Operating multiple engine lathes?

We are trying to validate that a single operator can SAFELY operate, without jeopardizing quality, multiple machines at the same time. Has anyone done or seen this done successfully?

Yes but not with engine lathes.

Short answer: yes. Long answer: it depends on a multitude of factors. Cycle times on each machine, complexity of profile, material, load/unload time, tool changes, etc., etc, etc.

cnc turning center...yes, manual engine lathe...its doable but no way in hell i would do it nor would i ask anyone to do it. there are too many things that can go wrong and cause at the least machine or part damage and at the worst, death. who dreams up these ideas

Dosn't matter if it's CNC or Manual, the potential for a crash due to negligence is always present. Most manual machines are equipped with auto feed, but I haven't seen many engine lathes with trip dogs to disengage the feed.

Really depends on how on the ball the operator is. I get a kick out of getting 2 or 3 manual machines going at the same time, but I also don't play with a phone or talk to others when I do this.

Go back in your hole. Mr. Troll.

Weasel said:

Go back in your hole. Mr. Troll.

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Pretty sure trolls live under bridges, how did that 3 Billy Goats Gruff story go? "Who's that trip-tripping, on my bridge". Yup definitely under bridges

I thought I could run my CNC lathe while my manual engine lathe was running while the power feed was on.

Needless to say I ran the tool into the chuck. And it should come at no surprise.

In my own experience, I have come to the conclusion only an idiot tries to run manual equipment automatically.

At no time is a manual engine lathe running automatically or that it is safe to do so. I found I was foolish to think it would work out when I did it. Don't get me wrong its possible, there is high probability there will be the right distraction at the right time to make it all go to hell.

I would go as far as to say it is reckless especially if the second machine is also another manual engine lathe. Regardless of cycle time on either machine. The human operating the machine is all the sensory mechanisms that machine including makine sure someone doesn't walk up and dive into the machine. Just think if a guy is running two machines and chips stack up on one machine while the operator is focuced on the other. Its plausible an untrained person wearing loose long sleeve clothing can walk by seeing chips stacking up and wanted to help clear them away getting sucked in during the process. After all, I would consider doing so knowing that the guy running the machine is getting beaten to hell and back by management while they (management) sits in the office talking about last nights game for an hour wasting more time and money than they were saving with the dumb idea of one guy running two manual machines.

Cars have cruise control, does that mean we can go in the back seat and read?

How many of us will admit to starting a cut with the powerfeed, knowing it is going to take a minute or so to complete, and running over to grab another tool or pull something out of the bandsaw ... ? I admit that I do it from time to time, but I work alone (no one who could reach in and get hurt), and I always do it with great focus on the risk involved.

BTW, I DO regularly set the bandsaw to cutting something while I go back to the mill or lathe - that's two manual machines running at once.

Under slow roughing cuts that took 10-30minutes I used to weld, clean, use the washroom, set stuff on another machine, etc. Of course if the insert quit while I was away that tool was toast and maybe worse but I knew the normal tool life,etc and it never happened thankfully. Not too different from wrecking one in a cnc really.
In my shop, no, most of my work is small, few roughing cuts last more than 3 minutes. One of my manual lathes has feed trip, but I haven't used it ever(probably should). I sometimes do on the mill though.

You can't start to half as, cut corners, multi-task stuff and not expect some costs/consequences, its really just a matter of when it'll bite you, not if, and if you're ok with it when it does.

My answer is NO! Try single pointing a thread on one and see where you could do twice that on two machines at the same time?
I might suggest focusing on the bean counter letting loose with the money to hire another operator. Better yet; with an idea like that may be get him to buy someone a brain because the one with that idea doesn't work?
Dan

Back in the day, I guess Summit tricked out their lathes with 4 position stops in both axis. I guess they figured you might step away or something. Nice hardware all of it, but I only tried it once. The carriage jumped back about a quarter inch when the clutch tripped out and I didn't think that was good for the thing

awake said:

How many of us will admit to starting a cut with the powerfeed, knowing it is going to take a minute or so to complete, and running over to grab another tool or pull something out of the bandsaw ... ? I admit that I do it from time to time, but I work alone (no one who could reach in and get hurt), and I always do it with great focus on the risk involved.

BTW, I DO regularly set the bandsaw to cutting something while I go back to the mill or lathe - that's two manual machines running at once.

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Don't forget the air compressor...

machinist0479 said:

We are trying to validate that a single operator can SAFELY operate, without jeopardizing quality, multiple machines at the same time. Has anyone done or seen this done successfully?

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Yes, especially in the summer! The lathe is running with no cut or feed in progress, I walk over to operate the water machine for a cool drink, then walk back to the lathe. Very easy.

awake said:

How many of us will admit to starting a cut with the powerfeed, knowing it is going to take a minute or so to complete, and running over to grab another tool or pull something out of the bandsaw ... ? I admit that I do it from time to time, but I work alone (no one who could reach in and get hurt), and I always do it with great focus on the risk involved.

BTW, I DO regularly set the bandsaw to cutting something while I go back to the mill or lathe - that's two manual machines running at once.

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Do it all the time, but I'm only gone for like 30 seconds...otherwise I wait or stop.

The shop foreman hired his sister to work in the shop.
She was running the engine lathe in front of mine.
I got sidetracked staring at her ass and almost ran the tool into the jaws.

True story.

Booze Daily said:

The shop foreman hired his sister to work in the shop.
She was running the engine lathe in front of mine.
I got sidetracked staring at her ass and almost ran the tool into the jaws.

True story.

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Quite Understandable...

I've done it lots, 2 engine lathes and a manual mill all running on power feed phone turned off door locked. You can make serious $ this way and spend it quickly when furbar ............

I run up to 3 engine lathes and an od grinder at the same time, we have automatic stops on them, there is a proximity censor which trips a relay and shuts off the machine at the finish of a cut, the censor is mounted to a bed clamp, this works very well, I wouldn't attempt to do this without this feature, it would be pretty simple to set up such a rig on any lathe, even on a mill it would work. At home I have an old south bend model 34, Lineshaft flavor, loving the convenience of the setup at work I decided to rig up something to do the same thing at home, I clamped a steel strap to the clutch lever and bolted a square steel tube to it which runs parallel to the bed along the rear of the lathe, the end suspended by a cable, another peice of tube was bolted to the rear of the carriage, a couple of small c clamps act as my "stop dogs" the setup works well enough, I'm thinking of adding in a spring to put a bit of preload on the rig which I believe will make it more accurate and reliable, the rig drops out early sometimes from the vibration combined with the weight of the setup.

Rusty,

Nice looking line shaft set up.

Paul