The Advanced Lathe LA3200 from Comco Inc., Burbank, Calif., (comcoInc.com) combines a traditional lathe with microabrasive-blasting technology and is well-suited for medical-device manufacturing. The company says microabrasive blasting effectively cleans, cuts, deburrs, and textures a wide variety of parts and surfaces. Other applications include removing unwanted materials without altering intricate stent geometry and restoring surface finishes to implantable devices after deburring.

The lathe works by rotating a part on its spindle while exposing the part to abrasive media and air from up to five nozzles. Users can control the multiple axes of motion and blasters. For example, users can precisely position nozzles to trace complex patterns and adjust speed and acceleration. Optional barcode readers load program files and specify the necessary tooling.