Editor's Note: This video report is presented as a supplement to Cutting Tool Engineering's January cover story, "Down-hole, High-tech." The animation from Phillips Engineering Technologies was created to clearly illustrate the operation of a twin-ram vertical turning lathe.

Phillips designs Olympia machine tools in this configuration to handle both turning and milling operations on large parts produced for end users in the oil industry. In the first operation, the ram on the right turns the round feature on the top of the rotating part. Then the second ram, featuring a live spindle, performs milling passes on the side of the part while it is stationary.

Consolidating multiple tasks on one machine eliminates the need to move a heavy part from one machine to another for different operations, and minimizes setup times. While not pictured in this animation, the twin rams can also permit synchronized application of two turning tools, balancing cutting forces and cutting turning time in half. Two rams equipped with live tooling, run simultaneously, also can reduce the time required for milling, drilling and boring operations.

—B.Kennedy