I need help understanding the differences in speed and cut quality of small wood parts machined by a CNC using a 4th axis, and the same part produced by a back knife or copy lathe. What will be the surface quality of each, and how much additional surfacing, sanding, etc will need to be done before the part is finish ready? These would be parts up to 8" in diameter and 12" long, mostly with fairly simple profiles.
Can a part be rough turned on a CNC using a flat or round nose bit, then surfaced using a long straight bit cutting on the side? Theoretically, this should leave a surface like that of a planer or jointer. What would it be like in reality.
My interest is not nearly as much in milling time as it would be in surface quality and reduced labor to prepare the part for finishing.

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