Still in production today in Switzerland by Ecso and equipped with the latest CNC control systems, Escomatic lathes were originally designed in the 1950s to offer high-speed production of parts for the watch-making industry. It quickly became apparent that they could also be employed for the automatic, high-speed production of many other tiny components and development of them continued to develop this facility.
These ingeniously designed and beautifully-made lathes employ a unique concept - the cutting tools rotate around the material with the latter held stationary. In addition to turning, the lathes can be fitted with accessories that allow such operations as broaching, crimping, cross-drilling, milling, slotting, tapping, and threading. Depending upon the material (coil stock or bar) its diameter and the complexity of the part, items from 0.3mm to 8mm in diameter can be produced at rates from 3 to as many as 65 per minute - the latter being 96,000 in 24 hours and so offering unrivaled productivity at low cost..