The Difference Between Vertical Lathe, Manual Lathe and CNC Lathe

The difference between a vertical lathe and a manual lathe is that its spindle is vertical, which is equivalent to erecting an ordinary lathe upright. Because the worktable is in a horizontal position, it is suitable for processing heavy parts with a large diameter and a short length. The vertical lathe can process internal and external cylinders, conical surfaces, end planes, grooves, chamfers, etc. It is more convenient for workpiece clamping and correction operations.

Vertical lathes are large-scale mechanical equipment used to process large and heavy workpieces with large radial dimensions but relatively small axial dimensions and complex shapes. Such as the cylindrical surface, end surface, conical surface, cylindrical hole, the conical hole of various discs, wheels, and sleeves. It can also use additional devices for threading, spherical turning, profiling, milling, and grinding. Compared with the horizontal lathe, the workpiece is clamped on the inside of the clamp of the horizontal lathe. The spindle axis of the vertical lathe has a vertical layout, and the worktable is in a horizontal plane, so it is more convenient to clamp and align the workpiece. This layout reduces the load of the spindle and the bearing, so the vertical lathe can maintain the working accuracy for a long time.

Difference Between Vertical Lathe, Manual Lathe and CNC Lathe

Ordinary lathes are driven by gears and ordinary lead screws and nuts. Due to the gap between the motion pairs and the inaccurate manual operation, the repeat accuracy is low. The ordinary lathes need to be manually measured after the machine is stopped during measurement. The measurement error is large and the efficiency is low. It is suitable for small batches, low precision requirements, and zero-working parts. It has a lower investment than CNC but higher requirements for workers' operating skills, so the wage level is higher.

The CNC lathe relies on the stepping motor to drive the ball screw drive. Because the ball screw can have interference, the transmission has no backlash, and the accuracy is mainly guaranteed by the machine tool itself and the program. It can be automatically measured during the process of machining, and can automatically compensate for tool wear and other errors. Therefore, the processing quality is good & the precision is stable. You can also use the programming method to turn out parts that are complex in shape and difficult to machine on ordinary lathes. Suitable for high precision parts, large batch size, and complex shapes. But small batch production is useful. Its maintenance costs are higher than ordinary lathes.

Vertical turning processing is suitable for large parts, and its main shaft is vertical. The vertical lathe is also CNC. Due to the increasing shortage of high-tech talents, new companies use CNC to improve productivity and product quality and reduce scrap rate and costs.