How do they make wind turbines?

There is a nice article in American Machinist this week about the production of wind turbines for wind-power machines. It goes into detail about all the work that goes into creating a wind machine, from fabrication to milling.

Many wind turbine component shops process such parts as gear case assemblies, planetary carriers and hubs on horizontal boring mills. These machines, with contouring heads and programmable boring bars, can reduce the number of tools, and tool changes, required to complete parts.

One tool can bore multiple diameters and produce complex part geometries. A contouring head combined with a programmable boring bar can perform as many as nine to ten different operations – atypical for a boring mill. Operations include threading, grooving, turning, contouring, taper turning and more, internally and externally, and rightangle heads and precision rotary tables add capabilities for five-sided part processing in single setups.

The whole article is worth checking out if you're interested in the process of industrial design, fabrication, and milling.