Micro cutting in the micro lathe turning system

As an application of cutting for the manufacture of micro mechanical parts and as a trial of the development of a miniature machining system matching the micro size of the work piece, a micro lathe turning system has been developed. A work material 0.3 mm in diameter is clamped and cut to a minimum of 10 μm in diameter with a rotation speed up to 15,000 rpm. The whole size of the equipment is about 200 mm which can be set under an optical microscope. A micro diamond single point tool has been applied to the cutting of various shapes, and the usefulness of such a micro cutting tool for the various forms has been confirmed. Cutting force has been investigated using a three directional force sensor and the possibility of the reduction of resistant force to improve working accuracy and to apply to micro parts has been examined.