CNC machinery plays a crucial part in the manufacturing world, and I won’t be lying if I say the manufacturing industry revolves around CNC machinery.
Over the years, CNC or Computer Numerical Control machines have taken the market single-handedly because they have reduced the manual workload tremendously.
So, let’s begin with what are lathe machines?
Somewhere around 1300 AD, a two-person lathe machine already existed which was created by the Egyptians. Two major primary task got completed with it,
1. Turning off the woodworking piece manually by a rope.
2. Cutting wood in shape by the use of a sharp tool.
As civilization dawned upon us, the machine went through extensive changes. Due to the growth in technology the lathe machine also went through modifications in its traditional system.
The production of rotary motion is the most notable highlight of today’s lathe machines.
They are controlled by a computer with a menu- type interface, they are designed to use carbide tooling/processes, and it’s modern versions.
This is all about what is a lathe machine, so now let’s dig into what is it used for? And where are they used?
They are multi-skilled machines and which are resourceful for a wide range of industrial operations like Acrylic Spinning, Metal Spinning, Metalworking, Woodturning, Thermal Spraying, Pottery and a lot other.
The reason why lathe machines are so extensively used is that they are easy to set-up and its operations are simple.
Automotive, electronic, sporting, manufacturing and firearm are a few industries where they are put to use.
Here are some significant examples of the same-
1. Bowls
2. Cue Sticks
3. Dining Table and Chair Legs
4. Musical Instruments
5. Baseball Bats
6. Cam-shafts
7. Crank-shafts
Even though it’s easy to operate it should be used strictly by professionals.
Now, there are two types of CNC Lathe machine-
Horizontal Lathe and Vertical Lathe
So, here we will extensively talk about CNC horizontal lathe, and its uses.
So, what’s a CNC horizontal lathe?
Wikipedia defines it as “A lathe tool rotates a workpiece about an axis of rotation which performs a variety of operations like cutting, sanding, deformation, drilling, facing and turning with the help of tools that are applied to the workpiece for the creation of an object with its symmetry about that axis.“
Well, you must be wondering what parts are used in Horizontal Lathes?
Lathe might or might not have legs which help it to support itself while placed on the floor and levitate the lathe bed to the necessary height needed while working.
It might be small to fit on a workbench or table which is why it doesn’t need to stand on its own.
Almost all the lathes have a bed, that’s a horizontal beam which makes it sure that chips or filling of stones falls off smoothly.
There’s a lot of diversity available in horizontal lathes.
Some of the notable ones are –
- Ornamental turning lathes
- Woodworking lathes
- Glass-working lathes
- Duplicating lathes
- Metalworking Lathes
- Transcription, or recording, lathes
Woodworking lathes are the oldest in the game and are also addressed as turning lathes.
Evolution of the machines has been done in a very promising way.
Metal lathes are an excellent example of horizontal lathes they come in various shapes and size depending on what operations they perform. The drilling machines are a notable tool to which the horizontal lathes are combined.
Technology is getting smarter day by day. Therefore, CNC horizontal lathes are also getting smarter and growing fast, making work considerably easy.
Manufacturer and industrialist are contented to see the production time cutting down due to horizontal lathes.
One person is all that you need to set up and monitor the lathe. The operator is solely responsible for specific tasks for a given period of time.
Lately, CNC horizontal lathes have become more technologically advanced, which didn’t hamper the design.
Horizontal lathe machines or CNC machines, in general, are completely closed, for safety and health purposes.
Most of the horizontal lathes are automatic which requires little to no human involvement. The modern technology programming and automation has resulted in very few errors which increased the production percentage by 25%.
Horizontal lathes have advanced technology and don’t need a regular movement of its parts, or its location. Improvements like these have brought down the delay it used to take in the production.