What is CNC Turning?

What is CNC Turning?

CNC turning is a process that machines parts by “turning” a rod material. The rod is fed through to a cutting tool and then material is shaped into a finished product. In CNC turning, the cutter is normally fed through a rotating work piece and this rotating work piece typically uses a variety of different angles as well as many different tool shapes.

CNC turning is generally used for creating parts that are symmetrical near their axis. For example a chess pawn would be a part that is symmetrical near its axis. The shapes that you can create using CNC turning vary greatly though and with the addition of other machining processes, the possibilities are endless!

While most people use CNC turning to create turned parts that only utilize a single axis, it is also possible to use ones that have more than one axis. This allows for more flexibility.

Turning is a process by which material is cut to create round shapes, typically using a CNC Lathe. The workpiece is placed inside the lathe and rotates while a cutter removes material until only the desired shape remains.

Turning is ideal for cylindrical parts and is primarily done using round rod material, but square and hexagonal bar stock can also be used.

The primary objective of CNC turning is to machine parts having shapes that can be formed by feeding a cutter into a rotating bar of raw material. Turning can also be used to reduce the diameter of a workpiece to a desired dimension. Lathe turning is mainly used for shaping metal or wood. CNC lathes are commonly used in metalworking, woodworking, and metal spinning processes. CNC lathes produce accurate round shapes, often with precision outer diameter (OD) and inner diameter (ID).