In my last big machine shop gig I did in the 80's and 90's we had some lathes made by Moore Machine that would actualy turn contour parts to about 0.00005 in. accuracy in about a 1 foot cube. They were on isolation foundations, in there own room with no operator and a precision air flow system much like raised floor computer rooms, used roller v ways, had air bearing spherical spindles, use laser for positional feedback and yaw correction, had 4th axis for the tool post so the cutting edge remained normal to the workpiece and used precision diamond tools. They literally cost millons way back then and were state of the art for there time.
Guess what the physics ain't changed since then. |