time2017/07/26
Turning is the heart of machining.
Every machinist learned their craft on a horizontal lathe and if you walk into any tool room or machine shop in the world, the odds are good that you’ll find at least one lathe in use. Of course, turning doesn’t have to be done horizontally. Vertical lathes flip turning on its end, spinning parts like a top rather than a car tire. Inverted vertical lathes go one step further and turn vertical turning on its head.
Could inverted vertical turning enhance your operation?
In a vertical lathe, the chuck is located on the bottom of the machine so that parts clamped into it are pointed up. The principle benefit of this arrangement is that gravity works to your advantage for workholding, helping to seat the part.
However, with an inverted vertical lathe, the chuck is located at the top of the machine so that parts are clamped pointing down.. Using this type of lathe also means that you’re moving the part toward the tool, rather than vice versa.
Advantages of Inverted Vertical Turning
“If you consider a part which is on a sub-spindle below the turning tool, you’re basically in a situation where you are turning your chips into the tool path or the interior of the part. Those chips you’re trying to remove can have a detrimental impact on the quality of the part. If the workpiece is located above the tool instead, gravity is working to your benefit to allow all the chips to escape the part without any detrimental effects on the quality of the workpiece.”
This means that just as with a conventional vertical lathe, gravity works to your benefit on an inverted vertical lathe. The difference is that rather than helping with workholding, gravity helps with chip removal.
“It means all of our scales and rails and cables are above the work zone, and so your contamination effect is much more limited compared to a horizontal lathe or a sub-spindle lathe. Our machines tend to have a much better maintenance performance over the life of the equipment versus conventional equipment.”
Inverted vertical turning may flip the process on its head, but it’s still a machine tool, and standard machine tool practice still holds true, from toolpath coding to speeds and feeds.
For manufacturers contemplating machining cells using general purpose robotics tending two or more horizontal centers to feed a hungry line, inverted vertical turning offers lower overall cost in a smaller footprint with high throughput.
Vertical turning has been around for over a century, but if it was invented today, engineers would identify it as made for automated part production. Inverting the process lets smart manufacturers take full advantage of gravity; it’s like a free actuator or additional axis, without the cost or complexity.
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