Turned parts cover such a broad range, from slender shafts and tiny precision connectors to large-bore oil-patch tubing and huge turbine shafts, that it's hard to imagine how they fall under the same category of single-point metal removal.

Whether used in the toolroom or for rapid prototyping or for high-production applications, turning centers depend on the latest advances in machine design, control technology, software, and automating load and unload devices for their effectiveness.

Visitors to IMTS 2006 can expect to see technology solutions that reflect the demands of manufacturers for singlesetup production of more and more complex parts to ever higher levels of quality. Here's what visitors should look for: CNC lathes with live tools, C axes, subspindles and Y axis have the capability to drill and mill off center, and are much in demand for complete part processing in a single setup.

* CNC lathes approach full multitasking capability with a B axis that allows rotation around the Y axis for drilling at an angle or contour milling off the spindle centerline

* Classes of machines such as vertical turning centers and Swiss turns continue to enjoy demand because of growth in markets, including energy, aerospace, medical, and machinery.

For high-production applications, turning machines have evolved with multiple spindles, adding to the number of single-point tools that can be applied to the same part or machine multiple parts in a machine cycle.
Advertisement

Machines that add live (driven) tooling in the form of milling cutters, drills, and sundry other tools can perform turning and milling and other processes in a single setup, and approach true multitasking machines in capacity. Multitasking machines will be covered in the next section of our show preview.

Going to IMTS in search of your next turning machine involves adopting a strategy based on the volume and complexity of parts to be machined, the need for quick-change

change workholding and tooling, desired quality of finished part, and ease of programming. It could he a simple two-axis lathe or a Swiss-turn capable of producing the most complex precision parts in as many as ten axes.

For medical applications, electronics connectors, and a host of similar precision-machined parts, Swiss turns that machine bar, typically to 32-mm diam, are following a number of courses in development.

"Manufacturers are requiring faster changeover, as businesses want smaller hatches and smaller quantities," explains Tom Dierks, president, Tornos Technologies US Corp. (Brookfield, CT). "There is a need to set up faster and change over faster, relying on quick-change tooling or quick-change barfeeders with different bar sizes," Dierks says.

"Tornos has done a lot of things to its Swiss turns to overcome the limitations of the number of tools, for example taking a tool position and tooling it up to handle two or three tools to open up more tool positions on the machine. That's essential for more complex parts typically found in medical applications and some automotive and electronics Darts." Dierks says.

For moderately complex parts, Tornos will exhibit its Deco 20s six-axis machine. It has been boosted to a 20 (25.4)-mm diam size and features a mirror image front to back sliding headstock on the front and sliding subspindle on the back, and gang slide on front and back. "It's a much less expensive option for the user who only requires five or six axes, and it can be configured a la carte or packaged with barfeeder and driven tools for under $200,000," says Dierks.

"IMTS attendees will quickly notice that today's machines are moving in two distinct directions," says Brad Morris, president of REM Sales Inc. (East Granby, CT). "Manufacturers are being driven to do more with less, looking at all of their processes for ways to reduce or eliminate operations while improving flexibility. In doing so, many are purchasing multifunction lathes, including Swiss turns, as solutions.

"In response to this market need, Swiss turn builders are producing more complex machines capable of simultaneous operation. Many of these new machines include turrets and driven tooling for milling, drilling, and other operations not typically performed on lathes," Morris explains.

"Attendees will see more machines than at any previous show capable of helping them consolidate operations in one machine and drop parts complete. At the same time, Swiss-turn builders are also developing simpler machines that are cost-effective solutions with decent capabilities for manufacturers producing parts that demand flexibility, but don't require complex machining operations," Morris explains.

"To an outsider, it might appear that these two strategies run counter to each other. In actuality, they are working together to help machine tool builders broaden their product offerings and provide more comprehensive solutions to their customers," Morris says.