What should you know about cnc lathe chip removal?

CNC Lathe Chip Removal Systems: Principles, Methods and Brand Comparisons

Introduction

In the process of CNC machine, chip management is crucial. Especially in CNC lathe, a large amount of metal chips will be generated during the cutting process, which may affect the machining accuracy, reduce the tool life and even lead to equipment failure if not cleaned up in time. Therefore, a scientific and reasonable chip removal system is an important guarantee to ensure the efficient operation of CNC lathe. This article will analyze the chip removal method of CNC lathe in detail, and compare and analyze the chip removal system of different brands.

 

The importance of CNC lathe chip removal

CNC lathe in the process of machining will produce different forms of chips, such as long curly chips, crumbs, powdery chips and so on. If not excluded in time, these chips may:

Affect machining accuracy: the accumulation of chips may affect the contact surface of the workpiece and the tool, resulting in dimensional errors.

Shorten tool life: Chips in contact with the tool will increase friction and heat accumulation, accelerating tool wear.

Impact on cooling effect: Chips block the coolant channels, reducing heat dissipation efficiency and may lead to thermal deformation of the workpiece.

Safety hazards: Metal chips can damage internal components of the machine and even cause safety accidents.

Therefore, it is common for CNC machine manufacturers to design an efficient chip removal system inside the CNC lathe to improve machining efficiency and equipment life.

 

Common CNC Lathe Chip Removal Methods

Different types of CNC lathe adopt different chip removal methods, the following are the most common ones:

1. Gravity chip removal

Principle: Utilizing the self-weight of the chips, they naturally fall to the chip conveyor at the bottom of the machine.

Applicable scene: short chip materials, such as cast iron, brittle alloy.

Advantages and disadvantages: low cost, simple structure, but easy to accumulate, need to be cleaned regularly.

2. Chip flushing system

Principle: Use high pressure coolant (common pressure 10-70 bar) to flush the chips and make them flow into the chip removal system.

Applicable scenario: stainless steel, aluminum alloy and other materials that are easy to stick to the knife.

Advantages and disadvantages: can effectively prevent the accumulation of chips, but increase the consumption of coolant.

3. Screw chip conveyor

Principle: The spiral rod rotates and pushes the chips into the chip discharge port.

Applicable scenarios: long and thin rolled chips, such as aluminum alloy, mild steel.

Advantages and disadvantages: suitable for CNC lathe with limited space, but with limited handling capacity.

4. Chain plate chip conveyor

Principle: chain plate conveys chips to the waste chip box.

Applicable scenes: large volume of chips, such as titanium alloy, high strength steel.

Advantages and disadvantages: high efficiency, suitable for heavy-duty CNC machine, but occupies large space.

5. Magnetic chip removal

Principle: Use magnetic field to adsorb ferromagnetic chips and transfer them to the chip discharge port.

Applicable scenes: low carbon steel, stainless steel and other magnetic materials.

Advantages and disadvantages: Suitable for powder or small chips, but can not handle non-magnetic materials.

6. Blower or vacuum chip suction

Principle: Blower or vacuum system sucks away small chips.

Applicable scenario: graphite, composite materials and other powdery chips.

Advantages and disadvantages: suitable for dry cutting, but the equipment cost is higher.

 

Comparison of CNC Lathe chip removal system of different brands

 

 

According to industry statistics, the efficiency of different chip removal methods is compared as follows:

Chain plate chip conveyor: the highest processing capacity, up to 100kg/min, suitable for large batch processing.

Screw chip conveyor: suitable for small CNC lathe, handling 10-30kg of chips per minute.

Chip flushing system: can reduce chip accumulation by more than 40% and improve cooling efficiency by 25%.

Magnetic chip removal: good effect on ferromagnetic material, efficiency increased by about 30%.

Vacuum chip suction: suitable for precision machining, but with high energy consumption.

From a comprehensive point of view, chain chip conveyor + high-pressure chip washing is the optimal combination for large-volume machining, while for small CNC lathe, screw chip conveyor + magnetic conveyor is more economical.

 

Conclusion

The chip removal system of a CNC lathe is a key factor to ensure efficient machining. Choosing the right chip removal method not only improves productivity but also reduces maintenance costs. Different brands of CNC machines adopt different chip removal systems, enterprises need to combine their own processing needs when purchasing, and reasonably choose the most suitable chip removal program. In the future, with the development of intelligent manufacturing, automation and intelligent monitoring chip removal system will become an important trend in the field of CNC lathe.

If you are considering optimizing the chip removal system of CNC lathe, you might as well combine your own needs and choose the most suitable technical solution to improve production efficiency and equipment life.