Honor Seiki VL-46A/AR

The Honor Seiki VL-46A/AR is the smallest vertical lathe in the maker's High Speed Series: a 305 mm (12 in) chuck machine that swings and turns 560 mm (22 in), takes work up to 450 mm (17.7 in) tall and runs its spindle from 25 to 2,500 rpm. Honor Seiki lists the A and the AR in a single column, so one set of figures covers both.

A vertical lathe of this size is a chucker. The part sits on the chuck face under its own weight, which makes short, heavy discs easier to load than on a horizontal spindle, and the table rates the machine for 450 kg (992 lb) on the chuck. Turning diameter equals swing here, so the full 560 mm can be cut rather than only cleared. The turret has 12 tool positions, and coolant through the turret is standard equipment.

Among the four columns on its page this is the tall one with the full turret. The VL-46M keeps the same swing, chuck and speed range but its turning height is 380 mm (14.9 in). The VL-46G swings 600 mm (23.6 in) and carries 5 tool positions, and the VL-46H turns 460 mm (18.1 in) with 4/6/8 tool positions.

Honor Seiki says the spindle uses a wide range motor with twice the torque of a general one, but the page prints no power or torque figure, no axis travels and no machine weight. A spindle motor upgrade and a dual speed gearbox are optional, as are a servo turret, a tool presetter, a workpiece probe and X/Z axis encoders. The standard control is not named; a 31i series CNC and a Siemens controller are both on the option list.