Milling Lathe Guide
A milling lathe is also considered a CNC turning center, which is machining equipment based on the turning method with tools. The milling machines sometimes rotate the workpiece or tools along the rotation axis to perform various machining operations, including milling and turning. The machining process of the mill machines includes: operating with tools applied to the workpiece to create an axis-symmetric object driven by the spindle.In the past, turning was only performed on lathes, or say turning machines, and milling could only be performed on the milling machines. Due to barriers in technology in the past days, these two types of processing methods are rarely integrated for either mill or cutting usages. But now the tools are many.
Powerful Accessories
Nowadays, with the widespread use of power turrets and power tools, these two functions can be integrated into one to make the machining of mill machines more efficient. In most lathe structures, lathes can be divided into two main types according to the way the workpiece is clamped on the machines. These are vertical lathe and horizontal lathe machines.
In the vertical mill-turn centers, the workpiece is clamped vertically for cutting, and the cutting tools are installed in the same direction for the vertical processing of the milling lathes. Compared with the horizontal mill machines, the vertical clamping will be firmer due to the gravity effect so the cutting will be firm. Manufacturers of vertical turning machines usually make their vertical turning machines into great manufacturing facilities for various industrial users who pursue high cutting precision, such as the automotive industry, the aerospace sector, sports equipment manufacturing, and other industries with larger workpieces.
In the vertical clamping mechanism of the milling lathe, the spindle of the mill machines is located behind the chuck. The spindle may be belt-driven, and some may be equipped with other types of driving mechanisms. Like other mill machines and machining centers, turning lathes can also be equipped with power tools and tool magazines to improve their cutting functionality and cutting versatility, thereby providing machine users with greater cutting processing possibilities.
The power turret is a modern standard accessory for many CNC turning machines and one of the most important accessories for users of CNC lathes. Taiwanese suppliers aimed at this business and developed many well-known power turrets and power tools to support users of lathe and milling lathe in the global market. Many power turrets are driven by a single motor with a servo function, which can ensure the best processing results and save the best energy consumption. At the same time, they can also provide great rigidity.
Automatic Tool Changing
Due to the utilization of the power turret, the integration of milling and turning becomes possible. In this mechanical design, the tool magazine will be equipped with an automatic tool changer to make the tool work more flexible. In addition to power turrets, tool magazines and automatic tool changers (ATC) are also the best-selling products of Taiwanese machine tool accessory manufacturers. The tool magazine and ATC system designed by Taiwanese suppliers can provide the best T to T timing according to the customer's cycle time engineering, thereby helping customers satisfy order requirements.
Critical Accessories
In addition, tools, live tools, turning spindles, chucks, and hydraulic cylinders made in Taiwan are also very developed. Coupled with a CNC turning center, a series of lathe products and accessories are widely used in different industrial fields around the world.
Some other milling operations can also be used for boring. Therefore, just like boring and milling machines provided by some manufacturers, the functions of the machine are shown in the name. The machining process advances the rotating tool into one or more workpieces to remove material, and the entire process can be controlled by a computer numerical control (CNC) system or manually operated. Nowadays, such machines are usually controlled by CNC systems, and their accuracy is controlled within a relatively small tolerance range.
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