DAC is the leading supplier of ultra precision, diamond turning CNC equipment for the contact and intraocular lens industries. In addition, DAC lathes are utilized in the machine tool industry for applications where the production of superior surfaces on non-ferrous materials is required. For companies needing diamond turned finishes combined with exceptional accuracy, DAC lathes are the answer.

With more than a thousand machines around the world, DAC has gained a reputation for high quality, reliable equipment and professional, responsive service.

DAC is a vertically integrated company that designs functionality into its machines. We offer a single solution to complex machining needs, by providing the basic machine design, the DMC board that is the interface between the computer and the machine, the software and all automation for parts handling.

The machine has a granite bed for accuracy and stability, which is mounted to a steel weldment by a series of vibration isolators. All electronics are mounted in the base of the machine.

To ensure accuracy and surface finish, an air-bearing spindle, mounted in a cast-iron housing, is standard. Draw-back collets or three-jaw chucks are available. All spindles have through-spindle exhaust air to minimize contamination. The air-bearing spindle is carefully balanced and driven with a DC brushless motor/encoder in a closed loop mode. Spindle speeds to 10,000 RPM are programmable.

All axes of the machine, depending on the model chosen, are mounted to the granite. Optionally available on 3- and 4-axis models is an air-bearing rotary stage. Tooling and surface gauging systems are mounted opposite the spindle, well centered within the travel of the slides. All axes are DC brushless servo with high-resolution dual encoder feedback. This ensures optimum performance and absolute accuracy.

Spheres, aspheres and toric designs are available to meet the user's need. 

The part, colleted or blocked, is mounted in the spindle. The roughing tool is used to remove the bulk of the material. The finishing tool removes only a small amount of material, which preserves tool life, reducing the frequency of tool changes.

All roughing cuts are accomplished by interpolation. Finish cuts on 2-axis lathes are also interpolated. Spherical cuts on 3- and 4-axis models are rotary cut as the tools are mounted on a stage on top of a rotary table. Aspheric cuts are R theta interpolated. Threading is a canned function of interpolation between the tool and spindle rotation. All DAC lathes produce sub-micron surface finishes that in many cases require no further processing.

Kinetic tooling fixtures are an innovation of DAC. Maintaining absolute setup when changing tooling is now possible. 

DAC has a long history of providing lathes and mills with autoloading capability. The handling of "raw parts," as well as specially blocked parts, has been successfully engineered, giving the owners of DAC lathes and mills the ability to run three shifts, seven days a week - in some applications, "lights out."

Automation is customer specific. Joining as a team, the experienced DAC Automation Engineers take the need of the customer to develop a specification. During the design phase, frequent reviews are held to ensure success. After hardware is machined in the DAC Machine Shop, and purchased components are gathered, the Manufacturing Department assembles the first article under the direction of the Project Engineer. Finally Software Engineering inputs the code to bring the project to a successful conclusion. 

"Menu" type instructions displayed on the color monitor guide the user quickly through machine set-up, calibration, alignment and tool replacement. DAC Script Language (DSL), which employs a subset of RS 274D machine language, is a high-level programming language that can be understood by the user. DSL is interpreted, not compiled, making each program able to be viewed and changed in the on-board editor.

DAC also supplies a CAD-CAM interface making drawing to machining a much simpler task.

Use of the RS 274D subset makes this programming language familiar to CNC machinists. For production applications, screens can be defined that ask the operator for just that input necessary to create the variety of parts in that family. This eliminates the confusion of XYZ axis, M, R, S, T and other codes for the operator. DAC Software Engineering can also be called upon for those special applications that are too complex to complete in the shop. 

An on-board computer houses the DAC Digital Motion Control (DMC) System in the base, along with all electronic assemblies, behind a pair of doors. The 3.5" disk drive is accessible through the door for ease of use. An expandable PLC handles all the I/O functions, including automation, if installed. The closed loop servo system uses digital position feedback with two-encoder capability per axis; linear encoder for rapid traverse, absolute positioning and SPC feedback; rotary encoder for lathing. 

Optional Oscillating Tool Technology (OTT) is available for non-rotational geometry.