CNC Turning Services

Efficient CNC turning services with fast lead times and competitive pricing from rapid prototyping to production runs. Ensure you get high-quality CNC turned parts with features you need.

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Precision CNC Turning Services for Complex Components

CNC metal turning services provide an effective way to transform a solid chunk of raw metal into a custom finished product designed to your project’s exact specifications. Whether your part requires turning, milling, boring, or tapping, Increase provides enhanced part customization with short lead times. We will work directly with you to provide exceptional service for your CNC Turning requirements.

With advanced technology software and extensive experience working with exotic alloys and specialty metals, Increase has the CNC turning expertise for all your complex machined component needs. We work with CAD and additional software to produce mission-critical components for all types of production volumes.

Our in-house 18” diameter x 20” length Turning centers allow our skilled machinists to form performance-built components from specialty metals. As an industry AS9100 and ISO9001:2015 certified machine shop, we ensure you will receive the high-performance components you want with the mission-critical configurations you need.

Contact a Increase expert or submit an RFQ online and let us machine parts based on your specifications.

From CNC Prototyping to Production

CNC machining is a computerized and versatile manufacturing process ideal for rapid prototyping and on demand production. Here are the custom CNC services available at the Increase.

  • Rapid Prototyping

    With our instant quotation platform and strong capacity, you can get excepted prototypes in short lead times. This allows you to quickly test prototype parts and get them to market.

  • Bridge Production

    Bridge-to-production is critical for closing the gap between the part design and the actual product rollout. No worries. Our professional engineering team is always ready to provide practical design suggestions for your low volume machined parts.

  • On-Demand Production

    Our full service for on-demand production orders ensures that you get high precison and high standard of quality products. Enhanced production rate also allows for just-in-time delivery of production parts.

Advantages of CNC Turning

CNC lathes remove a lot of material quickly. And when using fine cutting tools such as our Guhring cutters, the surface finish is excellent and doesn’t need any post-finishing. Turning is really the only practical way to make internal and external threads, long bores, tapers, ring grooves, and many other features that are essentially round in cross-section. Some of these same features can also be made on a CNC mill, but this would be slower and is not optimized for maximum efficiency.

Tolerances: Increase can maintain a machining tolerance of +/- 0.003 in. (0.08mm) with a linear tolerance of +/- 0.025 in./in. (0.025mm/mm).

Differences Between CNC Turning and Milling

There are multiple differences between CNC turning and CNC milling. During CNC turning, the workpiece rotates while a cutting tool subtracts material. CNC milling uses a different approach, moving the tool along a stationary workpiece. CNC turning is good for projects that need cylindrical part, whereas CNC milling should be used for projects where cylindrical features are not required. CNC milling may be used as a secondary finish to add definition. Complex parts that require prismatic and cylindrical features may use a combination of milling and turning.

View cnc milling service

CNC Turning Tolerances

As an ISO 9001 certified company, we machine CNC turning lathe parts to meet tight tolerance requirements. Based on your design, our CNC lattes can reach tolerances of up to ±0.005”. Our standard tolerances for CNC milled metals is ISO 2768-m and ISO 2768-c for plastics.

Description General Tolerance
Distance Dimensions For features of size (Length, width, height, diameter) and location (position, concentricity, symmetry) +/- 0.005”.
Orientation and Form Dimensions 0-12″ +/- 0.005″, Angularity 1/2 degree. For 24″ and beyond please consult Increase’s Manufacturing Standards.
Edge Condition Sharp edges will be broken and deburred by default. Critical edges that must be left sharp should be noted and specified on a print.

Please check out Increase’s Manufacturing Standards for more information on tolerances per process. Unless we have agreed to other tolerances in your Quote, we will work to achieve and hold the tolerances noted.

Increase CNC Materials

Our CNC turning processes are compatible with a wide range of materials, including machine-grade metals and plastics. Depending on your applications, we can create precise rapid prototypes and low-volume production from various superior-quality materials. Check out some of the common materials for your CNC turning projects.

Material Available Varieties
Aluminum
  • Aluminum 5052,
  • Aluminum 7075,
  • Aluminum 7075-T6,
  • Aluminum 6063-T5,
  • Aluminum 7050-T7451,
  • Aluminum MIC-6,
  • Aluminum 6061-T6,
  • Aluminum 2024-T3
Brass/Bronze
  • Brass C360,
  • Brass 260,
  • C932 M07 Bearing Bronze
Copper
  • EPT Copper C110,
  • Copper 101
Plastics
  • ABS,
  • Acetal [Delrin],
  • Acrylic,
  • G-10 Garolite,
  • Nylon 6/6,
  • PEEK,
  • Polycarbonate,
  • PTFE [Teflon],
  • Polypropylene,
  • Ultra-High Molecular Weight, Polyethylene
Steel
  • Alloy Steel 4130,
  • Alloy Steel 4140,
  • ASTM A36,
  • Stainless Steel 15-5,
  • Stainless Steel 17-4,
  • Stainless Steel 18-8,
  • Stainless Steel 303,
  • Stainless Steel 304,
  • Stainless Steel 316/316L,
  • Stainless Steel 416,
  • Stainless Steel 420,
  • Steel 1018,
  • Steel A36
Titanium
  • Titanium Grade 2,
  • Titanium 6Al-4V
Zinc
  • Zinc Sheet Alloy 500

Surface Finishes for CNC Turning

With a wide selection of surface finishes, Increase can help improve the surface qualities of your products. Surface finishes applied to your CNC turned parts aim at improving their appearance, surface hardness and roughness, chemical and corrosion resistance, etc. They also help hide any visible tool marks from areas cut with live tooling. Here are some of your top choices.

