Metal Lathe Services Near Me

What is CNC Turning?

Turning is a process by which material is cut to create round shapes, typically using a CNC Lathe. The workpiece is placed inside the lathe and rotates while a cutter removes material until only the desired shape remains.

Turning is ideal for cylindrical parts and is primarily done using round rod material, but square and hexagonal bar stock can also be used.

The primary objective of CNC turning is to machine parts having shapes that can be formed by feeding a cutter into a rotating bar of raw material. Turning can also be used to reduce the diameter of a workpiece to a desired dimension. Lathe turning is mainly used for shaping metal or wood. CNC lathes are commonly used in metalworking, woodworking, and metal spinning processes. CNC lathes produce accurate round shapes, often with precision outer diameter (OD) and inner diameter (ID).

Benefits of CNC Turning

CNC turning service has numerous benefits including high accuracy and precision. This assures that turned parts are created to meet exact specifications while eliminating the possibility of human error. CNC lathes produce minimal defects and achieve faster results compared to their manual counterparts.

Raw materials

CNC lathe machining can produce high-quality parts with accuracy and precision in a variety of raw materials. The CNC turning process can be applied to most hard materials and metals such as:

Aluminum

Stainless Steel

Stainless

Brass

Copper

Titanium

etc.

Lathe components

Chuck

A CNC lathe machine has a chuck used to hole the rotating raw material bar. Most chucks have 3 or 4 jaws. Three jaw chucks are typically faster to setup for round materials. Four jaw chucks are more flexible as they can hold round and rectangular bars but are more time consuming to set up.

Carriage

CNC lathes have a carriage, which is located between the headstock and tailstock and which guides the tool to cut the workpiece.

Tailstock

Short parts can be held in a chuck without support for the end protruding from the chuck. When parts have a length much greater than their diameter, the protruding end needs support to avoid flexing and vibrating. That is the function of the tailstock. The tailstock holds the free end of the workpiece – often by a simple cone shaped point that sits in a cone shaped hole at the end of the rotating workpiece.

Headstock

The key component of a CNC machine is the headstock which supports the mechanism that rotates the workpiece.

CNC Lathe Bed

The CNC lathe bed is a beam used to support other components of the lathe, including the headstock and tailstock.

CNC Turning Applications

Operator machining automotive part.

Transportation: Some of the main transportation sectors that depend on CNC turning services for the creation of transportation equipment include the aerospace, automotive, mass transit, rail and locomotive, military, and trucking industries. CNC machines are used for designing transportation equipment such as headnuts, gear blanks, bearing blocks, levers, axles, and rotors.

Construction: The construction industry demands components that are capable of handling heavy parts. CNC machines in construction are often used to create bolts and screws from an array of metals such as stainless steel and aluminum, that are used in assembly and fastening functions.

Vehicles: CNC turning services are used for auto parts including parts for engines, such as cylinder heads, connecting rods, and camshafts; transmission parts including shafts, and rings; suspension components like sway bars, control arms, and tie rod ends; plus other items such as bushings and bolts.

Air Travel: The aviation industry relies on CNC turned parts for the customization and creation of probes, joint connectors, fasteners, as well as engine and aircraft components. Many aviation based parts use titanium due to its ability to handle extreme high and low temperatures.