Large Diameter Parts: Lathe or Moving-Column Gantry?
Flanges, rings and large housings: when they belong on a CNC lathe and when a moving-column gantry like the ZX series is the better answer.
Large flanges, rings and housings raise the same question in every workshop: turn them or mill them? The answer starts with size. Our CK series flat bed lathes handle parts up to 800 mm swing over the bed, with machining lengths from 750 to 1500 mm, which covers most shafts, hubs and discs.
When a Lathe Stops Being the Answer
Past roughly one metre in diameter, or when the part is a welded fabrication rather than turned stock, rotation stops making sense. Clamping a heavy, unbalanced ring in a chuck stresses the spindle and the operator alike. This is where milling the part still, on a moving-column machine, wins.
- Up to 800 mm swing and 1500 mm length: CK series flat bed lathe.
- Small and medium shafts in volume: HC series slant bed lathes with hydraulic chuck and servo turret.
- Large plates, frames and rings beyond lathe capacity: ZX moving-column gantry.
Our ZX series moves the column across a fixed 2000 by 3100 mm table, with X-axis travel from 2200 up to 4200 mm. The workpiece never rotates and never moves, which keeps big fabrications safe and datum-true. For engineering machinery plates and structural parts, it is the purpose-built option.
Send us your largest part drawing and we will tell you honestly which of the two routes it belongs in.
Talk to VITOP Machinery
Questions about this topic or your upcoming project? Email vitopmachinery@163.com or message us on WhatsApp: +86 183 1908 0212. Browse all machines at www.vitopmachinery.com. We reply within one business day.