Production Lathes?

[Oak&IronTX]

Happy Wednesday to all! I am a full time pen turner and just brought on 2 employees due to the growth of the business and as with all things in our hobby it seems this is a nightmare to scale. I currently run Laguna 12/16s and Turncrafters with headstock bearings, mandrels, TBC head/tail stocks, and switches being monthly replacement items. I'm exploring the idea of buying a CNC lathe or if it exists a metal lathe that I can set parameters or limits on and have it cut to spec. Does anyone have any experience doing this or insight? I am trying to beat a production time on a Sierra (trimmed tube in blank) to polished and ready for laser of 4min.

 

[PatrickR]

I don't have detailed knowledge of CNC but that is the way you would need to go. i have seen a CNC lathe, made by Proxxon but it is not sold in the US.
good luck.

 

[dogcatcher]

Contact Little Machine Shop, they have CNC milling machines, probably have a source CNC lathes.

 

[smik]

Check out Edison Pens. He uses a gang style cnc. Video shows a cnc making one of his pens.

Behind The Scenes - Edison Pen Co

Making a Menlo Pump Filler Feature on Fox 8 A Nice Conversation with Brian Goulet of Goulet Pens Behind the Scenes During Brian Goulet’s Visit

edisonpen.com