Blog

Times have changed and technology has changed with it. It’s important to always focus on efficiency and be committed to employing the latest technology in order to best serve your customers. Recently, we added a new lathe featuring newer, high-performance technology: the Haas ST-30y BB with live tooling and a Y-axis.

The new lathe is more efficient than standard CNC lathes, saving time and effort on our end and, therefore, saving money for customers who have products that need to be turned and milled. Both processes easily can be done on the one machine. Additionally, the ST-30y BB features a tool probe for checking the parts while they’re on the machine, and for orienting parts for the second side. But, this technology hasn’t been around forever…

To give you a bit of history, lathes have been around since ancient times, used in Egypt and Greece. Fast-forward to the 20th century, and you’ll discover that servomechanism features were added to the machines in the 1950s, with computerized numerical control (CNC) taking over operation of most lathes machines in industry. It’s only been within the last decade that the new technology and features offered by the ST-30y BB have been made available on one machine.

CNC lathe machines remain the standard today, but the technology that drives the ST-30y BB Lathe has been available for only approximately eight years or so. The Lathe’s BB “Big Bore Option” allows for larger bar work up to 4-5” in diameter. A variety of processes can be performed all on the one machine with a single setup and, therefore, provide more efficient service to customers. In the end, a variety of parts and products can be created– specialty fittings, adapters, aviation parts, and more – for customers in a variety of industries.