Danobat Mikroturn Twin spindle

The Danobat Mikroturn Twin spindle is the outlier of the Mikroturn hard turning range. It has the smallest turning diameter, 100 mm (3.9 in), the fastest spindle, 8,000 rpm, and the largest floor space, 22.5 m² (242.1 sqft). Every other horizontal Mikroturn is a flexible single-spindle lathe; this one is plainly a production machine for small hardened parts.

The figures explain each other. A part under 100 mm (3.9 in) needs high revolutions to reach an effective cutting speed in hardened steel, hence a spindle twice as fast as the 4,000 rpm of the Mikroturn 100. Two spindles, as the name says, are what a volume process needs. And a footprint more than three times that of the Mikroturn 100 suggests that handling and peripheral equipment are part of the installation, though Danobat's page does not describe the layout.

That last point is the limit of what can be said. The specification table gives this model four rows and marks the between-centers row not applicable. The page's descriptive text covers the Mikroturn family generally and never singles out the twin-spindle machine. How the spindles are arranged, whether they work on one part in two operations or on two parts at once, and what loading is included are all open questions for the maker.

The common platform is documented. The main spindle is hydrostatic with a guaranteed runout error of ≤ 0.1 µm; the guideways are hydrostatic with 1 µm positioning and 0.2 µm repeatability; the control is Siemens Sinumerik One with 0.01 µm resolution; the base is natural granite. Hardened workpieces up to 70 HRC are the stated field.