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CNC Turning Centers

CNC Turning Centers

Rolling Hot – A KENT CNC Mill and Lathe Customer Success Story

By |2024-10-14T17:41:52-08:00October 14th, 2024|Categories: CNC Tips, CNC Turning Centers, CNC Vertical Machining Centers|

After years of equipment breakdowns, this shop owner decided he’d rather make parts than repair tired machine tools. He’s never been happier. Dean Kauffman makes rollers. He makes them by the thousands. Big rollers, small rollers, all used by steel mills to make the round, square, and rectangular bar stock that other manufacturers then turn into [...]

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CNC Tip: Quick-Change Toolholders for CNC Lathes

By |2023-09-29T16:14:17-08:00September 29th, 2023|Categories: CNC Tips, CNC Turning Centers|

In a recent article about CNC Toolholders, we compared traditional “steep taper” milling machine toolholders to their dual-contact HSK and Big Plus alternatives. This time, we'll explore the CNC turning equivalent, a.k.a. quick-change toolholders. As their name suggests, these aftermarket devices make swapping out a broken drill or worn turning tool fast and easy. The result [...]

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CNC Programming: Which Approach is Best—CAM Software, Manually, or Somewhere in Between?

By |2023-07-28T14:29:28-08:00July 28th, 2023|Categories: CNC Horizontal Machining Centers, CNC Tips, CNC Turning Centers, CNC Vertical Machining Centers|

The rigger just called. Your first CNC lathe or machining center will arrive this Friday. You unpacked the toolholders last week. The workholding is ready. You’ve lined up the first few jobs. The big question now? What approach will you take on CNC programming? Will you buy a CAM system and sit through a training class or two? Or will [...]

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High-Speed Machining: What’s AICC and How Does it Work?

By |2023-06-11T07:53:42-08:00June 11th, 2023|Categories: CNC Horizontal Machining Centers, CNC Tips, CNC Turning Centers, CNC Vertical Machining Centers|

High-speed machining was once a niche technology, known only to aerospace shops making large airframe components. No more. High-speed machining (HSM) use is now widespread. So are its counterparts high-feed (HFM) and high-efficiency (HEM) machining. All are now common in shops of all sizes and specialties.  That said, shops wishing to pursue a more productive path [...]

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Automated Machine Tending is No Longer an Option. Time to Hire a Robot!

By |2023-05-24T12:49:18-08:00May 19th, 2023|Categories: CNC Turning Centers, CNC Vertical Machining Centers|

Automated Machine Tending is No Longer an Option. Time to Hire a Robot! Given the ongoing shortage of skilled labor, shops everywhere are turning to automated machine tending. Doing so reduces operating costs. It increases overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), often significantly. Automation also opens the door to unattended second and third shifts, potentially allowing the company [...]

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Boost CNC Efficiency with Through-Spindle and High-Pressure Coolant

By |2023-04-24T18:04:21-08:00April 24th, 2023|Categories: CNC Horizontal Machining Centers, CNC Tips, CNC Turning Centers, CNC Vertical Machining Centers|

Anyone who's watched an expensive carbide drill go up in smoke knows the importance of cutting fluids. And yet, the challenge is getting these fluids where they're needed most: in the work zone. That's where through-spindle coolant comes in. A common option on some brands of CNC machining center, "coolant-thru" increases tool life, productivity, and part [...]

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Gang-Style Lathes: Why Going Gangster is a Good Thing

By |2023-02-13T17:48:14-08:00February 13th, 2023|Categories: CNC Turning Centers|

At first glance, gang-style lathes like this one from Kent USA appear limited in their capabilities. There’s some truth to that statement. After all, even the largest of the series—the GSL-42—boasts a maximum bar diameter of 1.6" and 6" of Z-axis travel. How many parts do you know that fall into this size range? If yours [...]

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Horizontal vs. Vertical Lathes: Which One is Right for My Shop?

By |2023-01-09T19:33:40-08:00January 9th, 2023|Categories: CNC Turning Centers|

Trying to choose between horizontal vs. vertical lathes for your machine shop? There’s more to the decision than spindle orientation. Workpiece size and shape plays a big role, with vertical turret lathes (VTLs) winning the prize for large diameter parts, provided they aren’t much longer than they are wide. Traditional “horizontal lathes,” on the other hand, [...]

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Slant Bed Lathe: More Capable Than Ever

By |2022-11-28T18:15:30-08:00November 28th, 2022|Categories: CNC Turning Centers|

The two-axis slant bed lathe has long been an indispensable piece of the manufacturing equation. Machine shops use them to turn shafts, bore rings, cut threads, and perform countless other turning operations. But what if you could cut keyways in those shafts? How about drilling cross holes? Better yet, what if the lathe had a sub [...]

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NEW Gang Style CNC Lathes

By |2021-06-08T13:44:43-08:00June 8th, 2021|Categories: CNC Turning Centers|

We would like to present our new line of Gang Style CNC Lathes which are designed for high precision and efficiency turning. Kent CNC GSL Series CNC Lathes feature a gang-type structure with an inclined bed structure design. These features effectively save tool-changing time. The GSL Series Lathes are equipped with a hydraulic six-station turret and have power-driven [...]

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