One Piece Foundation

About 10 years ago, FAT HACO redesigned their hybrid, CNC, flatbed lathes, in particular their TUR SMN 800/930/1100 models. The "not too often talked about" foundation of a machine tool.

Yasushi Kimura wrote an interesting article a while back on the view of the bed and the different mediums used. I thought I would take this a step further and try to explain some of the features.

First, Fabryka Automatow Tokarskich (FAT) builds their machines in Europe. They have produced over 50,000 machines since 1945. Their craftmanship doesn't surprise me in their desire to build the best machine tools, which led to this new re-design 10 years ago.

They listened to their customers, who wanted a more ergonomic machine with a more rigid and stable design.

Cast iron construction seems to be the medium most machine tool manufacturers settle on. It has great dampening characteristics and is a very stable material. A cheaper way might be to bolt/glue together multiple pieces. A priority for F.A.T. was to make the bed out of one piece, monolithic.

• By "Straddling the feet" over the chip conveyor, this didn't lead to the best ergonomics for the machinist nor did it provide the most stability. This type of design usually consisted of multiple pieces, sometimes called bench lathes with bolted-on feet. F.A.T. moved the conveyor to the back, relying on shoots designed into the bed for the remnants/coolant to exit. This provided more stability and precision while giving the machinist better ergonomics. Moving the conveyor to the back also provided better access in the event the conveyor needed attention over its life.

• A monolithic bed allowed the bed to become the "foundation". All moving parts were on one piece, which provided better precision in making complex parts.
• The weight increased by about 30%, depending on the model. Cast iron is a good medium for dampening vibrations, allowing more weight to be designed into the bed and making it that much more rigid.

Don't be afraid to look under the hood; the details designed into the foundation usually are good indicators of the quality of the final product.