"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...
In article IasKe.5239$0d.488@trnddc03, Clif Holland
wrote:

"Gil HASH" wrote in message
...
'lo
Xcuze me for the newbie's strange question of the day :
Can a lathe be replaced by a milling machine for quite all
metalworking?
In another terms, a milling machine is more universal than a lathe or
not?
(It's for me : buying first lathe or milling machine?)



Just an observation.

With a mill you can make a lathe. A lathe cannot make a mill.

This is the reverse of the common wisdom. "The lathe is the
only tool which can build itself." (In reality, a larger lathe can make
a smaller one.) This can even include a lathe boring and facing holes
in castings which are bolted to a faceplate. Or even line boring, with
the workpiece on the cross-slide, and a long boring bar mounted between
centers on the lathe.

And I would love to see a milling machine making the spindle for
my lathe. The length to width ratio is such that it would need to be
supported at both ends. That is easy to do on a lathe, but not so on a
milling machine -- except perhaps with the overarm of a horizontal
milling machine, intended to support the far end of the arbor.

Granted, things like the gears are best done by a mix of
machines. Blanks turned to size on the lathe, and then the gear teeth
cut on a horizontal spindle mill with an index head -- or in commercial
quantities, cut on a gear hobbing machine, which is neither a mill nor a
lathe.

Which is more versatile???? I don't know.

I feel that it is easier to do some limited milling on a lathe
(with the proper accessories) than to do most lathe work on a milling
machine (unless you have a *big* CNC milling machine with fancy software
for things like thread milling and such -- an even that would have
difficulty making a long cylindrical part like either the spindle of the
lathe, or the leadscrews.

Enjoy,
DoN.

When it goes full circle, it's quite apparent why there is a wide variety of
machine tools, eh?

Harold