Lathe for Spectrographic sample preparation

The basic lathe is a vertically mounted three jaw chuck that is precisely located with respect to a rugged, precision tool slide. The chuck jaws are actuated by a pneumatic cylinder. The tool slide motion is pneumatically actuated through a pair of hydraulic reservoirs. This air over oil arrangement provides the smooth operation and speed control of a hydraulic circuit without the expense of a hydraulic pumping unit. The chuck motor is powered through an Allen Bradley Variable Frequency Drive which provides the ability to adjust the processing speed of the chuck as well as braking the chuck to a stop to reduce cycle time of the system. All lathes are controlled using Allen Bradley Programmable Controllers.