Thursday, August 31, 2017

Guides For CNC Turning Machines That Can Help To Use Them At Home

By John Hill


Turning machines are tools for cutting with non rotary bit moving linearly while the material rotates. Their movement axes are either a straight line, with curves or with angles but essentially are linear and intended for external surfaces. If applied on internal surfaces, the process is called boring and together they are categorized as lathing.

These process were traditionally done manually and has an operator for supervising them and the recent ones would be automated and does not need supervision. The latter is done using CNC turning machines in CT and computer programs are controlling the operation. Their early versions have created geometric figures which are complex though their recent creation is rarely done.

Turning processes are executed usually with lathe which has four types such as taper, straight, external grooving and profiling. These can create various shapes of workpieces like conical, straight, grooved and curved. If you like to try the process at home with your own small machine for doing your personal projects, follow these helpful guides for using them.

Buy high quality carbide cutters from trusted brands to achieve better results rather than buying inexpensive ones with no names. They tend to break easily specially when used with metals resulting to more expenses for constant replacements. You will not need the most expensive ones but those from a reputable brand with favorable reviews.

Buy calculators for speeds and feeds, or cutting speed and feed rate respectively, to make sure they are set with precision. The latter is velocity of the tools when being advanced along and the former is speed difference of workpiece surface and cutter. Tough materials need them precised correctly and calibrating them without calculators is not possible.

Determine the correct depth and width of cut which is important in avoiding tool deflection or its bending that causes accuracy problems. This would add to chipload, or the removed material thickness, and largely contributes to early breakage. The deflection reduces CNC accuracy also because the instrument will not be where the code expects its exact location is.

Small machines commonly have issues of easily moving around when they work with powerful force because they lack weight required. This is unlike larger ones that can handle jobs with high power like cutting stainless steel. Reduced the force used in your cuts according to their size so they would stabilize when using them.

Some machines that have consumer grades possess cheap toolholders that will not endure pressures coming from tough materials. Those toolholders are a steel bar with shanks on one side clamped into the machine and other side having clam for holding the interchangeable tools. If your cutters break often, you should upgrade the toolholders or reduce the chipload.

Ensure that coolant is used which can reduce several related issues in cutting various tough materials such as material hardening or heat retention. Using one when working on difficult materials is a great idea to have. Some more guides are available that can help you and visit your local shops if you still have more questions.




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