With its oscillating axis motion, Step-Cycle-Pro offers several advantages in relation to chip control and tool life. In terms of chip control, an ‘air cut’ can be defined to form the chip. This air cut is achieved by a controlled interpolation between a spindle and axis. In addition, thermal load on the tool tip is also reduced during operation. This effectively prevents damage to the tool coating. SCP can be used on the main and sub-spindle without any restrictions.

Step-Cycle-Pro was developed for a wide range of machining types, such as turning, drilling, facing and pricking. SCP offers a database with recommendations, which the machine operator can use to select the ideal program conditions and chip length. The technology requires no special expertise to use and can be easily activated or deactivated with a one-line G-code command.

As is typical for other brands of CNC turning machines, a slight increase in cycle time is to be expected with the use of similar oscillation techniques. The advanced system developed by star* can adjust the actual feed speed automatically when the function is activated. To ensure that the cycle time remains unchanged, the cut data is then adjusted accordingly.