CNC Lathe Running Cost Calculator
Estimate what a CNC lathe costs to run per productive hour, and per day, week, month and year, from depreciation, energy, maintenance, tooling, labour, facility overhead and finance.
Your CNC lathe running cost
Based on 1,800 planned productive hours a year, reduced by a 5% downtime allowance to 1,710 net hours. This is a planning estimate built from the figures you entered, not a quote or an accounting record.
Total running cost per hour
Annual running cost
£68,930Cost per day
£302.33Cost per week
£1,511.63Cost per month
£5,744.20Effective utilisation
87.5%1,710 of 1,955 available hoursMain cost driver
Labour59.8% of annual running cost| Category | Cost / hour | Annual cost | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depreciation & insurance | £6.67 | £11,400 | 16.5% |
| Energy | £1.76 | £3,016 | 4.4% |
| Maintenance | £2.98 | £5,100 | 7.4% |
| Tooling and consumables | £4.27 | £7,300 | 10.6% |
| Labour | £24.10 | £41,214 | 59.8% |
| Facility overhead | £0.53 | £900 | 1.3% |
| Total | £40.31 | £68,930 | 100.0% |
Assumptions used in this result
| Planned productive hours per year | 1,800 |
|---|---|
| Hours per day | 7.5 |
| Days per week | 5.0 |
| Downtime allowance | 5% |
| Net productive hours used in this result | 1,710 |
| Purchase price | £120,000 |
| Useful life | 10 years |
| Residual value | £24,000 |
| Depreciation method | Straight-line |
| Insurance | £1,800 a year |
| Average power draw | 9.00 kW |
| Electricity rate | £0.28 per kWh |
| Energy utilisation factor | 70% |
| Maintenance basis | £3,000 service contract + £1,500 repairs and spares a year |
| Coolant, oil and filters | £600 a year |
| Tooling and consumables | £7,300 |
| Operator hourly wage | £18.00 |
| Labour burden multiplier | ×1.30 |
| Machines per operator | 1.0 |
| Supervision / programming allocation | £1,200 a year |
| Facility overhead basis | £150.00 per m² × 6.0 m² footprint |
| Finance | Not included |
Finance summary
Illustrative scenarios, not forecasts. Each varies one figure at a time from the base case above.
| Scenario | Cost / hour | Annual cost | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base case | £40.31 | £68,930.44 | — |
| Productive hours −20% | £44.10 | £60,324.35 | +9.4% |
| Productive hours +20% | £37.79 | £77,536.53 | -6.3% |
| Electricity rate −20% | £39.96 | £68,327.15 | -0.9% |
| Electricity rate +20% | £40.66 | £69,533.73 | +0.9% |
| Maintenance spend −20% | £39.71 | £67,910.44 | -1.5% |
| Maintenance spend +20% | £40.91 | £69,950.44 | +1.5% |
| Utilisation −10% | £41.99 | £64,627.40 | +4.2% |
| Utilisation +10% | £38.93 | £73,233.48 | -3.4% |
- Total running cost per hour
- £40.31
- Annual running cost
- £68,930
- Cost per day
- £302.33
- Cost per week
- £1,511.63
- Cost per month
- £5,744.20
- Effective utilisation
- 87.5%
- Main cost driver
- Labour (59.8%)
- Note
- This is a planning estimate built from the figures you entered — not a quote, an accounting record, a tax calculation or a recommendation to buy, keep, replace or finance the machine.
How to use this calculator
Enter your usage pattern, machine and ownership figures, and each recurring cost category that applies. Every figure defaults to a working example — replace it with your own numbers, or leave a category at zero if it genuinely does not apply.
- Set your planned productive hours per year, hours per day, days per week and any downtime allowance.
- Enter the purchase price, useful life, a residual value, and insurance if you carry it.
- Enter the average power draw, electricity rate and energy utilisation factor.
- Choose annual amounts or a percentage of purchase price for maintenance.
- Enter annual tooling and consumables, including worn or broken tool replacements.
- Enter the operator wage, labour burden, machines per operator and any supervision cost.
- Choose floor-space-based or a flat annual facility overhead allocation.
- Optionally enable finance to add a deposit, rate, term and arrangement fee.
Results update as you change any figure. Use Reset to return to the worked example.
How does this calculator work?
