Despite the proliferation of new and improved manufacturing methods, there is still no replacement for CNC machining. There are millions of precision parts created utilizing one or more CNC machining techniques on a daily basis. A closer look at these 7 most commonly used methods to produce high-quality quick prototypes and production parts.
Turning
A workpiece is clamped tightly onto a revolving plate or mandrel in turning, which is perhaps the earliest machine action ever. The cutting tool is kept against the workpiece by a fixture that moves along with the workpiece. Depending on where you want it, you can move it up and down the workpiece's length as well as closer or farther away from the center line. It's easy to remove significant volumes of stuff with these basic methods. Drilling holes along the workpiece's centerline can also be accomplished by attaching a tailstock drill bit to the tool. Use a spare parts list to ensure that your CNC machining services operating at peak performance.
Using a lathe, you can create concentric shapes on the outside of a spherical object. A lathe may produce a wide variety of rounded or round features, including slots, ring grooves, stepped shoulders, internal and external threads, cylinders, and shafts. Moreover, they are able to achieve surface finishes that are homogeneous and smooth.
Milling
With milling, the cutting tool is mounted on a spindle and the workpiece is held stationary. With a machine vise, the workpiece is typically held horizontally on a table that may move in the X and Y directions. Multiple cutting tools can be held on the spindle, which travels on all three axes.
As well as boring holes, a mill can also be used to remove stock from more complicated, asymmetrical components. These features include square/flat faces, chamfers, channel profiles, keyways and other features that require exact angles to be cut. Mills are used to manufacture these features. The majority of CNC machine tool operations are performed by milling and turning, which are combined
Preparation of the Work Surface
Using a grinder to get an extremely smooth surface on metal items is the finest option for many different purposes. The abrasive grit on the grinding disk is of a certain coarseness. The abrasive wheel is rotated while the workpiece is mounted on a table and moved back and forth lateral to the wheel. Please keep in mind that this procedure can only be used on faces that do not have any protrusions protruding from the skin.
The type of abrasive used depends on the sort of material that needs to be ground. As the grinding process generates heat and mechanical stress, care must be taken to control the tool speed and temperature.
Electromagnetic Deposition
A dielectric fluid is used to submerge a conducting electrode close to the workpiece. For the feature it is cutting, the electrode has a form that is just right. An electrode's discharge causes metal particles to be expelled from the workpiece as it heats up. Although the electrode itself does not come into direct contact with the workpiece, it is sacrificial and may need to be replaced more often.
Hardened tool steels can be challenging to work with, thus EDM is used to create pockets, holes, and square features that would otherwise be impossible. Rarely is it used on the finished product itself, although it is commonly utilized on injection and pressure die casting molds for plastics. Mold tooling can have letters and logos debossed (recessed) using electro-discharge machining (EDM).
Welded EDM
Copper wire is used as a conductor for a high-voltage electric charge in wire EDM technology. During the cutting process, a spool of fresh wire is continuously fed into the conductor to keep it from eroding further. This is a technique that cannot be employed in a blind hole since it requires a pass through.
Wire EDM is used on hardened tool steel to create circular or semi-circular features that would be difficult to achieve with traditional cutting tools.
Milling Cylindrical
Combining surface grinding with lathe turning results in this process. While a circular or cylindrical grinding wheel is being turned against the surface of the workpiece, it is typically held stationary. An internal or external diameter can be machined with a cylindrical grinder, either in its entirety or at only a partial depth. Cylindrical Grinder Applications:
Optically Grinded
Aside from metals, CNC machining can also be utilized to create customized optics in glass or plastics. Because of the tight tolerances required for optical surfaces, specialized grinding equipment that rotates a grinding wheel against a surface on many axes is needed.
When the nominal is averaged, all departures from that average are smoothed down. To generate a smooth and polished finish, grinding paste is also utilized.