I recently changed the focus of my company, BROWNING PRECISION, from a medical prototype company into Manufacturing Consulting. Your articles and advertisers’ literature has been very helpful

Many factors come into play when determining a proper turning speeds and feeds and depth of cut strategy for turning operations. While three of these factors – the ones we deemed to be among the most critical – are listed below, please note that there are many other considerations that are not listed, but that are also important. For instance, safety should always be the main focus of any machining operation, as improper cutting tool parameters can test a machine’s limits, resulting in an accident that can potentially cause significant bodily harm.

For manual lathe turning centers, parameters are programmed a bit differently. Here, the spindle speed is set at a constant RPM, and normally remains unchanged throughout the machining operation. Obviously, this puts more onus on a machinist to get speed correct, as an operation can quickly be derailed if RPM parameters are not optimal for a job. Like with CNC lathe turning centers, though, understanding your machine’s horsepower and maximum feed rate is critical.

When factoring in your machine set-up, machining conditions must be considered. Below are some ideal conditions to strive for, as well as some suboptimal machining conditions to avoid for dialing in proper turning speeds and feeds.

Before dialing in turning speeds and feeds, one must understand their machine type and its capabilities. Machines are programmed differently, depending on the type of turning center being used: CNC Lathe or Manual Lathe.

CNC lathe turning centers can be programmed as a G96 (constant surface footage) or G97 (constant RPM). With this type of machine, the maximum allowable RPM can be programmed using a G50 with an S command. For example, inputting a G50 S3000 into your CNC program would limit the maximum RPM to 3,000. Further, with CNC Lathe Turning Centers, the feed rate is programmable and can be changed at different positions or locations within a part program.

www.harveytool.com www.helicaltool.com www.micro100.com www.titancuttingtools.com www.corehog.com www.valorholemaking.com

The condition of your machine should always be considered prior to beginning a machining operation on a lathe. Older machines that have been used for production operations where hard or abrasive materials are machined tend to have a large amount of backlash, or wear, on the machine’s mechanical parts. This can cause it to produce less than optimal result and may require that a tooling manufacturer’s recommended speeds and feeds parameters need to be dialed back a bit, as to not run the machine more aggressively than it can handle.

Sign up to receive a monthly recap of: – The latest machining solutions – Machining tips and tricks – A recap of our most popular posts

As is always the case, cutting tool and tool holder selection are pivotal. Not all turning tool manufacturers are the same, either. The best machinists develop longstanding relationships with tooling manufacturers, and are able to depend on their input and recommendations. Micro 100, for example, has manufactured the industry’s highest quality turning tools for more than 50 years. Further, its tool holder offering includes multiple unique styles, allowing machinists to determine the product that’s best for them.

Machine condition, type, capabilities, and set-up are all significantly important to an overall successful turning operation, as is turning tool and holder selection.

Found your post interesting to read. I can’t wait to see your post soon. Good Luck with the upcoming update. This article is really very interesting and effective.

I love how you point out the importance of considering the machine condition when operating your lathe machine. I have a friend who just purchased some garage space to start up his wood and metal working again. He’s been wanting to get a lathe machine to help him create round commission pieces. We’ve been looking into finding a company he can trust to buy one from.