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When does a bar feeder make sense

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richg

Plastic
Joined
Apr 23, 2008
Location
Chicagoland
What are some of the parameters in which it makes sense to acquire a bar feeder for your CNC Lathe?
Yes, I understand it is beneficial with high volume, but can it be worthwhile with runs of 40 or 50 parts?
 
I run short runs all the time on my bar loader. Lathe setup is pretty quick, so I just throw a job in there and do other things while it runs.

I’m a one man shop so every little bit helps.
 
richg said:
What are some of the parameters in which it makes sense to acquire a bar feeder for your CNC Lathe?
Yes, I understand it is beneficial with high volume, but can it be worthwhile with runs of 40 or 50 parts?
Click to expand...

It doesn't for me. I run 3/8- 1 1/4" 12ft 1018 using heavy home made support lined with PVC and a bar puller made by Royal or a copy.
 
richg said:
What are some of the parameters in which it makes sense to acquire a bar feeder for your CNC Lathe?
Yes, I understand it is beneficial with high volume, but can it be worthwhile with runs of 40 or 50 parts?
Click to expand...

It sure can! If your 40 parts take more than one bar loading into the lathe's spindle, a bar feed is definitely worth looking at. I frequently run short runs of 5-10 parts by running back to back jobs. Even if I have to take an extra cut on the OD, I'm still making good time.
 
How many 40 to 50 pc runs per year? 1 and I probably would not do it. 1 a week, yeah. You can check parts and do a lot of things while it is running by itself. Posted this already else where but running a second operation while the first one is still running is a real plus.

https://youtu.be/FuieVnLx7WY
 
When is it worth it?

When the dollar value of the time it saves is greater then the dollar value of the bar feed as expressed in the cost per hour on a monthly or yearly basis. Of course the value of the time needed to set it up must be included in that.

If you are in business to make money, then money is the way to judge this and many other decisions. But this is not to say that human factors should not be given some concern.
 
One company local to me, makes thousands of hydraulic cylinders per week as an OEM. They have probably a dozen Haas lathes with bar feeders. The typical production run is anywhere from 20 pcs of this part, to 200 pcs of that part. This is 24x7x365.

So their spindles are *always* turning, the only change is in the part, and the number required. A few dozen or a few thousand, but the spindles are always turning.
 
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