Lathe details are processed with lathe machines which are used in machine construction for the production of rotational details. These special machines designed for processing lathe details are made from different types of steel, non-ferrous metals, and cast iron.
Which machines make lathe details?
With the advancements in technology, multifunctional lathe machines become more and more widely used compared to conventional lathe machines. The configuration of modern lathe machine models includes one or more mandrels. They offer an excellent solution when it comes to the performance of a big number of operations in processing rotational details.
By adding more components to the lathe machines such as lathe mandrels, rotating axles in revolver heads, options for making holes with a mandrel at a controlled speed, milling, and also sanding we can transform these machines into lathe centers with numerous applications.
The modern lathe machines can be equipped with cartridge chambers, a combination between a center and a cartridge chamber, and a bar feeding system with or without a center on the backtailstock.
Around 60% of all lathe details need to be attached to a cartridge chamber during the process of lathing. The task of taking and feeding the billets can be done manually or in an automated way.
The role of cartridge chambers is to stabilize one side of each of the short billets. Symmetrical rotational components need to be fed two or three consecutive times to be able to process details from both sides.
Thanks to the modern cartridge lathe centers that are equipped with two mandrels (vertical or horizontal) we can achieve full two-sided processing of details. In the past, the realization of this task required the use of one or more lathes. Now thanks to lathe centers we can process a given detail from both sides as well as process two billets at once.
The processing detail has a maximum diameter of 380 mm. and a maximum length of 1000 mm. Lathe machines have rod-feeding systems. The ready products are designed for a variety of industry spheres:
● car industry
● construction
● production of hydraulic details
● machine production details
● pneumatic and hydraulic details
Types of lathe details
Orifices for hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders
Parts for anti-vibration elements
Lathe details for protective pneumatic valves
Axes, shafts- have an application in machine production and the packaging industry.
Bushes
Because they have a precise cylindrical shape these details are applied in the production of 3D measuring devices of multi-spindle drill machines,computers, and peripheral devices, machines for precise processing, punching and printing machines, machines for packaging food products, and transport facilities.
Bearing assemblies
Used in the production of agricultural machinery
Valves
Used in internal combustion engines. Hydraulic valves are used also in hydraulic systems and systems with hydraulic engines.
Distributive seals
Applied in hydraulic facilities, pump systems
Pistons
In the production of auto and marine engines.
Orifices
Used for protecting the integrity of cables and air-tight passages and it’s also applied in all spheres of the electro-construction sphere.
Footstep bearing
Used in the auto production
Flanges
The flange is a type of plate that acts as an ending of a route. Steel threaded flanges are used for connecting pipes, cranes, water filters, valves, water gauges. Flanges are also applied in car production.
Tank bottoms
Applied in the production of tanks and high pressure vessels.
Honed pipes
Used in the production of telescopic and hydraulic cylinders, cylindrical bodies, and piston rods.
Chrome rods
Applied in the production of hydraulic cylinders.
Plungers
Form the structure of hydraulic machines that are used in the automation of machines designed for high speed transportation of heavy loads.
Blocks
What types of lathe machines exist and what detail processing options they offer?
Types of lathe machines
Automatic lathe machines are used in the automotive industry, hydraulics, and machine production. There are automatic lathe machines in which all sockets of the revolver head complete lathing operations and they are equipped with rod feeding systems.
When working with rod feeding systems the maximum diameter of the processed detail is 60 mm and the maximum diameter is 380 mm. The maximum length of the processed detail is 700 mm.
Vertical cartridge lathes
Because modern lathe machines are made with multifunctional metal processing solutions and achieve high efficiency in the production process, consequently they become some of the most in-demand machines. Another reason for their increasing popularity is that the new trends in the production of lathe details require the shape of each detail to be as similar as possible to the end product.
Vertical cartridge lathes are designed for processing more heavy elements such as flywheels. The gravitational power contributes to the billet’s strong adhesion to the cartridge.
Horizontal lathe centers
These lathe centers have two mandrels and the rotational axis of their right spindle coincides with the rotational axis of the left spindle. The right spindle follows the rotational pattern of the left. Each of the spindles has two revolver heads that can perform two-sided processing of details.
