Hydraulic lathes?

Denis G. · 2008-07-31T19:56:31+00:00

Sometime recently I read about someone who acquired an older millingmachine that had hydraulic feed on the table. I wondered about howthese tables might be controlled and if any lathes have been designedusing hydraulics to move the carriage or crossfeed instead of lead orfeedscrews. (After all, there are mechanical, hydraulic and pneumaticlinear actuators.)I don't know if you could control hydraulics as precisely asfeedscrews (with respect to headstock spindle rotation) for cuttingthreads, but you'd never have to worry about worn screws and metric/inch conversions. I imagine that the big problem is in designing thefeedback system and getting it to respond well.I've seen descriptions of hydraulic systems made by companies likeEnerpac that control the balancing of bridge sections to keep themlevel while being positioned with cranes. I know that hydraulics canbe controlled with electronics and proportional or servo valves.Probably it's difficult to beat mechanical feed and leadscrews becauseit's a simple and accurate system, but I was just curious.