Why a vertical CNC lathe?...
86% of lathe purchases in the UK are horizontal lathes. This comes as no suprise, as every machine shop you enter you'll always find a lathe, either in production or there waiting. However, it's not often you'll enter a machine shop and see a vertical lathe without a purpose, vertical lathes are production machines, they are commonly found operating in automated cells for industries such as the automotive sector.
So why a vertical lathe?
This one's not so difficult, firstly loading a vertical lathe can be easier than a horizontal lathe especially if the part/component is large or heavy, cranage is far simplier. Secondly, when machining the swarf falls away from the part and leaves the machining area swarf free which in-turn improves surface finishes and eliminates stoppages to clear swarf from the chucking area. Thirdly, rigidity on large parts, gravity denotes that the part will be far more secure and withstand heavier cutting cycles in the vertical position as often the tool is pushing downwards on the part, so for bigger and heavier cuts a vertical lathe wins every time.
Finally the footprint is far smaller, they're generally square and several machines can be fitted into a cell, which often is automatically fed robotically.
Without doubt if you machine batch parts, small diameters with a barfeed a vertical lathe will serve no purpose, however if you're parts are 15 -20 inches in diameter and require heavy machining operations a vertical lathe will provide a stable machining environment.
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