Introduction to Turning

Turning is an Abstractive machining process that uses a cutting tool, typically a lathe, to achieve a variety of shapes for end-use plastic, metal, wood, or stone parts. Briefly, the use of a rotating metal rod performs turning. At the same time, a cutting tool is held against a rigid piece of material, generally cylindrically shaped, to remove material and create final parts. Today, CNC (Computer Numerical Control) is the most common automated form of turning.

Turning takes a fairly rigid material such as metal, plastic, stone, or wood and rotates it while carving it with a cutting tool that uses one, two, or three axes of motion, resulting in diameter and depths of remarkable precision. It is possible to perform turning on either the interior or exterior of a cylinder (also known as boring) to create cylindrical parts of different forms.