In this article, I discuss the ins and outs of the two main bed designs for CNC lathe machines: the true slant bed and the flatbed “flying wedge” configurations.
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Unlike the flatbed “flying wedge” design, where the slant is achieved by the addition of a bolt-on wedge that is mounted on the cross slide, the true slant bed machine casting is manufactured with the slant built in. This not only offers more rigidity and thermal stability, but also provides the casting more overall mass. This means you have a much heavier machine with a smaller footprint. Typically, the true slant bed design is offered in one of two slant angles: 30 degrees and 45 degrees. However, there are also some 60-degree models available.
There are many advantages to the true slant bed design, and it is probably the most common configuration in modern CNC lathes. One of the most well-known and obvious advantages to the true slant bed is better chip evacuation. As the chips are created during the machining process, they are immediately washed down toward the chip bed by gravity and the normal flow of the coolant. This keeps chips from accumulating on flat surfaces, which not only helps control the chips in high volume production applications but can also aid in prolonging the overall life of a machine by reducing undue wear on the ways and other moving parts.
Another advantage to the true slant design is larger X-axis travels. Unlike the flatbed lathes, where guide rail length is limited to the horizontal depth of the casting, the true slant bed design allows for longer X-axis rails. Just like in a square box, the straight sides of the box are one specific length, but the angular distance from one corner to the other is much longer. The same is true for the slant bed casting design, which obviously means a larger part capacity in a smaller machine footprint. Although the “flying wedge” design, with the bolt-on slant, can also offer some increased X-axis travels over traditional flatbed machines, it can also magnify the lack of rigidity that is present in the bolt-on approach. You just cannot substitute for a sturdy casting design.
Thermal dynamics are also a big consideration in any machining process. The angular configuration of the base casting and extended X-axis guideways offer better rigidity and part accuracies. Since the linear rails are longer, the base saddle casting that carries the turret can also be longer, providing a much sturdier base of support for the turret. As the machine components begin to heat up during the machining process, the headstock, tailstock and cross slide will all begin to grow along the same 30-, 45-, or 60-degree plane as the X-axis. This differs from the flatbed “flying wedge” design, where the X-axis is mounted on a slant, but the rest of the machine components are mounted on the horizontal flatbed plane.
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A lathe machine performs multiple mechanisms such as shearing, sanding, turning, drilling, deforming, etc over a range of materials such as wood, plastic and metal. With lathe machine it is easy to produce symmetrical objects. In recent years in order to provide quality solutions for several industrial needs many improvements have been implemented in designing lathe machines. A CNC lathe machine or computerised numerical controlled lathe machine is one of the innovative designs of lathe machines that have widely been used in the place of conventional machine types. It is a modern technology that does not require complete manual support for functioning. Above all CNC supports effectively in monitoring the accuracy of the machine activity over a computer screen.
There are two main types of lathe machines that differ by means of the lathe bed elevation angle they are flat bed lather machine and slant bed lathe machine. Wherein, flat bed lathe machine applications are widely used in heavy duty turning process with more productivity. We can rely on flat bed CNC lathe equipment for a reliable, stable and powerful shearing function. Productivity can be increased with the help of investing on flat CNC lathe machine irrespective of the model. Hence, the model has to be selected based on the respective industrial target in terms of dimension, thickness and the expected production ratio. Click here to know more about CNC Lathe Machine.
A slant bed CNC lathe works on a spindle motor having the lathe bed alignment is in the slide ways and is especially effective in making Z axis motion which is relatively straighter. The flat bed CNC on the other hand works effectively to obtain highly rigid accuracy where exact positioning of the metal is required. It is applied mainly for heavy duty cutting process. In general flat bed CNC lathes are mainly preferred to achieve accurate finishing along with the requisite thickness during the process of sliding, surfacing and screw turning. A flat bed CNC lathe machine is also designed in various forms to manage light and heavy metal turning process. In industries where more workshop machining works are done a flat bed lathe with CNC device is found to be more suitable option as we can get precise finishing and feel the ease of cutting, drilling in economic power consumption. Some of the popular industries where flat bed CNC is highly preferred are
Considering the common benefits of flat bed lathe equipment such as less power consumption, capacity to run 24 hours, easier programming, which requires less manual support this equipment can be suggested as a suitable option for mass production of symmetrical products. In addition, it is excellent machinery that can be used to achieve accuracy in curving, bending, and turning process of even complicated shapes and forms.
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