CNC turning lathe, Swiss type lathe original manufacturer since 2007.
How to Turn a Piece of Firewood on a Lathe - Spindles
With the cost of hardwood these days, it can be prohibitive to turn anything on a lathe let alone practice. Many beginning turners and even the experienced move to the firewood pile for turning wood. While the practised turners will have little trouble mounting the wood, beginners need a couple of hints to get started.
A lot of firewood will come in sixteen inch lengths and will be spilt in halves or quarters of the log. For spindle practice select a quarter log about three inches on a side with no splits on the end. If there are small splits they can be dealt with in the shop. Cutting an inch off the ends will generally get rid of the small splits in a quarter section of log. If it does not, cut off another inch or get another piece of wood from the firewood pile.
As you examine the face of the quarter log you will realize that you can get about a two inch turning square from the quarter. For all intents and purposes divide the width of the quarter (three inches) by three and multiply by two. If you have a bandsaw you can cut the waste away to leave a rough square or it can be done laboriously with a hand saw. This is not a good cut to do at the table saw.
Another option is to remove the waste at the lathe. Starting at the corner of the section measure in an inch and up an inch on each end. This will give the centers of the two inch square. At the wood lathe choose one end for the headstock and the other for the tail. Center the spur center at the headstock on the center mark of the wood and hit it on the other end with a mallet to drive the spur center home. Some turners object to this for fear of hurting the bearings but this if a bearing will be hurt by such an event it is too light for woodturning.
Bring up the tail stock and center the tail center on the mark for the square center. Tighten the tailstock and advance the center to hold the wood firmly in place. Because of all the extra wood on the log section it will be very unbalanced. Learning to deal with it is a good exercise in lathe work.
Make sure, with the lathe off, that the wood clears the tool rest and tighten the rest down. Stand clear of the wood and turn the lathe on to its lowest speed to make sure the wood is secure in the centers.
Sharpen a roughing gouge and prepare to rough down the wood. The tool should be held firmly on the tool rest and held so that the tip is above the spinning wood. It will bounce on the uneven wood but not cut. The handle of the tool rests on the hip and the planned cut will be very near one end of the wood, usually the tail stock end. As the handle slides up the hip and the tip moves down the wood a chipping cut will begin as the tool nears forty five degrees. Cut towards the end of the log. After the cut is done move down the log a little and repeat. This continues until the other end of the log is reached. At this point move the tool rest in towards the wood so as to give better control and repeat until the wood is round. Now it can proceed as any other spindle.
Firewood is a great source for practice wood and also for advanced projects. It is dry enough to work and provides an excellent supply of local hardwoods for woodturning enjoyment.
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Daily “Clean + Lubricate” as the Baseline
After each shift, remove chips and coolant residue from the fixture surface and collet jaws with a soft cloth or air gun to prevent corrosion and re-clamping errors. Every eight hours, apply a trace of rust preventive oil to spring collets, guide bushings and other moving parts; once a week, add a thin coat of grease to ball-screw nuts and hydraulic cylinder rods to reduce wear. Before any prolonged shutdown, spray anti-rust oil on internal bores and locating faces and wrap them in wax paper or plastic film.
Precision Calibration & Data Closure
Use ring gauges or master bars every month to verify repeatability of the fixture; log results in the MES. If deviation exceeds 0.005 mm, trigger compensation or repair. For quick-change systems (HSK/Capto), check taper contact percentage every six months—target ≥ 80 %. If lower, re-grind or replace.
Spare Parts & Training
Keep minimum stock of jaws, seals and springs to enable replacement within two hours. Hold quarterly on-machine training sessions for operators on correct clamping practices and anomaly recognition to eliminate abusive clamping.
In short, embedding “clean–lubricate–inspect–calibrate” into daily SOP keeps the fixture delivering micron-level accuracy, reduces downtime, and extends overall machine life.
Six preventive measures
Environment control: keep the workshop at a stable temperature and low humidity; exclude dust and corrosive gases to reduce chemical wear on guideways and screws.
Daily checks: remove chips every shift and inspect the lubrication of the spindle, bearings, ball screws and guideways; act on any abnormality immediately.
Preventive lubrication: replace lubricants on schedule and keep the lubrication system unobstructed to minimize fatigue wear.
Accuracy monitoring: use laser interferometers or ball-bar systems monthly to measure geometric errors and compensate for ball-screw backlash or guideway straightness in time.
Electrical health checks: periodically examine cables, relays and cooling fans to prevent hidden aging caused by overheating.
