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, [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Twin Turrets: Making Oilfield Lathes Twice as Productive Twin turret. Dual turret Double turret. Whatever you call them, there’s no arguing that they increase productivity compared to traditional single turret CNC lathes. That's true no matter what you’re making, but especially so with very large or very long parts, like those produced by oil and gas [...]
Big Bore Lathes: Three Reasons Why You Should Move to CNC Not so long ago, I offered a few reasons to supersize your underpowered or undersized big bore lathe. I also suggested some things to look for when doing so. I'm going to make a similar argument, except this time I'm talking to those of you [...]
Quick-Change Tooling: Four Off-the-Shelf Solutions to Cut Downtime on CNC Machine Tools Spending a few hours or even an entire shift setting up a CNC machine tool was once considered no big deal. Not anymore. With job quantities dropping and shops under increased pressure to reduce costs, setup time is critical. Of all the continuous improvement [...]
Feeding’s Faster: Three Reasons to Avoid Slugging In the previous blog post, I offered four good reasons to save yourself some hard-earned cash and skip the bar feeder on your next lathe purchase. These include floor space, material waste, spindle speed limitations, bar preparation, and the not-insignificant cost of the bar feeder (I guess that’s five [...]
Slugging it Out: Four Arguments Against Bar Feeders Let’s pretend you just ordered a KLR-series 2-axis horizontal turning center from Kent CNC. Congratulations, but how are you going to keep it fed? One of the biggest decisions anyone can make upon ordering a new CNC lathe—whether it’s ours or someone else’s—is what kind of bar [...]
Keep Cool: 5 Things You Should Know About High-Pressure Coolant Systems If you’ve purchased a new end mill or slotting cutter lately, chances are good that it’s riddled with coolant holes. There’s an excellent reason for this. Unless you’re machining gray cast iron, high-carbon or hardened steels, or using ceramic cutting tools—cutting dry, in other words—you’ll [...]
Five Tips for Keeping Cutting Fluids in Tip-Top Shape Nobody likes a stinky machine tool. When cutting fluids are poorly maintained, anaerobic bacteria blossoms, feeding on the way lube and other unavoidable contaminants that collect within any machine sump. This is why Kent CNC’s KVR-series vertical machining centers are equipped with automatic coolant tank skimmers and [...]
