Swiss-Type Lathe Runs 2-Inch Parts Complete

Imagine machining parts from up to a 2-inch (51-mm) diameter bar stock unattended on a complex turn-mill machine with all operations completed on the front and backside of the workpiece, without the need to jump from machine to machine. All the crosswork and endwork milling, drilling and tapping is completed on one machine — even engraving and deburring.

This is reality for machine shops using efficient multitasking machining, such as the newest Swiss-type lathe from Expand Machinery — the GenTurn-52CS Y2. This machine is equipped with six radial live tools, six turning tools, four axial live tools, five tools for drilling, milling and boring and eight tools for the subspindle. According to Harvinder Singh, CEO, this machine can run many complicated parts in one operation.

This Swiss machine can run parts up to 2 inches in diameter, which is considered a large part for a traditional Swiss machine, Singh explains. The machine weighs more than 13,800 lbs, and both main- and counterspindles feature dead-length gripping and a C-axis with full contouring and 360,000 radial positions (0.001-degree resolution). C-axis operations facilitate engraving and milling highly complex part details. The 51-mm (2-inch) bar capacity spindle runs up to 6,000 rpm, and the rapid traverse rate is 1,181 ipm.

With a machine that does all the work in one operation, scheduling is more predictable, Singh says. “It is also much easier to comprehend the actual cost of production when all the work is completed on one machine, which makes your quotations more accurate,” he adds.

Expand Machinery is also displaying a five-axis mill, a manual precision lathe and a CNC toolroom mill in its booth.