E.H. Schwab is committed to your project, regardless of size. We make anywhere from one piece per project to a few thousand in the course of a year. For higher volume-work, we utilize our CNC metal spinning equipment, which has the benefit of both speed and consistency, as well as the ability to offer secondary operations. CNC machines can also form thicker materials, as the force is generated hydraulically or via electric motors. Due to its force, it does require steel tooling.
A typical run for our CNC spinning lathes are 50-a few hundred parts at a time, and they are versatile, with the capability to form parts from less than 1” in diameter up to 56” in diameter in materials up to 0.187” thick in mild steel, or 0.250” thick in aluminum.
Our hydraulic-assist and manual spinning lathes are often used for lower volume prototype work or parts with geometries that are difficult or impossible to form on a CNC machine. Our hydraulic-assist machine can swing up to a 96" diameter blank.
In this video, an aftermarket recreational component is being formed on one of our CNC spinning lathes. The part is 0.187” thick 6061-0 aluminum. For this specific part, it is critical that we maintain a heavy wall thickness, so we are using a larger radius roller to do the bulk of the forming. First, the blank is lightly sprayed with a lubricant just before the spin forming begins. At 0:43, we shift to a smaller radius roller to “set” the corner. Finally, the trim tool descends from above, and machines the diameter to its finished dimension, with a tolerance of +/- 0.005”. |
![]() Finished part pictured in video |