4 Important Tips for CNC Turning to improve the efficiency

Desheng engaged in CNC machining, CNC turning, CNC milling with carbon steel, alloy steel, tool steel, Aluminum, brass, copper for more than 8 years. We have accumulated rich experience in this field. Now we talk about the 5 Important Tips for CNC Turning to improve the efficiency of CNC turning.

CNC lathe or CNC turning is a kind of high-precision, high-efficiency automatic turning machine with digital information to control the displacement of parts and tools. Since the CNC lathe machining is a one-time clamping, and all the turning operations are completed continuously and automatically, the following matters should be paid attention to when performing CNC lathe turning..

1. Balance the 3 CNC Turning factors: cutting speed, feed amount and cutting depth

The three elements of cutting conditions for CNC lathe machining are cutting speed, feed amount and cutting depth. As the cutting speed increases, the temperature of the cutting tool will rise, which will cause mechanical, chemical and also physical abrasion. Increasing cutting speed by 20% will reduce tool life by 1/2. The effect of the feed amount on the abrasion of the tool is smaller than the cutting speed. But please note the larger the feed amount will bring the higher the cutting temperature, then create the greater tool abrasion. As of cutting depth, when the cutting depth is small, the hardened layer of the material will turn out and it will also affect the tool life.

So we must balance the 3 factors: cutting speed, feed amount and cutting depth

2. Select the right cutting tools for different material

In CNC lathe machining, the role of metal cutting tools is very important. The materials used to make the tools must have high hardness, abrasion resistance and heat resistance, sufficient strength and toughness, good thermal conductivity and processability.

(1) During rough turning period, select high-strength and durable tools to meet the requirements of large feed during rough turning.

(2) During finishing turning period, it is necessary to choose high precision and durable tools to ensure the processing accuracy requirements. Machining accuracy is the first aim during this period.

(3) In order to reduce tools changing interval time and make it easy-going for tool setting, it’s better to use machine clamps. In the same process, use as few tools as possible to reduce the number of tool changes;

(4) It’s better to choose a universal standard tool instead of special non-standard tools.

3. How to select a suitable fixture?

(1) The principle is to use universal fixtures to clamp workpieces as much as possible and reduce special and complicated fixtures;

(2) The positioning basis of parts should coincide to reduce the positioning error. Then the other region’s processing will have the same base flat.

1. When the production volume of parts is not large, combined fixtures, adjustable fixtures and universal fixtures should be used as much as possible to shorten production preparation time and save production costs;

2. Only consider the use of special fixtures in batch production, and strive for simple structure;

3. The loading and unloading of parts should be fast, convenient and reliable to reduce the downtime of the lathe;

4. Each component on the fixture should not prevent the lathe from processing the various surfaces of the component;

5. When selecting tooling, it should facilitate tool exchange and avoid interference and collision;

6. In batch production, multi-position and multi-piece fixtures can also be used to improve processing efficiency.

4. Select the right processing route

The processing route is the movement direction of the tool, relative to the workpiece.

(1) the right processing route can guarantee the processing accuracy and surface roughness requirements;

(2) The machining route should be shortened as much as possible to reduce the idle travel time of the tool.

(3) Make the numerical calculation simple and also make the number of program blocks small, that can reduce the programming workload. Additionally, the programming code is easily to read for other operators.

(4) When determining the machining process route of CNC lathes, please also consider the machining allowance of the workpiece, the rigidity of the lathe and the tool to determine whether it is the best way to complete the process, it’s a single pass or multiple passes.

(5) Consider one-time clamping, then multi-directional processing at one time, and make the final parts in one processing. In this way, the processing efficiency of the CNC lathe can be effectively improved.

When performing CNC lathe turning, we should pay more attention to the above 4 factors. Selecting the most suitable CNC lathe processing method can improve the processing efficiency and accuracy of CNC lathe, and it can also reduce the cost.

However, in the actual CNC lathe machining process, the experience of the operators of the CNC lathe also affect the machining efficiency of the CNC lathe. Only by fully considering all factors affecting the machining efficiency of the CNC lathe, and improving the machining experience of the operator will greatly improve the CNC lathe efficiency and reduce the cost greatly.

When you have any comments or have more ideas, please don’t hesitate to contact us.