Single-Setup Machining on Large-Diameter Parts: Live at IMTS 2026
ELK GROVE VILLAGE, IL. — August 13, 2026
Single-Setup Machining on Large-Diameter Parts: Live at IMTS 2026
How the live spindle and rotary contouring table on the TUE-150(S) finish turning and milling in one setup.
Very few large parts are finished by turning alone. Boring operations, bolt circle drilled and tapped, a keyway slotting, and milling of pocket surfaces all before the part is finished.
The 3-axis TUE(S) series turns and mills in the same setup, across a family of machines with varying table sizes. Multitasking machines are usually sold on speed, and the time savings are real, but the more valuable result is accuracy. A two-operation process has a minimum error it cannot machine its way out of — the relationship between features cut in separate setups is the sum of both setups, not the capability of either machine. Cutting the bore and the back face in the same coordinate system removes that arithmetic and holds the relationship to the accuracy of the machine itself. It is a tolerance no amount of cycle time can buy.
Turning and Milling Without Moving the Part
This is the problem the TUE(S) series of high-performance vertical boring & turning mills is built to solve. A TUE(S) series carries a 3,000 rpm live spindle for milling, so the work that would otherwise send a part downstream is done on the same table, off the same reference, in the same setup.
One setup instead of two. Turning, boring, facing, drilling, and milling are all finished in one clamping. The part is indicated once, and every feature on it is cut from that alignment. How closely the bolt circle lines up with the bore is set by the accuracy of the machine, not by how well someone re-established the reference on a second one. On aerospace components, energy parts, and large industrial assemblies, that relationship is often the tightest tolerance on the print.
The table accurately positions. A full contouring table sets the part to a commanded angle, so a milled feature relationship is maintained. That is what makes finishing a part in one setup accurate enough to build a process around. On the TUE-150(S), the same table turns at speeds up to 400 rpm, so the machine gains contouring without giving up turning performance.
One tool changer handles both. The tool changing system takes turning and milling holders together, and a standard 50 taper interface supports heavy cutting either way. Milling is not a light secondary operation squeezed between turning passes; the machine is built to remove material in both modes.
Rigidity Determines Whether One Setup Is Enough
The TUE(S) series is designed and built for combined machining operations.
The machine uses a wall-type single casting column from our foundry in Japan with an integrated cross rail. The column extends to the center of the table, so cutting forces taken up by the ram travel back through the casting instead of pushing the tool off its path. A hybrid way system with large-diameter ball screws carries high feed rates under heavy cut, the cast iron bed is ribbed to support the table, and an X-axis linear scale reports cross rail position directly to the latest FANUC control, standard on every machine.
A thermally symmetrical design and a lubricant oil cooling unit limit distortion over the length of the job, so the features milled at the end of a program line up with the turning done at the start. Rigidity and thermal stability are what make one setup sufficient, with the fiftieth part off the TUE-150(S) holding the same relationships as the first.
See it running at IMTS 2026
Shibaura Machine will demonstrate the TUE-150(S) Vertical Boring & Turning Mill live at IMTS 2026, September 14–19 at McCormick Place in Chicago, South Building, Booth #339424. Then talk with the team about what taking a setup out of your process would be worth: shorter lead times, fewer handling steps, and tolerance that holds from the first cut to the last.
Contact us at at (888) 593-1616 or mt-sales@shibaura-machine.com.