Zone: Turn/Mill Machines

Applying Turn-Milling

Combining a rotating tool with rotating work produces a machining operation that is distinct from standard turning or milling.

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Cylinder Head Porting On A Turn/Mill Machine

This complex milling operation is performed effectively on a machine that does turning.

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Most Recent Content in this Zone:

Increasing Business with Hard Turning
1/23/2012 Production Machining: By gaining experience in hard turning, a shop adds to its arsenal a cost-effective alternative to grinding, opening doors to new opportunities.
A Look at High Precision
12/22/2011 Production Machining: Here's an overview of the new features available on a series of multi-process machining centers designed for both bar-fed work and blanks.
Turn-Mill Center Aids Shop through Recession
12/22/2011 Production Machining: Bryan Cardon chose multitasking as the solution to improve his shop’s workflow. He reduced cycle times and leadtimes for his customers in his Ogden, Utah, machine shop after implementing the Ganesh 32CS seven-axis, twin spindle, turn-mill center. The company also gained new customers and jobs because of this new machine and its capabilities.
Custom Turning with Only Two Operators
10/19/2011 Production Machining: With only two people, the shop provides complete CNC mill-turn services plus CNC milling, CNC turning, inspection, prototyping, production and assembly.
Manufacturer Turns Inward for New Machine
10/18/2011 Modern Machine Shop: The Hardinge Workholding Group needed a heavy-duty machine with a rigid structural design that could perform multiple operations. After scouring the market, the group found the right model closer to home than it expected.

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Overview Of:
Turn/Mill Machines

Turn/Mill Machines are machines that are capable of both rotating-workpiece operations (turning) and rotating-tool operations (namely milling and drilling). Generally these machines are based on lathes. The machine is typically recognizable as a horizontal or vertical lathe, with spindles for milling and drilling simply available at some or all of the tool positions. With a machine such as this, a part requiring a variety of operations can be machined in one setup, particularly if a subspindle allows the part to be passed from one spindle to another during machining. More recently introduced turn/mill machines depart from the lathe design into something much more like a hybrid machine—combining a lathe’s chucks and spindles with the travels and milling power of a machining center. One of the most significant issues with these types of machines in general is figuring out just which parts to run on them. Many shops have discovered that, even though these machines developed from lathes, they are not necessarily limited to round parts. Various non-round parts can be machined on the same platform as efficiently, if not more efficiently, than on a machining center.