CNC Turning

CNC turning is used to reduce the diameter of a workpiece by cutting the material as it rotates. Turning can be used for both finishing a product - leaving the workpiece with a smooth surface - or for a speedy way of efficiently reducing the size of a workpiece.

Turning can also be used for simply shaping a workpiece, adjusting the depth or angle of the turning tool as the workpiece is fed past the tooling. This can produce abrupt steps, tapered slopes, and even smooth contouring, in the workpiece.

Suitable metals for turning processes must be durable, and able to withstand the abrasive procedures without being damaged or deformed, but balance this with good machinability, and can be shaved down by the lathe without too much resistance.

Metals commonly used for turning include: alloy stainless steels 303, 304, and 316, titanium, alloy aluminium 6061 and 7075, alloy carbon steel 1045, brass, and zinc. They each have unique properties which make them suitable for machining applications, whilst maintaining integrity as a finished product.

Turning is a handy and popular machining method: it can reduce lead time, it is versatile, with a high degree of repeatability - especially when used in conjunction with CNC. There is no need for a highly skilled operator, though a degree of training in CNC is required.

On the other hand, turning can create large amounts of scrap, and can be abrading on tooling - quickly creating wear, meaning tooling will need refurbishment or replacement, and is often not used in isolation - tooling that undergoes turning will often need to be machined using other methods to complete its manufacturing.

CNC turning has plenty of benefits. For one, they’re very accurate, allowing for a much more consistent quality of product across the board. They enable you to achieve higher production speeds and greater efficiency than working by hand, and also reduce the safety risks of operators significantly. They are overall much more cost-effective, thanks to the lower rate of errors and waste.

• CNC mills are used for milling, cutting, and drilling operations, and operators can route and path their spindles to allow them a wide range of control over their movements.
• CNC routers are like mills but typically machine-softer materials and can design and cut shapes into wood, steel, aluminium, foam, plastic, and more.

• CNC plasma cutters use a plasma torch instead of metal cutting tools and are used with electrically conductive materials, such as brass, copper, aluminium, steel, and stainless steel.

• CNC lathes are used to spin workpieces at high speeds while a cutting tool works along the surface to shape the product to the desired shape.

• CNC laser cutters use beams of focused lasers, instead of gas like plasma, for a smaller point of contact, and are used for materials like plastic, paper, fabric, wood, and metals.

One of the reasons CNC has become so popular today is precisely due to its much higher accuracy and precision when compared to hand-operated tools. There’s a much greater degree of consistency to parts and products that are produced by CNC tools, with tolerances for deviation that can be as small as ±0.04 mm.