Lathe recommendations for turning tungsten darts.

[Redz]

Any recommendations for cnc lathes that will be good at turning tungsten darts?

[JAZZCNC]

Tungsten isn't a very easy material to turn I believe and will require a good lathe with correct tooling/inserts. I think most tungsten is ground rather than turned.? But I'm not a lathe guy so could be wrong.!

But if you are wanting something more than a hobby machine I do have the perfect machine that will do this standing on its head.
It's a BIG Tarex Burger twin ATC turret lathe with hydraulic Collet chuck, Fanuc 11T controller, and Fanuc AC Red top servos, it's a serious bit of kit that is the size of a small car but it's your for £2k.

[Colin Barron]

Any recommendations for cnc lathes that will be good at turning tungsten darts?

Is tungsten not sintered in a mould and ground? There are some examples of turning on youtube using cbn tips.

[johnsattuk]

Are they "Tungsten" or "Tungsten carbide"

[Colin Barron]

Are they "Tungsten" or "Tungsten carbide"

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=turning+tungsten+on+a+lathe
Normally tungsten carbide is fitted to wear surfaces by brazing and then ground flat or square.

[johnsattuk]

Have some past experience of "Tungsten carbide" dart manufacture, still have some somewhere.
They were pressed blanks, shaped drilled etc and then sintered

Tungsten carbide - high density - smaller barell

[Voicecoil]

Would copper tungsten be a better material to use? The high tungsten variants have similar density to tungsten carbide (WC !) and I'm told it's a lot more machineable.

[magicniner]

High quality Tungsten darts have a body in metal alloy with up to 97.5% tungsten, not Tungsten Carbide in a sintered substrate, tungsten metal has a significantly higher density than tungsten carbide in a sintered substrate.