Traub 20 mm diameter capacity lathe turns with or without guide bush
1 min read
Traub has introduced a new CNC sliding-head mill-turn centre which allows for turning with or without the support of a guide bush. Normally, a manufacturer would need to purchase two separate lathes to have the same versatility.
Called TNL18, the machine has a capacity of 20 mm and bar, which may be gripped conventionally, by a collet, and fed through the guide bush, up to 205 mm, giving all the classic advantages of Swiss-type turning.
Alternatively, the bar is clamped by a collet in the spindle and moved 80 mm into and out of the cutting zone using the Z-axis motion of the headstock travelling at up to 40 m/min. This set-up is best for machining shorter components, as there is no need to bridge the gap between the collet and guide bush, so bar remnants are much shorter and material is saved.
Eliminating the guide bush avoids the need to use expensive ground stock.
The process is also ideal for applications where a guide bush is impracticable, such as when producing plastic workpieces and those machined from profiled stock.
