Lathes have existed for thousands of years, and civilizations as diverse as the ancient Egyptians, Etruscans, and Chinese employed them. While technological advancement has honed them, today’s lathes do basically the same thing as their historical counterparts: They spin some sort of material around an axis, while allows the material to be shaped, carved, cut, or worked in some manner.
The Industrial Revolution saw the addition of steam- or water-powered engines to lathes, greatly increasing their power and efficiency. These came to be known as engine lathes and became the template for today’s hobbyist, commercial, and industrial lathes. Virtually all lathes are comprised of a bed (which is the machine’s basic frame); a carriage (a part that facilities precise positioning of tools); and the cross-slide (a maneuverable piece that shuttles your preferred tool back and forth). Different lathe models may be spun by an integral engine, a belt drive, or gear boxes.
CNC (i.e., computer numerical control) lathes differ from other kinds of lathes because of the inclusion of software-driven lathe controls. These machines can cut on a different number of axes, which indicates varying levels of functionality, and different number of fixed positions, additional positions allowing for more detailed cutting.
CNC Lathe Manufacturers
Surplus Record has a wide assortment of CNC lathes by top manufacturers. Read more about our top CNC lathe manufacturers.
Types of CNC Lathes
2-Axis CNC Lathe
These types of CNC lathes can cut inner- and outer-diameters of materials. They can shape material into different sorts of cylinders.
3- to 8-Axis CNC Lathes
By adding additional axes, these models of CNC lathes add additional functionality (such as drilling, boring, and/or milling) and multiple cutting parts.
Multi-Spindle / Dual-Turret Lathes
These kinds of CNC lathes have two spindles and two lathes. These redundant elements may both have the same capacity or differing capacity. Some multi-spindle can automatically pass material from one spindle to another.
Flat-Bed CNC Lathes
With a removable section, flat-bed CNC lathes allow for the processing of larger pieces of material, but they can lack some of the functionality of standard CNC lathes.
