Precision CNC Turning Machine Shop

Vertical Turning Centers | Vertical CNC Lathes

Trace-A-Matic is a customer service driven machine shop with an arsenal of CNC turning centers to machine high-quality prototypes and high-volume production runs. Decades of proven machining experience and continuous technology investment has earned the trust of leading OEMs to manufacture their mission-critical parts for the most demanding applications. Our state-of-the-art vertical CNC lathes have multiple cutting tools at the ready. Our multi-machine cell approach increases machining speed, efficiency, and productivity while ensuring the highest accuracy. Trace-A-Matic is a high precision CNC turning company with complex metal fabrication capability.

Turning Capabilities Summary

Part Types:
Cylinders, hubs, casings, flanges, housings, spindles, axles, rollers, pump bodies, wheels, rotary couplings, and other cylindrical parts

Part Size:
Up to 118” diameter and 78” tall

Metal Types:
All standard metals, aluminum, armor plate, brass, bronze, chromium, copper, gammalloy, Hastelloy, Incoloy, Inconel, Invar, manganese, Monel, nickel, Nitralloy, powdered metals, stainless steel, steel ,Stellite, titanium, Waspaloy, and many other superalloys

Material Types:
Large-scale castings, forgings, weldments, tubing, and bar stock

Turning Processes:
Boring, cutting, drilling, facing, internal forming, knurling, necking, parting, shoulder facing, threading (external, internal), and turning (contour, form, taper, straight)

Industries Served:
Aerospace, Defense, Food Processing, Heavy Equipment, Medical Equipment, Military, Mining, Oil and Gas, Power Generation, and Transportation

Machine Brands:
Doosan, Dynamic KTM, HNK, Hyundai Wia, New Century, Okuma & Howa, Samsung, and Twin Merit - Please refer to our Equipment List for specific lathe information and capabilities.

Vertical Turning Overview

The lathe is one of the oldest machine tools used for straight, radial, and taper turning of machined components. The introduction of computer numerical control (CNC) elevated lathe turning technology to a new level. Today, CNC machines operate at very high speeds and provide extreme accuracy when manufacturing precision machined components. Turning processes have evolved to include CNC controls, live tooling (rotating tools), and dual spindle technology to bring CNC milling type capability to more efficient turning operations.

A vertical CNC turning center or lathe rotates metal parts in a vertical orientation during the machining process. The raw material is held in the chuck by jaws, mandrel, collet, or face driver and connected to the headstock assembly, which drives workpiece rotation with a heavy-duty motor. The turret assembly travels along the Z-axis ways, holding the single-point cutting tools against the workpiece to remove material on each “up and down” pass; this is a multi-axis, subtractive manufacturing method.

Vertical lathes allow for larger diameter, and heavier turned part machining while requiring less floor space than horizontal turning centers. Drawbacks to vertical CNC turning machines are part length limitations and overall chip removal. We offer vast selections of surface finish from semi-finished to fine finishing, often not requiring a grinding process.

Vertical Lathe Anatomy

Headstock Assembly (not visible) - Drives the live spindle of the lathe
Chuck - Positioned at the end of the spindle holding the rotating workpiece
Jaws - Clamps the workpiece in the chuck
Ways Z-Axis (not visible) - The rails the index drive and tooling travel parallel to the workpiece upon
Ways X-Axis (not visible) - The rails the index drive and tooling travel perpendicular to the workpiece upon
Workpiece - Clamps into the chuck by jaws
Multi-Tool Turret - Holds multiple cutting tools at the ready
Cutting Tool - Removes material from the workpiece to form a part - subtractive manufacturing