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CNC Turning

Creating prototypes from technical designs using a computer controlled lathe that cuts to ultra-fine specifications.

Why is this skill important?

CNC Machining has become one of the most important current machining processes in modern industry. Parts are made for household-equipment, telecommunications, cars, ships, aeroplanes, oil rigs, bridges, aerospace etc. Customers come from virtually every sector.

In CNC Machining the movements of the machine through computers and servomotors are dictated by the programmer. Once correctly programmed and set up, these machines can produce almost any shape and can repeat the process many times. This offers great advantages for quality and efficiency.

CNC Machining covers a broad variety of machining processes, such as grinding, welding, electrical discharging, milling and also turning.

Some may think that lathes (turning machines) are built to make round parts; however, CNC lathes are capable of producing almost any shape and any part.

Every customer has different requirements and demands and therefore each part is made of different materials, and needs different geometries, dimensions and surface qualities. To explain all the desired requirements to the machinist, the customer produces a technical drawing.

Machining starts with deciding how best to produce the part. There are many ways of doing this, like welding, milling, casting, and 3D Printing. One very important method is CNC Turning.

A CNC lathe is a very accurate computer-driven machine, where cutting tools, controlled by a program, are moved to cut away excessive material to result in the expected customer part. The CNC Turning machinist receives the technical drawing and uses the lathe in many ways to find solutions to build the part. These machines are very expensive, because they can do remarkable things. To have an idea of this, think what it means to achieve accuracy below ten microns, which is six to10 times thinner than a human hair.

The CNC Turning machinist uses a computer to tell the lathe how to move the tools and cut the part to the desired shape. They must also set up the lathe with all the necessary clamping devices, support devices, and cutting tools. These tools can cut almost every material (stainless steel, plastic, soft steel, aluminium, bronze, and so on). But the machinist has to choose well to avoid temperature variations, tool wear or vibration. Those factors influence the product and it can result in poor quality.

When the machine starts cutting material, the machinist makes sure that the dimensions exactly fit the customer specifications. For this, very accurate inspection tools are used. Once the machine is set up, the CNC-Turning machinist also monitors and optimizes the processes, to achieve even faster and better results for all the following parts.

Location

Leonberg, Germany

10–15 October 2022

Skill Sponsors

Skill photos on Flickr

Results

See all results
Rank Medal Result Competitor Country/Region
1. Gold 760 Hongyu Wu
China
2. Silver 748 Nguyen Xuan Thai
Vietnam
2. Silver 746 Natthawut Phetngam
Thailand
2. Silver 746 Hayato Shiozawa
Japan
5. Medallion for Excellence 732 Minjun Shin
Korea
6. Medallion for Excellence 719 Nicolas SCHWING
France
7. Medallion for Excellence 715 Kevin Emhofer
Austria
8. Medallion for Excellence 709 Hanan Alshamsi
United Arab Emirates
9. Medallion for Excellence 704 Sander Hem Münchow
Denmark
10. Medallion for Excellence 701 XUAN-ROU WANG
Chinese Taipei
11. 699 Fabian Leuenberger
Switzerland
12. 691 Hannu Helve
Finland
13. 689 Christian Armando Rodriguez Montezco
Mexico
14. 683 Satyaranjan Mohanty
India
15. 681 Merle Ruffing
Germany
16. 679 Bun Long Chan
Singapore
17. 673 Alexander Johnsson
Sweden
18. 668 Ochbaatar Gankhuu
Mongolia
19. 656 Maxwell Melling
Canada
20. 652 Ilsur Tukayev
Kazakhstan

Official Results (PDF)

Competitors

Hanan Alshamsi
United Arab Emirates

Bun Long Chan
Singapore

Kevin Emhofer
Austria

Ochbaatar Gankhuu
Mongolia

Hannu Helve
Finland

Alexander Johnsson
Sweden

Fabian Leuenberger
Switzerland

Maxwell Melling
Canada

Satyaranjan Mohanty
India

Sander Hem Münchow
Denmark

Natthawut Phetngam
Thailand

Christian Armando Rodriguez Montezco
Mexico

Merle Ruffing
Germany

Nicolas SCHWING
France

Minjun Shin
Korea

Hayato Shiozawa
Japan

Ilsur Tukayev
Kazakhstan

XUAN-ROU WANG
Chinese Taipei

Hongyu Wu
China

Nguyen Xuan Thai
Vietnam


Hosting Partner

Gold Partners

Silver Partners

Bronze Partners

Government Funding