What is CNC

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In our previous post, we addressed the brief history of the lathe as a precursor to answering the question of what is a cnc lathe. Before we delve into what is a cnc lathe, I believe we need to concentrate on the acronym cnc as it is applicable to cnc lathes. CNC lathe as a term can be better understood, in my opinion, once we dissect and understand the term CNC, which will be the topic for this post.

Quite simply, the term CNC in CNC lathe stands for computer numerically controlled. Before that, its predecessor used to be the NC lathe which was short for numerically controlled lathe. The advent of the computer, allowed for instructions to the lathe to be fed via punch cards and tape that allowed for the proper revolution speed of the headstock motor, the feed rate of the cutting tool and the adjustment of the depth of cut of the tool. This data as mentioned was supplied to the lathe by way of computer punched cards and tapes with a reader that was incorporated on the lathe itself.

The advent of the personal computer advanced this technology further and allowed for a personal computer to be hard wired to the lathe thereby eliminating the card reader, punched cards and such. Programming was usually done on the personal computer dedicated to the lathe and manufacturing engineers were on top of the world. This was later modified to incorporate the pc into the lathe thereby eliminating the need for a stand alone personal computer hard wired to the lathe. The CNC lathe was thus evolving faster than one could imagine.

With further advances in computing power and capabilities, modern CNC lathes run under advanced operating systems such as Windows XP, and thereby allow for proper file handling and storage and retrieval of part programming data. The CNC in cnc lathe therefore deals with the computer that numerically controls the lathe by way of spindle rpm, feeds, speeds, tailstock quill extension and retraction, turret spin, rapid speeds and rapid returns, threading parameters, tapping parameters, drilling parameters and such. It also can handle a wide variety of other parameters such a necking and chamfer control parameters, radius parameters and such. In our next post, we will combine the two terms lathe and cnc and describe the modern version of the cnc lathe.