You Ji VTL-1200ATC+C Vertical Turning Lathe

June 12, 2018
You Ji VTL-1200ATC+C Vertical Turning Lathe

The You Ji VTL-1200ATC+C is a 49” table/63” swing vertical turning lathe with full C-axis and live milling for heavy-duty turning and milling of large workpieces from Absolute Machine Tools Inc. This heavy-duty, highly productive VTL weighs in at 72,600 lbs. and features a rigid vertical column and a Meehanite castings base, which is heavily ribbed for reduced thermal distortion and vibration damping. The machine has a symmetrical base and column design. It is designed for stand-alone applications or easy integration into production lines. The machine, which is suitable for industries such as aerospace, oil-field, and energy, can be customized to meet virtually any production requirement.

The X and Z axes are a box way design with Turcite B applied to mating surfaces and hand scraped for precise fit and alignment. The ways are completely enclosed and a forced lubrication system assures high precision. This rigid system enables heavy-duty machining and high precision. The Z-axis is a large 9” square ram made from cast steel that is extremely rigid even when extended the full 35.4”. The precision class 3 ballscrews are driven directly by the servomotors, eliminating belts or gears for high precision. The cross rail is moveable on box ways and is hydraulically clamped for rigidity and accuracy. The cross rail’s movement is programmable and can move in 200mm increments. The rail is clamped in position by positive locking pins to insure the cross rail is always level.

The spindle construction is a heavy-duty design incorporating a high precision 24” OD/18” ID Timken Cross Roller bearing to endure high axial and radial loads. The spindle also is protected from coolant contamination. Tremendous table torque is developed by the 60-hp FANUC high torque spindle motor coupled with the 2-speed ZF gear box. The 2-speed ZF gearbox transmits power through another intermediate gearbox and the table is then driven by a class 1 ring and pinion gear which provides a further gear reduction and torque multiplication. Spindle / table torque is an amazing 9,220 ft./lbs., providing the power for heavy-duty machining.  A 100-hp table drive motor is optional for brute force turning.

The full 360,000 position Cf-axis table is driven by automatically engaged/disengaged worm gear with a separate servo motor and gearbox. The C-axis is highly accurate due to the high resolution rotary scale mounted in the center of the table, reading true table position. The 2,400-rpm live milling spindle features a 20-hp spindle motor plus 2-speed gearbox, delivering exceptional power and torque for heaving milling, drilling, and tapping.

The ATC stores 16 tools with a #50 taper (#60 taper optional) tool attachment. This umbrella style ATC provides shortest route tool selection and is completely shielded from chips and coolant. 32, 48, 60, and larger tool magazines are optional. Chip control is excellent as chips and coolant wash directly into the standard chip conveyor and the full square guard enclosure contains chips and coolant.

A highly reliable FANUC OiT-D control with Manual Guide i Conversational programming is standard.

Related Glossary Terms

  • conversational programming

    conversational programming

    Method for using plain English to produce G-code file without knowing G-code in order to program CNC machines.

  • coolant

    coolant

    Fluid that reduces temperature buildup at the tool/workpiece interface during machining. Normally takes the form of a liquid such as soluble or chemical mixtures (semisynthetic, synthetic) but can be pressurized air or other gas. Because of water’s ability to absorb great quantities of heat, it is widely used as a coolant and vehicle for various cutting compounds, with the water-to-compound ratio varying with the machining task. See cutting fluid; semisynthetic cutting fluid; soluble-oil cutting fluid; synthetic cutting fluid.

  • gang cutting ( milling)

    gang cutting ( milling)

    Machining with several cutters mounted on a single arbor, generally for simultaneous cutting.

  • inner diameter ( ID)

    inner diameter ( ID)

    Dimension that defines the inside diameter of a cavity or hole. See OD, outer diameter.

  • lathe

    lathe

    Turning machine capable of sawing, milling, grinding, gear-cutting, drilling, reaming, boring, threading, facing, chamfering, grooving, knurling, spinning, parting, necking, taper-cutting, and cam- and eccentric-cutting, as well as step- and straight-turning. Comes in a variety of forms, ranging from manual to semiautomatic to fully automatic, with major types being engine lathes, turning and contouring lathes, turret lathes and numerical-control lathes. The engine lathe consists of a headstock and spindle, tailstock, bed, carriage (complete with apron) and cross slides. Features include gear- (speed) and feed-selector levers, toolpost, compound rest, lead screw and reversing lead screw, threading dial and rapid-traverse lever. Special lathe types include through-the-spindle, camshaft and crankshaft, brake drum and rotor, spinning and gun-barrel machines. Toolroom and bench lathes are used for precision work; the former for tool-and-die work and similar tasks, the latter for small workpieces (instruments, watches), normally without a power feed. Models are typically designated according to their “swing,” or the largest-diameter workpiece that can be rotated; bed length, or the distance between centers; and horsepower generated. See turning machine.

  • milling

    milling

    Machining operation in which metal or other material is removed by applying power to a rotating cutter. In vertical milling, the cutting tool is mounted vertically on the spindle. In horizontal milling, the cutting tool is mounted horizontally, either directly on the spindle or on an arbor. Horizontal milling is further broken down into conventional milling, where the cutter rotates opposite the direction of feed, or “up” into the workpiece; and climb milling, where the cutter rotates in the direction of feed, or “down” into the workpiece. Milling operations include plane or surface milling, endmilling, facemilling, angle milling, form milling and profiling.

  • tapping

    tapping

    Machining operation in which a tap, with teeth on its periphery, cuts internal threads in a predrilled hole having a smaller diameter than the tap diameter. Threads are formed by a combined rotary and axial-relative motion between tap and workpiece. See tap.

  • turning

    turning

    Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.