CNC Turning (Lathe)
A Lathe produces parts by "turning" rod material and feeding a
single-point cutter into the turning material.
Cutting operations are performed with a cutting tool fed either parallel
or at right angles to the axis of the workpiece. The tool may also be fed at an angle
relative to the axis of the workpiece for the machinign tapers and angles. The workpiece
may originally be of any cross-section, but the machined surface is normally straight or
tapered.
Possible shapes
A variety of plain, taper, contour, fillet and radius profiles plus
threaded surfaces.
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Example parts
CNC turning can be used to create shafts, rods, hubs, bushes, pulleys,
etc.
Advantages of CNC Turning
More cost effective than CNC Milling for appropriate shapes.
Specifications for CNC Turning
 Material - most
rigid materials including most metals and hard plastics
Alternative machines
- for short runs, mill.
Tooling - CNC
Turning requires only software program tooling.
Reducing costs - minimize design elements.
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Notes
As the turning process applies pressure to the material, weak shapes that
may flex are not practical, such as long thin structures. Also, CNC turning generates a cut
surface with a fine helical feed marks resulting from the rotation of the part and
movement of the cutter.
Processes: Turning
Milling
Laser Cutting
Water Jet Cutting
Wire EDM
Tapping
Bending
Turret Punching
Fine Blanking
Blanking
Steel Rule Die Cutting
Drawing
Injection Molding
Extrusion
Metal Casting
Thermoforming
Forging
Springs
Wire forming
Powder Coating
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