Why would I want a Turret Lathe???

[CNC Dude]

I see a good bunch of Turret Lathes for sale here in my vicinity. I imagine these are production lathes where you have a series of consecutive actions you want to do on a particular piece of stock. I have personally never used one, neither have I seen one in action.

As I my thirst for a larger lathe continues to grow, and the lack of suitable alternatives continues to plague my existence, my primitive brain (or the little devil that pops up on my left shoulder) has started to push my rational mind (or the little angel) into considering whether a turret lathe could do the trick. I don't think so, but I would like to read opinions from other latheneers.

 

[DAN_IN_MN]

I see a good bunch of Turret Lathes for sale here in my vicinity. I imagine these are production lathes where you have a series of consecutive actions you want to do on a particular piece of stock. I have personally never used one, neither have I seen one in action.

As I my thirst for a larger lathe continues to grow, and the lack of suitable alternatives continues to plague my existence, my primitive brain (or the little devil that pops up on my left shoulder) has started to push my rational mind (or the little angel) into considering whether a turret lathe could do the trick. I don't think so, but I would like to read opinions from other latheneers.

Your imagination is correct! I've never used one either. I suppose it could be similar to my 4 sided tool post and you could take a bit of time setting up different tooling to do a different type. You could check out YouTube to see one run.

 

[Tony Wells]

Most home machinists probably wouldn't want one. They are limited in many aspects relative to an engine lathe. If you do repetitive work, they're hard to beat. If you do lots of drilling on the lathe, they are very useful. I wish I had one at times.

Generally, you will not see lead screw threading capability, or a compound on a turret lathe. Feeds are generally coarser, because they are production machines.

 

[Bill C.]

I see a good bunch of Turret Lathes for sale here in my vicinity. I imagine these are production lathes where you have a series of consecutive actions you want to do on a particular piece of stock. I have personally never used one, neither have I seen one in action.

As I my thirst for a larger lathe continues to grow, and the lack of suitable alternatives continues to plague my existence, my primitive brain (or the little devil that pops up on my left shoulder) has started to push my rational mind (or the little angel) into considering whether a turret lathe could do the trick. I don't think so, but I would like to read opinions from other latheneers.

Go to You-Tube and search "turret lathe". There are several videos listed. Yes they are production lathes. I used to set up and run a couple. Design for medium and long production runs. Medium runs are about 100 to 500 pieces. Long or continuous production runs are greater than 500 pieces.

 

[lrsglory]

I would love to have one. They are versatile. A millenia ago I ran a smaller Warner Swasey bar machine. and on occasion I would have to run a 2A & 3A WS turret lathe because my partner had the toolroom lathe booked up. Smooth and Sweet. My dream lathe would be a Colchester engine lathe with a 5 station turret. Shop I worked at had a battery of 5-6 of these. They were great. My idea of an all purpose engine lathe. These were shop production lathes. Rare to just run one of anything. Once setup you were rolling.

 

[CNC Dude]

Well I did watch a few You Tube videos and found the concept interesting, although only if I had a gazillion identical parts to make. This is enough to keep my reason within check. Will have to drink another can of Patiencenol and continue waiting, and waiting, and waiting...

I am starting to think that by the time I manage to find the lathe I have been looking for, I will have forgotten what it was that I wanted to work on...

Thanks to all for your point of views!