help with cnc lathes

[ronkm]

Im a fishing plug builder and would like to know if anyone can tell me what type of cnc lathe I need where to find in the 3000$ RANGE OR UNDER. I now do them on a stock jet lathe 6'' plug takes me about 4 mins .Would a cnc save me time and man power? WHOEVER THANKS FOR THE HELP.

[Art Ransom]

I am a profesional turner and have built my own CNC to do columns up to 24" by 10'. The only way to beat that speed would be to go with 100K+ machine. Instead concetrate on improving your turning. Go with a single point spur drive, see http://www.turningaround.org/204SpurDrive.htm, turn at max speed and use a skew. I can do a 1.25" by 18" dowel in 4 minutes with tolerances of .01" out of fir. Don't be gentle, get aggesive!

[Blaise]

Are they all the same profile? Aren't there duplicating lathes out there??

A router lathe can also duplicate profiles from a template Checkout the New Router Handbook by Patrick Spielman for some examples.

[low_48]

If they are the same profile you could look into an old turret lathe. Have a special knife ground and attach it to the lever activated cross slide. The knife will need to have the profile EDM cut down the face of the steel, and then compund angle ground on the lead edge. It will shear the material as it slides/cuts past the stock. This will duplicate the action of a back-knife lathe and will cut the profile in one cut. You can also then have a drill bit in the turret and drill the hole for the swivel before turning. Should be able to make the cut in less than a minute.