Rotary Transfer Machine for Brass Valve Body Machining
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The customer mainly produces brass valve bodies, pipe fittings, and threaded connector components. Their products are used in plumbing, water supply, gas control, and fluid connection applications.
The customer’s typical machining process included:
· Rough drilling of main holes
· Fine machining of internal holes
· Outer surface finishing
· Side hole drilling
· Grooving
· Threading
· Thread tapping
· Final inspection and cleaning
For small batches or frequently changing products, CNC lathes and machining centers were still useful. However, for stable mass production, the customer needed a more dedicated and efficient solution.
The original process had several common problems:
1. Too Many Process Transfers
The part needed to pass through several machines before completion. Each transfer required manual handling, waiting time, and re-positioning.
2. Repeated Clamping Affected Consistency
Multiple clamping operations increased the risk of accumulated positioning error. For valve bodies and fittings, this can affect hole position, thread alignment, sealing surface consistency, and final assembly reliability.
3. CNC Machines Were Flexible but Not Fast Enough
A CNC lathe or machining center can complete many operations, but it usually processes them one by one. For high-volume brass valve body production, sequential machining creates a longer cycle time.
4. Single-Station Special Machines Solved Only Part of the Problem
A dedicated drilling or tapping machine can improve one operation, but the part still needs to be moved to other machines for the remaining processes. The overall production flow remains fragmented.
5. Labor Dependency Was High
Operators were needed for loading, unloading, machine transfer, clamping, cleaning, and inspection. As production volume increased, labor cost and management difficulty became more obvious.
Formula used on the website
| Shift output comparison chart  |
 6-station proposal snapshot |  8-station proposal snapshot |  10-station proposal snapshot |
Solution | Strength | Limitation in high-volume valve bodies | Best-fit scenario |
CNC lathe | Flexible, easy to change products | Sequential processing; often requires multiple setups or machines | Small batches, changing products |
Machining center | Strong multi-face machining flexibility | Tool change and sequential operations limit output for fixed parts | Complex low-to-medium volume parts |
Single-station special machine | Fast for one operation | Still needs transfer to other machines for remaining processes | One or two simple processes |
Rotary transfer machine | Parallel multi-station machining with dedicated fixtures | Less suitable for very frequent product changes | Stable medium-to-high volume production |
Configuration | Reference structure | Typical process coverage | Power reference | Positioning in website |
6-station rotary transfer machine | Customized 6-station HT300 bed; 7 main servo drive units | Rough hole drilling, fine inner hole machining, grooving, threading | 43.7 kW | Compact entry solution for medium-complexity fittings |
8-station rotary transfer machine | 8-station HT300 bed; 15 servo drive units | Rough drilling, fine inner machining, hole drilling, grooving/threading, tapping | 67.6 kW | Recommended balanced solution for sample case |
10-station rotary transfer machine | 10 stations; 15 spindles; HT300 frame; servo indexing table | Rough drilling, fine boring, surface milling, angle drilling, small hole drilling, multiple tapping | 76.2 kW | High integration solution for complex valve/fitting bodies |
If your product requires drilling, boring, grooving, threading, tapping, and multi-surface machining, a rotary transfer machine may be a better solution than using several separate CNC machines.
Send us your product drawing, annual production target, material, machining process, and tolerance requirements. Our engineering team can evaluate whether a 6-station, 8-station, or 10-station rotary transfer machine is suitable for your production.