Standard Lathe With Touch Screen Controls

The company has introduced the Clausing/Metosa "Smart Lathe," a new standard lathe with touch screen electronic controls with electronic stops, taper adjustment, high speed threader and tracing. According to the company, an experienced manual lathe operator can work with a precision control system without having prior computer knowledge. This is said to save the expense and inconvenience of having to use a taper and hydraulic copying attachment to produce tapers and radii. All types of threads can be produced without having to elect gears, the company says. This can result in increased production and precision and reduced time per work piece produced, according to the company. The lathe is available with swings from 13" to 24", in either a geared head model with nine or 12 speeds, or with a variable constant surface speed spindle having three speed ranges. All models are supplied with complete guarding and a chip collection tray, coolant equipment and automatic lubrication of bed ways. The lathe features a GE Fanuc Quickpanel Jr. II Graphic Guidance Control touch screen with large graphic icons that guide the operator through programming cycles and operating menus. According to the company, manual operation is made easy with electronic hand wheels for the X and Z axes and a joystick for rapid feeds. Travel limits are shown on the touch screen. Complex geometric shapes, requiring X and Z axes interpolation, are achieved using a comprehensive range of semi-automatic cycles. The required operation cycle is selected using the graphic icons on the touch screen. Up to 15 different operation cycles can be saved and executed on demand.