The key differences between CNC milling machines and lathes
Despite the fact that both are machine tools that are dedicated to the removal of material from the workpiece in the form of chips or swarf and that both are operated by a Computerized Numerical Control (CNC), there are many differences between lathes and milling machines for your machining operations.
Discover the key differences between CNC lathes and milling machines. Learn how to choose the right machine tool to optimize your machining processes and improve production efficiency.
What is a CNC Lathe?
A CNC (Computer Numerical Control) lathe is a machine tool that performs cuts by rotating the workpiece against a fixed cutting tool. CNC lathes are ideal for working with cylindrical-shaped parts where precise and uniform cuts are required. These machines are predominantly used for operations such as turning, drilling, threading, and grooving, offering high precision and efficiency in the production of parts symmetrical about an axis.
What is a CNC Milling Machine?
A CNC milling machine uses rotating cutting tools to remove material from the workpiece. Unlike the lathe, the milling machine can move both the workpiece and the tool in various directions, allowing for complex and detailed cuts on multiple axes. This makes it extremely versatile for manufacturing parts with complicated geometries, including slots, holes, and irregular shapes.
Key Differences Between CNC Lathes and Milling Machines
Type of Movement and Operation
While CNC milling machines operate on 3 axes (X-Y-Z) and even up to 4 or 5 axes, lathes move along the X-Y axes, for radial machining by rotating the workpiece. In summary:
- CNC Milling Machine: Capability of movement on multiple axes; both the tool and the workpiece can move.
- CNC Lathe: Primarily linear movement; the workpiece rotates while the tool moves linearly.
Material and Type of Workpiece
Both milling machines and lathes can work with many different types of materials. However, while lathes can only shape cylindrical parts, a milling machine can work parts of all shapes and sizes, making them more versatile and serving for many more applications. In summary:
- CNC Lathe: Ideal for cylindrical parts such as shafts, threads, or disks.
- CNC Milling Machine: Suitable for complex geometries, such as molds and dies.
Flexibility and Versatility
The cutting of the workpiece is the key difference, given that the milling machine uses a rotating multi-bladed or multi-pointed cutting tool to remove material from the workpiece while with the lathe, it is the workpiece that rotates on a chuck and the stationary cutting tool generally has a single blade. In summary:
- CNC Lathe: Limited to simple geometric shapes.
- CNC Milling Machine: Very versatile for details and complex shapes.
Cost and Setup
- CNC Lathe: More economical and easier to set up for repetitive series.
- CNC Milling Machine: Higher investment but greater capability.
Do you need a lathe or a milling machine?
If your machining is based on the continuous production of cylindrical parts, then a lathe is the most suitable and optimised solution, offering you a higher performance and efficiency than what you would achieve with a milling machine. Therefore, a lathe is ideal for turning, facing, drilling, cutting, forming and knurling.
Should you require a CNC machine to drill, cut, shape, level and round edges, then the milling machine will provide optimal efficiency, with the maximum versatility in the choice of material to be machined.
If your machining process requires a used CNC milling machine, offering the quality and efficiency of a new one, then our range of completely retrofitted milling machines may be the solution that you´re looking for. Our technical experts will help you find the best machining solution for your company and will advise you with regard to how to get the best performance from your CNC machine.