Design for Manufacturing: Turning Small Parts

When designing turned parts, consideration must be made for the geometry of the end part. Areas where the thickness of the turned part narrow significantly are subject to breakage. These types of features should be avoided unless supports are used. Without supports, the cutting force of the tool will result in workpiece deflection which will caused tolerances to be unsatisfactory.

Product designs which use curved, slanted, or intersected features result in substantially increased turning complexity. These product designs should be avoided unless required by the engineering intent of the product. Whenever possible, avoid the use of non-standard tool sizes specified in the production of the turned part. These non-standard tool sizes result in increased tooling costs due to cutter replacement.

If

While designing parts using turning in the production process...

Then

(a) The design should use standard tool geometry where possible
(b) The design should minimize unsupported features
(c) The design should minimize delicate work such as small diameter, long length machined parts
(d) If thin parts are used, steady-rest supports should be used.
(e) Irregular cuts should be avoided.