Data monitoring: onboard sensors record spindle current, vibration and temperature; cloud-based analytics predict early bearing or tool failures.
Why prevention matters
• Ensures machining consistency: eliminating micron-level error sources keeps batch dimensions stable and reduces scrap.
• Extends machine life: preventing micro-cracks from growing can prolong overall life by more than 20 %.
• Reduces unplanned downtime: planned maintenance replaces emergency repairs, increasing overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) by 10 % or more.
• Cuts total cost: lower spare-parts inventory, labor and lost-production costs can save tens of thousands of dollars per machine annually.
• Enhances brand reputation: consistent on-time, defect-free deliveries strengthen customer trust and secure future orders.
Optimizing cycle time on turn-mill machining centers is crucial for boosting productivity and reducing costs. It requires a systematic approach addressing machine tools, cutting tools, processes, programming, fixtures, and material flow.
Ensure Geometric Accuracy
Swiss-type lathes process long, slender workpieces with multi-axis synchronization. A bed inclination of only 0.02 mm/m creates a “slope error” along the Z-axis, tilting the tool relative to the part centerline. This results in taper on outer diameters and asymmetric thread profiles. Periodic re-verification and re-leveling restore overall geometric accuracy to factory standards, guaranteeing consistent dimensions during extended production runs.
Extend Guideway and Ball-Screw Life
When the machine is not level, guideways carry uneven loads and lubricant films become discontinuous, accelerating localized wear and causing stick-slip or vibration. After re-leveling with shims or wedges, load distribution evens out, reducing guideway scoring and ball-screw side-loading. Service life typically improves by more than 20 %.
Suppress Thermal Growth and Vibration
A tilted bed leads to asymmetric coolant and lubricant flow, generating thermal gradients. Subsequent expansion further amplifies geometric errors. Re-verifying level, combined with thermal compensation, produces a more uniform temperature rise and reduces scrap caused by thermal drift. Additionally, a level bed raises natural frequencies, cutting chatter amplitude and improving surface finish by half to one full grade.
Chinese-built Swiss-type lathes have moved beyond the “low-cost substitute” label to become the “value leader” for overseas users. On the cost side, machines of comparable specification are priced well below those of traditional leading brands, and ongoing maintenance costs amount to only a fraction, dramatically lowering the entry barrier for small-to-medium job shops in Europe and North America. Lead time is equally compelling: major domestic OEMs can ship standard models within weeks, and special configurations follow shortly thereafter. When urgent orders arise from the electric-vehicle or medical-device sectors, Chinese production lines consistently deliver rapid responses.
Intelligence is on par with top-tier global standards. Machines routinely feature thermal compensation, AI-based tool-life prediction, and cloud-enabled remote diagnostics. Mean time between failures is long, and fully open data interfaces simplify secondary development for end users. Complementing this is a worldwide service network: Chinese manufacturers maintain parts depots and resident field engineers across the Americas, Europe, and Southeast Asia, enabling on-site support often within a single day, whereas legacy brands usually require factory returns measured in weeks.
1. Quick Troubleshooting Steps
Check the clamping pressure: Ensure the pressure plate or collet applies even force; too much or too little pressure will jam the bar. Adjust the pneumatic or hydraulic release mechanism accordingly.
Align the material path: Verify that the bar feeder, guide bushing, and spindle centers are collinear; any offset will cause the bar to twist or wedge.
Inspect belts and rollers: Belts must be tensioned correctly—loose belts slip, over-tight belts bind. Replace worn rollers immediately.
Lubricate moving parts: Clean and grease the eccentric shaft, release cam, and pusher fingers; lack of lubrication is a common cause of seizure.
I. Installation Guidelines for Swiss-Type Lathe Bed
1. Foundation Preparation
Floor Requirements: The Swiss lathe bed must be installed on a solid, level concrete foundation to prevent machining inaccuracies caused by ground settlement or vibration.
Load Capacity: The foundation must support the machine’s weight and dynamic cutting forces to avoid deformation affecting spindle and guide bushing alignment.
Vibration Isolation: If the workshop has vibration sources (e.g., punch presses, forging machines), anti-vibration pads or isolation trenches are recommended to enhance CNC machine stability.
Summary
Ball screws are the physical enablers of Swiss-type lathes across five critical dimensions:
Micron-level positioning for complex micro-structures;
High-speed rigidity supporting synchronized multi-axis cutting;
Active thermal control ensuring batch consistency;
Ultra-wear-resistant design enabling maintenance-free operation for 10+ years.
Their performance defines the precision ceiling of Swiss-type machining – truly "invisible champions" in precision transmission.