Lathes are rightly called the “mother tools” of the machine shop. In the right hands, lathes can be used to create all the parts you need for other machine tools, making them incredibly versatile and powerful.
Of course, not all lathes are created equal. Perhaps your lathe predates you by a couple of decades, or maybe you’re considering taking on a new project that will be harder to complete and require more power than anything you’ve undertaken so far. Is it time for an upgrade? How do you know when you need to pull the trigger on a bigger, more powerful machine?
Here are a few signs that the time is right to make the jump to a bigger lathe. And if you’re not ready to buy something brand new, there are a few tips in here for ways to upgrade your existing lathe.
1. Your lathe is older than the combined age of all the machinists in your shop.
Old lathes can be awesome; the build quality on many of the pre- and post-war lathes is incredible, and the craftsmanship that went into them is unlike anything you’re likely to find today. Some of them are beautiful enough in their own right to be statement pieces. A quick search for “metal lathe restoration projects” will return image after image of gleaming, powerful machines.
But despite their quality, there’s no getting around the fact that old lathes have some limitations when it comes to power, precision, and ease of use. Modern metal lathes may not always look quite as sleek or elegant, but they pack a lot more features into a more compact package.
If you’re tired of wrestling with your old lathe, perhaps it’s time to upgrade to a more modern lathe with better features.
2. You’re ready for the jump to digital.
Manual lathes can produce high-end results, but they don’t offer any shortcuts. You’ll need to manually measure everything, make the cuts yourself, adjust spindle speed, etc. None of these are terribly hard things to do, but doing everything analog can take a bit of extra time.
One option is to upgrade your existing lathe to one with a digital readout. Barring that, you can often integrate a new digital display to your old lathe. Digital readouts make tracking the progress of your cuts much easier, and provide a fairly easy way to update your lathe without completely replacing it.
Of course, a digital readout is helpful, but it won’t necessarily improve the accuracy of your lathe itself. For that, you’ll need to go one step further.
3. CNC is calling your name.
Computer Numerical Control is an old technology that was given a whole new life with the advent of computers. No more direct manual control – instead, operators program a set of instructions into the lathe and let the machine do the work.
Programming a CNC lathe isn’t exactly easy – you’ll need to learn the basics of G-code, and possibly become acquainted with a Computer Assisted Design (CAD) program. But CNC provides the clearest upgrade possible for today’s lathes. Multi-tool heads allow operators to program not just one cut, but entire series of operations, allowing entire parts to be produced with little-to-no direct human interference.
And once a set of instructions is programmed, it can be repeated nearly infinitely. No need to write a new program every time; CNC operators can instead build up a library of programs for different parts.
CNC lathes provide more accurate cuts and often a wider range of operations, greatly expanding what your machine shop is capable of. And of course, the automation aspect means that one operator can run multiple CNC machine tools simultaneously.
4. You need to expand (or shrink!) your operations.
Size matters. Perhaps your shop is starting to take on larger orders, either in production volume or size. You may need to upgrade your lathe to a larger, more powerful model. That may require a shift to a CNC lathe to handle repeated, large-volume orders for certain parts.
On the other hand, perhaps you need something smaller and more versatile; a mini-lathe or smaller benchtop lathe, custom-built to handle detailed, precision work. A jeweller’s lathe is a good example – something specifically designed to accommodate small-scale precision jobs.
It may be that your old manual lathe is simply too big to handle too small custom jobs that are coming through your machine shop. In that case, the best way to upgrade may be to downsize, opting for a lathe with better power and greater precision in a smaller package.
Whatever your exact reason, there are more upgrade options out there than ever before. You can upgrade to a digital display or replace your old manual tool entirely with a newer model. There are even ways to change some old manual lathes into CNC-equipped lathes with certain conversion kits.
Don’t change your current setup just for the fun of it; pay attention to what your shop needs, watch the kind of jobs you’re receiving regularly, and then consider which upgrade option is the best for you.
