Zone: Turning Machines

Hobbing On A Turning Center

This manufacturer’s use of live-tool lathes overcomes labor cost in various ways. One of the latest sources of savings involves bringing another operation—hobbing—into these machines. INCLUDES VIDEO.

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The Part Is Longer Than The Lathe

Here is one custom machine builder’s system for producing a 40-foot part that has to be passed through the turning center and out the other side. INCLUDES VIDEO.

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Most Recent Content in this Zone:

The Value Of Probing On Turn-Mills
3/12/2010 Modern Machine Shop: Part probing isn’t performed as often on turn-mills as it is on conventional machine tools. It does offer advantages for multitasking machines, though.
More Efficient Turbine Blade Milling
2/23/2010 Modern Machine Shop: Video shows a multitasking machine milling a turbine blade in a cycle that few machining centers could replicate.
Multitasking for Productivity, Efficiency, Accuracy and More
2/17/2010 Production Machining: Multitask machining (or using a mill-turn machine) means performing various manufacturing operations without manual intervention.
Hard Turning as an Alternative to Grinding
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Machine Line Alleviates Workflow Bottlenecks
1/18/2010 Modern Machine Shop: Workflow bottlenecks led this oil and gas industry manufacturer to seek a new line of machine tools. Standardizing on mills, lathes and other machines from FEMCO eliminated operator training issues while reducing process time and tooling costs.

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Overview Of:
Turning Machines

“Turning” defines the work that is traditionally done on a lathe. As lathes have grown in sophistication, some of these machines have been given different names. “Turning centers” is a term sometimes applied to machines with particularly sophisticated capabilities related to secondary spindles and/or rotating tools for milling and drilling. Another term, “turn/mill machines,” describes machines that can be thought of as being just as capable at milling and drilling parts as they are at turning. In turning, unlike in milling or drilling, the workpiece spins while the cutting tool does not. The cutting tool feeds along the length or diameter of the rotating part. The workpiece in turning can be held in a chuck or collet, to name two of the more common workholding methods. The turning machine may also include spindles for the cutting tools to accomplish non-turning operations such as milling and drilling. If this is the case, the machine stops the workpiece from spinning in order to perform these operations within the same machining cycle as the turning work. In fact, for some parts, the milling and drilling capabilities may be used so extensively that a non-turned, non-round part might also be produced on this type of machine. Lathes, turning centers and turn-mill machines can have horizontal or vertical spindles. Horizontal spindles are more common. If the machine has a vertical spindle, then the spindle may locate below or above the machine. If the workpiece rests on a table driven by the spindle, then this machine is generally called a vertical turret lathe, or VTL. If the workpiece is held from above by the vertical spindle, then this type of turning machine is generally called an inverted vertical lathe.