New machine in shop.

[Stytooner]

Guys, I ordered this lathe a few weeks ago to add to my cnc machines. It came in last week and is now setup in the shop. It is one nice machine. I am still working on tooling it up, but it will be fully automatic when completed.
Here are a few pictures.

[atgcpaul]

Wow! Good thing you've got those forks!

Is this just a metal lathe?

[Stytooner]

Just a metal lathe? No. Not really. It will turn just about anything. It weighs probably 1800 pounds now. 1500 without any of the tools on board. I actually bought it to turn brass and plastic. That is mainly what we turn. I built a small cnc lathe a while back to make those parts and it does it well. The chuck cannot be automated on it though. I bought this one to automate the collet with an air closer. Then use a bar puller. That way, we can put a bar in, push start, come back later and all the parts are turned. That is opposed to doing it manually. Doing it manually on the little lathe is very time consuming when you need a bunch of parts every week. We use about 250 turned parts every week.
This new machine will pay for itself in just labor alone. Probably take 2 years to do it. Then we will be saving money I think.

You could turn a whole bunch of pens with this machine.

[Black wallnut]

Slick looking machine!

[capncarl]

Isn't technology wonderful! Just s few years ago you would have never dreamed that you would be able to own such a sophisticated piece of equipment.
capncarl

[Stytooner]

Ain't that the truth. It's either outsource or build or buy machinery. It's actually lease to own. Works out better for the business that way I think.

I did get the draw bar automated this evening. It opens and closes the spindle collet now at the push of an on screen button or via Gcode. Shut off the air and it still operates manually.