Net productive hours are your planned productive hours per year, reduced by your downtime allowance. Depreciation, maintenance, tooling and facility overhead are each an annual cost divided by net productive hours. Energy and labour are built directly from a rate and a wage. Finance, if enabled, uses the same amortising loan formula as the site's Loan Repayment Calculator.
total cost / hour = Σ (depreciation, energy, maintenance, tooling, labour, facility, finance)
- Depreciation / hour = (purchase price − residual value) ÷ useful life ÷ net hours
- Energy / hour = power draw (kW) × electricity rate × utilisation factor
- Maintenance, tooling and facility / hour = their own annual cost ÷ net hours
- Labour / hour = (operator wage × burden multiplier) ÷ machines per operator
- Finance / hour = (average annual interest + arrangement fee) ÷ net hours
- Annual cost = cost / hour × net hours; monthly = annual ÷ 12
- Daily cost = cost / hour × hours per day; weekly = daily × days per week
For example, a £120,000 lathe with a 20% residual value and a 10-year useful life, run for 1,800 planned productive hours a year with a 5% downtime allowance (1,710 net hours), gives a total running cost of £40.31 per hour and £68,930 a year — £302.33 a day and £1,511.63 a week at 7.5 hours a day, 5 days a week.
What does this calculator assume?
- Every figure — hours, price, rates, costs and wages — is one you enter. No price, rate, labour cost or utilisation figure is inferred or defaulted from a "typical" workshop.
- Depreciation is straight-line only; no other depreciation method is modelled.
- Finance, where enabled, is a single standard fixed-rate amortising loan, with interest and the arrangement fee spread evenly across the term. There is no lease, hire purchase, variable rate, or balloon payment option.
- For cutting-time and material-removal calculations for the lathe itself, see the CNC Milling Speeds & Feeds Calculator and the CNC Drilling Speeds and Feeds Calculator.
- For the upfront purchase and financing decision, see the CNC Lathe Purchase Cost Calculator.
Important information
Important: This calculator is a planning estimate built entirely from the figures and assumptions you enter. It is not a quote, an accounting system, a tax tool, a finance offer, or a recommendation on whether to buy, keep, replace or finance the machine.
Check equipment quotes, finance documents, accounting treatment, tax rules and operational assumptions with appropriate professionals.
Frequently asked questions
How much does it cost to run a CNC lathe per hour?
This calculator adds seven cost categories per productive hour: depreciation (plus insurance if included), energy, maintenance, tooling and consumables, labour, facility overhead, and finance if you've enabled it. Each is your own annual cost divided by your net productive hours, except energy and labour, which are built directly from a rate and a wage. The total is shown as the headline cost per hour, with the full breakdown in the table below it.
How is the cost per day, week and month worked out?
Cost per day multiplies the total cost per hour by your hours per day. Cost per week multiplies the daily cost by your days per week. Cost per month divides the annual running cost by 12. None of these assume a "typical" shift pattern — they use the hours per day and days per week you enter.
What is effective utilisation?
Effective utilisation compares your net productive hours (planned productive hours, reduced by your downtime allowance) against the maximum hours theoretically available from your hours per day, days per week and a 52-week year. It is calculated from the figures you enter, not assumed — if it comes out above 100%, your planned hours are higher than your own stated day and week pattern allows for.
How is CNC lathe depreciation calculated?
This calculator uses straight-line depreciation only: (purchase price − residual value) ÷ useful life in years, spread evenly across every productive hour in a year. It does not model reducing-balance depreciation, capital allowances or any tax treatment — check the correct depreciation and tax treatment with an accountant.
How is energy cost per hour calculated?
Energy cost per hour = average power draw (kW) × your electricity rate per kWh × a utilisation factor. The utilisation factor is the share of each productive hour spent drawing full power — set it below 100% if the spindle is regularly idling, tool-changing or running at partial load rather than cutting at full power throughout.
Should maintenance be entered as an annual amount or a percentage?
Use annual amounts (a service contract plus a repairs-and-spares allowance) if you have real costs to enter. Use the percentage-of-purchase-price option only as a placeholder when you have no service history yet — this calculator never assumes a percentage for you; you choose and enter it.
How is the finance cost per hour calculated?
If you enable finance, the loan principal is the purchase price less your deposit, and the monthly payment uses a standard fixed-rate amortising formula — the same one used by the site's Loan Repayment Calculator. Because an amortising loan charges more interest early and less late, this calculator spreads the total interest and the arrangement fee evenly across the finance term to give one steady annual finance cost, rather than a figure that would be too high in year 1 and too low near the end. Principal repayment itself is not a running cost — it is cash flow, not an expense.
Does this calculator include VAT, sales tax, capital allowances or grants?
No. This is a running-cost planning estimate only. It does not calculate VAT, sales tax, capital allowances, tax depreciation or the effect of any grant or incentive. Check tax and accounting treatment with a qualified accountant.
Does this calculator tell me whether to buy, keep, replace or finance the machine?
No. It only turns the figures you enter into a running-cost estimate. It is not a quote, an accounting record, a finance offer, or a recommendation. For the upfront purchase decision itself, see the CNC Lathe Purchase Cost Calculator.
What do the sensitivity scenarios show?
Each scenario changes one figure at a time from your base case — productive hours, electricity rate, maintenance spend, or utilisation — by the stated percentage, and recalculates the cost per hour and annual cost with everything else held constant. They are illustrative what-if scenarios, not forecasts or a prediction of what will actually happen.