Custom CNC Turned Parts for Electrical Equipment

Twenty drawings do not necessarily mean twenty separate machining jobs.
For this electrical equipment project, the customer provided approximately 20 different component drawings, all specified in 303 stainless steel. The order called for around 1,000 complete sets, with finished parts supplied to Germany.
Most of the components are turned parts, but their geometry varies considerably. Some can be completed almost entirely on a CNC lathe. Others contain slots, side holes or off-axis features that require turn-mill or secondary CNC machining. Several of the smaller precision parts are better suited to Swiss-type CNC turning.
So the first question was not, “Which machine should make this project?”
It was, “Which machining route makes sense for each part?”
 

Project Overview

Each part number follows its own engineering drawing. The components belong to the same project, but they do not share one standard geometry or machining sequence.
 

Twenty Drawings, Three Different Turning Routes

Looking across the complete part family, the first group is easy to recognize.
Sleeves, internally threaded components, tapered pieces and stepped cylindrical parts are dominated by rotational geometry. Outside diameters, bores, shoulders, grooves and threads make these natural CNC turning jobs.
The second group starts on a lathe but does not end there.
Several components contain slots, cross holes or hole patterns that leave the main turning axis. These parts need additional milling or drilling, either through CNC turn-mill machining or a secondary setup.
The smaller precision components form a third group. Where the diameter, length and feature arrangement are suitable, Swiss-type CNC turning provides a practical production route.
The result is not one process repeated twenty times. It is a group of related components routed according to their actual geometry.
 

A Round Part Is Not Always Just a Turning Job

This becomes clearer when looking at some of the individual components.
A cylindrical part with an internal bore and outside steps may be produced largely through CNC lathe machining.
Add a longitudinal slot, and another tool direction is needed.
Add a cross hole, and drilling becomes part of the sequence.
A flange with a circular hole pattern may begin as a turned blank, but those holes still need to be positioned and machined according to the drawing.
For these parts, a typical route may be:
CNC Turning → Milling / Drilling → Deburring → Inspection
For suitable geometries, turn-mill machining can combine more of these operations in one setup.
The important point is not to use the most complicated machine available. It is to avoid adding unnecessary operations while still producing every feature the drawing requires.
 

Similar Features Can Have Different Jobs

Threads, bores, tapers, grooves and shoulders appear repeatedly across the twenty components.
Visually, some of these features look very similar.
Functionally, they may not be.
One bore may provide clearance while another locates a mating component. One shoulder may simply define the outside shape; another may determine where the part sits in an assembly. Thread specifications can also differ from one part number to the next.
That is why we quote custom CNC turned parts from the complete drawing package rather than from photographs and overall dimensions alone.
Each drawing has to stand on its own before the parts can be grouped into a common production plan.
 

Where Swiss-Type Turning Makes Sense

Not every small component needs Swiss machining, but some parts are particularly well suited to it.
For smaller or more slender precision components, Swiss-type CNC turning can provide stable support close to the cutting area and an efficient way to produce repeated turned features.
For this project, it gives us another option alongside conventional CNC turning and turn-mill machining.
Machine selection is therefore based on the component rather than the project as a whole.
A small precision shaft and a larger threaded sleeve may arrive in the same RFQ, use the same 303 stainless steel and belong to the same assembly—but there is no reason they must be produced the same way.
 

One Material, Twenty Different Geometries

All of the components are specified in 303 stainless steel.
Its relatively good machinability among austenitic stainless steels makes 303 suitable for many turned and machined components, including the threads, bores, tapers and stepped profiles found throughout this project.
But sharing the same material does not make the parts interchangeable from a manufacturing point of view.
A thin-walled sleeve, a tapered component, a small shaft and a thick flange behave differently during machining. Workholding, tooling and operation sequence still need to follow the individual geometry.
For stainless steel CNC turning, material selection is only one part of process planning.
 

The Order Is Finished When 1,000 Sets Are Finished

This is the part of the project that matters beyond the machine shop.
The customer ordered approximately 1,000 complete sets.
If nineteen part numbers are complete but the twentieth is short, the project is not complete.
That changes how a multi-part order needs to be managed.
Quantities have to remain coordinated across the different components while they move through turning, secondary machining and inspection. Part numbers also need to remain clearly separated so that the correct components and quantities come back together before shipment.
For this type of order, production control is not separate from machining capability. It is part of delivering the job.
 

CNC Turning Services for Made-to-Print Components

YS Precision provides precision CNC turning services for custom components manufactured from customer engineering drawings.
Depending on the part, production can include:

• CNC turning
• CNC lathe machining
• Swiss-type CNC turning
• CNC turn-mill machining
• Internal and external threading
• Boring and grooving
• Drilling and tapping
• CNC milling
• Secondary CNC machining

We manufacture custom CNC turned parts, stainless steel turned parts, precision turned components, shafts, sleeves, bushings, threaded parts, flanges and other non-standard hardware.
Projects can involve a single part number or, as in this case, a complete family of components requiring different machining routes within the same production order.
 

One RFQ Can Contain More Than One Kind of Turning Job

This electrical equipment project began with approximately twenty drawings—not with a request for one particular machining process.
Some parts belonged on a conventional CNC lathe. Some needed milling or drilling after turning. Others were better suited to Swiss-type machining.
The manufacturing route changed from drawing to drawing, but the customer's requirement remained the same:
1,000 complete sets of made-to-print 303 stainless steel components, ready for shipment to Germany.
For buyers sourcing several custom CNC turned parts for the same machine, product or assembly, sending the complete drawing package allows us to review the parts together. We can separate them by machining method, identify where secondary operations are required, and quote the components as one coordinated project.