far easier to CAD up a part and make it in a CNC machine than to try and make it manually. DMS is all about empowering people to make things, not about training professionals.
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āHighly-trained specialists have been doing it for a long timeā does not translate to āreally no issuesā. Master machinists can easily cut multi-start threads on manual lathes ; cardiac surgeons can remove the beating heart from your body & replace it with one from a dead body ; but would you want me doing either?
Making multi-start threads with a typical tolerance is no harder on a manual machine then making single start threads.
Both require a little bit of knowledge, but hardly a āmaster machiningā level.
Iād say all it takes is acquiring a little written knowledge such as is contained in something like book and an hours practice on the lathe. I doubt you could achieve it any faster on a CNC lathe unless you have prior experience with one.
The vcarve software is much easier to use and get results with when compared to featurecam. I attribute this to the fact that vcarve only does 2 1/2d, while featurecam supports 3d, 4d, etc. The latter nescessarily adds complexity.
As far as getting what you pay for, I dont think that really applies.
Both the $125k production machine your talking about and the $20k prototyping machine I mentioned are new and capable of producing similar quality parts. The real difference is your option is designed to produce large quantities of the same part quickly. Something that really isnt important for us.
The production machine will also havemuch higher repair costs in addition to the capitol cost.
Personally, I doubt either machine would get enough members using to justify the cost.
While I do believe that a cnc lathe would be a great addition, maybe the machine shop needs to look into getting itās own version of the cnc router, known as a waterjet. Donāt ask me where it would go, or how we would work out the the water and drainage requirements though, as I am really just dreaming.