These lathe machines are suitable for such lathe details that need the same or similar processing of both ends. They require the use of rotational tools for punching and milling.
The lathe machines with portal feeding systems are a preferred option for horizontal lathe centers with front feeding because they help with the process of feeding, turning, and unloading the billets. One innovation in double mandrel lathe technologies are lathe machines with an auxiliary mandrel and coaxial horizontal lathe centers.
Reversed vertical lathes
These new-generation lathe machines have yet started to increase their popularity in the lathe details production market. They are suitable for the production of details with a diameter of 200-500 mm. These are rotors, hubs, drum wheels, and cogwheels. The special thing about them is that they have a movable integrated motor spindle that fixes in place the detail from above. The power used in the fixation of the details resists not only the centrifugal cutting force but also the gravitational force.
In reversed vertical lathe centers we don’t need a feeding or charging device because the ready detail is unloaded directly from the conveyor belt.
The work speed of detail processing from the moment of attachment to the moment when the processing begins is no longer than 5 seconds compared to the speed of a transfer with portal feeding devices where the process takes between 15 and 20 sec.
Lathe machines with an auxiliary mandrel
These machines have an auxiliary mandrel with a capacity that is lower than that of the main one. The second mandrel takes the detail from the main mandrel. These lathe centers offer the option of adding up to three revolver heads as well as different other tools.
Lathe machines with an auxiliary mandrel
Computer controlled lathe machines with an auxiliary mandrel are an excellent choice for processing metal details as the processing of one of their sides is easier than the processing of the other. A characteristic feature of these lathe centers is that the capacity of the auxiliary spindle is two times higher than this of the main spindle.
These configurations achieve more quick processing (between 20 and 30% increase in speed compared to the standard double mandrel lathe centers.) If we compare them to two separate CNC machines, the lathe machines with an auxiliary mandrel achieve 30-40% shorter processing times.
Thanks to modern operating systems the auxiliary mandrels are precisely synchronized with the first and this allows the high-speed transfer of components that don’t have an oval shape between the mandrels. These systems offer suitable clamping momentum and stress from the auxiliary mandrel to the detail that is attached to the main mandrel. This allows a transfer without additional load on the first spindle.
Multifunctional configurations
Currently we can find different configurations by different brands that offer two processing operations. There are vertical models with two mandrels that are used in combination with a reversed spindle for the first processing position and a conventionally oriented spindle for the second.
The lathe machines with many mandrels are gradually replaced by high-speed CNC lathe centers. Their profile tools are replaced by single multifunctional alternatives that process different details. For making threads and channels special insertions and plates are needed.
For long cylindrical details such as shafts, a good choice are lathe centers with a lunette that holds the processed detail between the front and the back tailstock. For unconventionally shaped details such as hinges and collar beams that are part of the front suspension of heavy or light vehicles we need to install special fixing modules on the front tailstock.
Shafts that have a sufficient point of support at both ends can be processed with a front holder and back tailstock center. Manufacturers in this sphere are more and more interested in 4-axis lathe centers. They have two revolver heads, each of which rotates independently of the other over a set of cross sleds.
The tools of 4-axis lathe centers with two revolver heads work simultaneously at two positions by a CPU control. This reduces considerably the processing times.
CNC lathe machines with a driving center are another type of machine configuration that offer simultaneous two-sided processing of cylindrical details such as shafts for example.
Multifunctional lathing has many advantages. A metal processing machine can perform simultaneously a large number of operations.
By adding automated tools to the revolver head and having a processing mandrel with a controlled axis secondary operations such as milling and punching can be planned to be done with a single detail feed in the machine. Another advantage of these tools is that the details are moved and recharged less often which increases the quality of the processing.
The details don’t need to be frequently moved, turned, or recharged. Also, the details are processed in a very precise way and steady efficiency is achieved. And we don’t need to use a large number of tools for processing and fixing.
When a given detail isn’t moved from one machine to the next we avoid the risk of losing important data about it. Besides, by decreasing the number of mechanical operations that are performed on a detail such as fixing, unloading, and feeding the risk of damage is lowered.
Lathe centers are constantly being developed to meet the industry’s increasing standards. The processed components tend to become more complex and have higher quality and strength than before.