As-Milled

The finish option with the quickest turnaround. Parts are left with visible tool marks and potentially sharp edges and burrs, which can be removed upon request. Surface finish is comparable to 125 uin Ra finish.

Bead Blast

Abrasive blasting, more commonly known as sandblasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove surface contaminants.

Anodized (Type II Or Type III)

Type II creates a corrosion-resistant finish. Parts can be anodized in different colors—clear, black, red, and gold are most common—and is usually associated with aluminum. Type III is thicker and creates a wear-resistant layer in addition to the corrosion resistance seen with Type II.

Brushed

Brushed or dull polished metal is metal with a unidirectional satin finish. It is produced by polishing the metal with a 120–180 grit belt or wheel then softening with an 80–120 grit greaseless compound or a medium non-woven abrasive belt or pad. Commonly brushed metals include stainless steel, aluminium and nickel.

Bead Blasting + Anodizing color or clear (type II)

Type II anodizing is mainly used to produce parts with a uniform, aesthetically pleasing surface and provides good corrosion and limited wear resistance. Parts are bead blasted to #120 grit prior to anodizing.

Powder Coat

This is a process where powdered paint is sprayed onto a part which is then baked in an oven. This creates a strong, wear- and corrosion-resistant layer that is more durable than standard painting methods. A wide variety of colors are available to create the desired aesthetic.

Electropolished

Electropolishing is an electrochemical process used to polish, passivate and deburr metal parts. It is useful to reduce surface roughness.

Custom

Don’t see the finish you need? Submit an RFQ and we’ll look into a finishing process for you.

CNC Turning FAQs

Is My Part a Good Fit for CNC Turning?

The following parts are a good fit for lathe machining:
Rotary parts with high precision requirements.
Rotary parts with complex surface shapes.
Rotary parts with lateral machining.
Ultra-precision and ultra-low surface roughness parts.
Parts with special threads.

How to Reduce the Cost of Machining Parts?

The main costs related to CNC machining can be divided into machining time, start-up cost, material cost, and feature cost. To reduce costs, you need to understand the impact of these factors on costs.
- The best way to reduce machining time is to design features that can be processed quickly, such as by selecting the correct inner corner radius, reducing the cavity depth, increasing the wall thickness, limiting the thread length, and designing holes of standard size.
- The material cost can be reduced by considering the size of the required blank and the cost and machinability of bulk materials (softer alloys process faster).
- Start-up costs can be reduced by reducing the number of part rotations or repositioning required to complete the part, such as dividing the geometry into multiple parts that can be assembled later.
- Using tolerances only when strictly necessary, deleting all text and letters, and avoiding multiple surface treatments can reduce feature costs.
Read more detail in our complete guide on how to reduce the cost of CNC machining parts.

What Parts Can Be Made with CNC Turning?

CNC turning is used for creating a variety of parts, including auto parts, knobs, tubes, gears, toy parts, flywheels, crankshafts, hubs & disc cams. It is most often used to manufacture CNC parts online for automotive, aerospace, medical, and other industries.

What is CNC Turning Center - Difference Between CNC Lathes and CNC Turning Centers

CNC turning center, the equipment or machines for CNC turning service, is a computer-controlled 3, 4, or 5-axis machine that has capabilities of turning, drilling, tapping, and milling, using live tools with powered rotary tool turret, dual spindles, Y-axis, and multiple turrets. While CNC lathe machine is simpler 2-axis with one spindle, basically composed of headstock, carriage, tailstock, and bed.
- CNC turning centers have more complex structures than CNC lathes.
- CNC turning centers have higher production capabilities and versatility than CNC lathes.
- CNC lathes are generally flat-bed type while turning center usually slant-bed type.
- There are only minimal protective enclosures around the lathe while the turning center is commonly equipped with full enclosures to keep chips and coolant splashes within the machine.

Heat Treatment of Precision Turned parts

Heat treatments can be applied on precision CNC turned parts to improve their key properties such as hardness. Heat treatment can be applied to metal parts throughout the manufacturing process.
- Hardening: used to harden the material and make it stronger, also decreases the ductility.
- Annealing: heats metal parts to a very high temperature and then slowly cools to achieve the desired microstructure.
- Normalizing: used to relieve internal stresses that were created during machining service.
- Quenching: heating the metal to a very high temperature, followed by a rapid cooling step.

What is the Difference Between CNC Turning and Milling?

The most significant difference is that CNC turning rotates the part for cutting, CNC milling rotates the tool to cut the part. Going further, CNC turning will typically be used for cylindrical parts, as you rely on the part itself to rotate and create friction to remove material when the cutting tool is placed against it. On the other hand, CNC milling can create more complex parts as it is the cutting tool (rather than the material) that is spinning.

Start Your CNC Turning Project With Increase

Design your next complex machined component with Increase today. Our engineering department can help create a production plan that is best suited for your application needs and time-sensitive requirements. Contact us now, and start your project today.

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