How does this thing work?

[justgary]

The post about the Duality Lathe made me go out and look for videos of it working. I stumbled on this

YouTube - Polygon CNC Lathe FC-65NCL

YouTube - Polygon CNC Lathe FC-65NCL

.

It is hilarious when you listen to the Chinglish script, but the machine is truly amazing. I have my own ideas about how it works, but let's hear yours!

Regards,

- Just Gary

P.S. If you can't understand the Chinglish, don't feel bad. I pity the poor guy who had to read the script with a straight face.

[METALTEK]

I believe the Z axis of the machine(Mill) hooks onto the lathe carriage and the X and Y axis of the mill table move the lathe itself so the cutter/carriage follows along the tool path. Simple but ingenious in my opinion. (how the duality lathe operates in my opinion)

[300sniper]

wow! my best guess would be it is all about the timing.

[zephyr9900]

Polygonal turning is all about the RPM ratio of a flycutter vs. the workpiece. Many papers online on the subject. I've only seen it done by software until this video--they're using a mechanical linkage between the spindle and flycutter axis. Unless there is some kind of change gears involved, I vote for the software solution...3-lobe, 4-lobe, 6-lobe etc.

Randy

[tobyaxis]

Originally Posted by 300sniper wow! my best guess would be it is all about the timing.

This is correct. You can do the same thing with a standard Lathe, but the flats will be a Large Radius.

[pete from TN]

Looks like friggin' magic to me.... I am sure it is some kind of super precise timing to get the cutter to strike the work at the exact same position and time relative to the spindles axis. Very impressive. I seriously doubt that the duality lathe while impressive could even do any of these things shown in the video. You are looking at dual independent movements in three axes all in a precise timed coordination. The software must be pretty elaborate and I am sure equally challenging to learn.. man do I have lots to learn yet....peace

[Andre' B]

Some more threads on Polygon turning.
Polygonal turning
Cutting Hex On CNC Lathe With Live Tooling

The flats are not really flat but a short section of the flatish sides of an elliptical surface. The long axis of the ellips is defined by the size of the cutter disk and the short axis by the part size so the larger the cutter disk relative to the part the flater the flats will be. Downside is the part takes longer to cut since percentage of time the cutting edge is on the part also drops.