Turning
Turning is a machining process in which a cutting tool, typically a non-rotary tool bit, describes a helix toolpath by moving more or less linearly while the workpiece rotates. The tools axes of movement may be literally linear, or they may be along some set of curves or angles, but they are essentially linear.
Common examples of turning processes include turning on a lathe, which is used to produce circular shapes, and tapers, as well as more complicated shapes; turning in a mill-turn machine, which produces complex parts with multi-axis movement; and Production Turning, which uses dedicated high speed cutting (HSC) machines with the ability to quickly and precisely machine simple and complex parts.
Turning is typically used to produce parts with symmetrical features, such as rotational parts like threaded fasteners, cam shafts and crank arms. It is also used to produce parts featuring non-symmetrical geometric shapes such as splines and curved shapes.
Turning operations can be performed on a variety of materials, such as steel, aluminum, brass, stainless steel, zinc, and plastics. Typical shapes that can be manufactured include shafts, screw threads, discs, disks, multiple-fluted rods, rings, and hollow tubes.
Advantages of Turning
The major advantage of turning is its relative speed and affordability compared to processes like milling. Due to its impressive speed, turning tends to be one of the favored processes for high-volume production runs.
Turning also has the potential to produce more precise, repeatable parts in comparison to other machining techniques, such as milling.
The machines used for turning are relatively straightforward and easy to set up, making it a good option for short or one-off production runs. This has obvious benefits in terms of cost and time.
Turning can also accommodate add-on features that can’t be added in other processes. This includes threading and grooving, which are useful for adding nuts and bolts or other features easily and quickly.
Disadvantages of Turning
The main disadvantage of turning is that it can only produce parts with revolving features. It is not possible to produce parts with complex contours or complex geometries.
Although turning is cost effective for mass production, it is not necessarily the most cost-effective solution for producing one-off parts or very small production runs. The setup times for turning machines and the cost of the tooling involved can be prohibitive in such cases.
In addition, the speed of turning is also limited by the speed of the cutting tool, which is determined by the parameters of the material being turned. As such, harder materials require lower speeds and feed rates, making the process less efficient.
Conclusion
Turning is a machining process used to produce revolving components or parts with symmetrical features. It is relatively fast and inexpensive compared to other machining processes and is best suited to high-volume production runs.
However, turning can only be used to create revolving features, and the tooling and setup requirements can make it uneconomical for short production runs. Additionally, though turning can produce accurate, repeatable parts, the speeds and feed rates of the cutting tools are limited by the parameters of the workpiece material.
