ISO 1708:1989

Overview

ISO 1708:1989 - Acceptance conditions for general purpose parallel lathes - Testing of the accuracy defines the procedures and permissible deviations for verifying the geometric and practical accuracy of general-purpose parallel lathes. It addresses only accuracy verification (geometrical and machining performance under finishing cuts) and explicitly excludes dynamic running checks (vibrations, abnormal noises, stick‑slip) and checks of speeds/feeds. The standard references ISO 230‑1 for machine installation, warm‑up, measuring methods and testing equipment accuracy.

Key topics and requirements

• Scope and purpose: Specifies which geometrical and practical tests apply to general purpose and precision lathes and gives corresponding permissible deviations.
• Geometrical tests: Straightness and level of bed/slideways, carriage straightness, parallelism of tailstock and spindle axis to carriage movement, squareness of slides, run‑out of spindle nose and centres, and lead‑screw pitch error.
• Practical (machining) tests: Machining of test pieces (finishing cuts) to check circularity, diameter variation and consistency of machined diameters; tests are performed under finishing conditions to avoid cutting‑force errors.
• Permissible deviations: Tolerances are given for precision and other lathes; many specified deviations fall in the order of 0.005–0.05 mm (0.0002–0.002 in) depending on the test, machine class and measuring length.
• Measuring methods and instruments: Use of dial gauges, levels, mandrels, optical or microscope methods, straightedges and length bars - with measurement lengths and local tolerances defined. The standard allows users and manufacturers to agree on a subset of tests and measurement sequencing.
• Reference requirements: Tests and acceptance codes reference ISO 230‑1 (machine tool accuracy under no‑load/finishing conditions) and ISO 1101 for related geometric tolerancing where applicable.

Applications and users

ISO 1708:1989 is used for:

• Acceptance testing of new or repaired parallel lathes at factory or on site
• Quality control and inspection during procurement or handover
• Calibration and verification by machine‑tool test laboratories
• Maintenance and periodic accuracy checks to support process capability

Primary users include machine tool manufacturers, quality/inspection engineers, test laboratories, procurement specialists and maintenance teams who require standardized, repeatable accuracy verification and clear permissible deviation limits.

Related standards

• ISO 230‑1 - Acceptance code for machine tools: geometric accuracy (referenced for installation, warm‑up and measuring methods)
• ISO 1101 - Geometrical product specifications (for tolerance interpretation and geometric tolerancing)

Keywords: ISO 1708:1989, parallel lathes, testing of the accuracy, geometrical tests, practical tests, permissible deviations, ISO 230-1, machine tool acceptance.