Why Using an Inverted Vertical Turning Machine is the Best Bet?

Norm Grimberg
4 min readDec 29, 2017

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CNC machining process is incomplete without turning.

For every precision cnc machined part developed, there goes an immense amount of time and effort in getting the turning step right. A slight deviation in the speeds or feeds and your end product won’t match your initial idea and laid out plan. Turning process is nothing new, though. Its history goes back to the early 19th century. In fact, every machinist started with a horizontal lathe and eventually mastered the art of machining!

Turning process isn’t limited to only horizontal settings. Vertical turning is just as common as the horizontal one. But, there is another process that has not been here for long, and is still underrated- Inverted Vertical Turning! Let’s learn more about it and see how it could enhance your machining process.

The Difference Between Vertical Turning and Inverted Vertical Turning

As the name suggests, inverted vertical turning process is the exact opposite of the vertical turning one. In the regular vertical lathe, the cutting tool clamps down from its position at the top of the machine. It cuts through the parts that are attached to the chuck at the bottom. In this case, gravity helps the cutting tool to glide smoothly through the part giving us a smoother finish.

On the other hand, inverted vertical lathe has the chuck positioned at the top of the machine and the parts attached to it point towards the bottom. Here, we move the part towards the cutting tool located at the bottom of the machine, exactly opposite of what we do in the case of a vertical lathe.

In easier words, the basic concept involving the inverted vertical turning process is to simply flip the conventional vertical design to 180 degrees for an improved spindle work in both x and z axes. Nowadays, precision CNC machine shops are adopting inverted vertical turning machines seeing their ability to handle every production range- small, medium, or large- with ultimate precision.

Why using an inverted vertical turning lathe is perfect for you? Let’s find out.

Advantages of Inverted Vertical Turning

1. Easy Chip Removal

Every CNC turning service provider faces an inevitable problem of chip handling.

In the machining process wherein the part is located on a sub-spindle below the turning tool, the chips formed get further pushed into the interior of the part. Getting rid of them becomes pretty difficult and it may also have a huge impact on the quality of the end-product.

But if your workpiece is located above the tool, the gravity helps the chip remnants to escape the part smoothly without hampering with the product quality.

Inverted vertical turning lathe, thus, helps reduce the contamination in the product, providing us with smoother surfaces and enhances control of tolerances.
2. Self Loading Features

This machine comes equipped with a self-loading feature so you save time, effort, or extra budget on providing additional automation machines for delivering the parts to the machine and carrying the finished product away from the machine.

The carousel also acts as a buffer, waiting for a turn to complete before handing the next batch and saves you from the wrath of a downtime due to loading and unloading parts to the machine.
3. It Helps Make Gravity Work for You

As explained earlier, inverted vertical lathe helps you take full advantage of gravity, both by handling chip troubles and working as a free actuator or an additional axis.

It promotes smart manufacturing.

Additionally, with gravity pushing out most of the coolant residue on the parts and allowing minimal swarf to stay back, the product cleaning process becomes much easier.
4. Perfect for Round Parts with Volume

While turning process is pretty much essential for the development of all round parts, inverted vertical CNC turning process is a must for parts that are round and carry some sort of volume.

Be it pinion gears, hubs, differential ring gears, planetary carriers, flanges or yokes, parts of all sizes can be produced using an inverted vertical lathe.

This machine is ideally used to manufacture parts for industries like automotive, appliance, and other consumer goods focused industries that require high volume applications.
5. Low cost- High Output Replacement of Robotics

Inverted vertical lathes are also ideal for those looking for rather precise, small footprint, high throughput but low overall cost replacement for robotics option.

6. Transfiguration Abilities

They are equipped with impressive multitasking abilities. Apart from performing their designated task of turning, they can also be configured for other metalworking operations including milling, hobbing, rolling, and grinding.
Inverted vertical lathe’s simple framework helps keep the footwork smaller in each of the cases, without involving the auxiliary loaders, making the process simple but precise.

Read more: http://mdaltd.ca/blog/

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