What Is CNC Milling

In today’s society, CNC milling is widely used in machining and designing. Since CNC milling is so important, today, this article will give you some basic information about CNC milling to let you have a common understanding of CNC milling. We will talk about the definition, development and features of CNC milling.

List: 

1. Definition of CNC Milling

2. Development of CNC Milling

3. Features of CNC Milling

Definition of CNC Milling

CNC milling machine is also called CNC (Computer Numerical Control) milling machine. Its english meaning is a milling machine controlled by an electronic meter with digital signals. CNC milling machine is an automatic processing equipment developed on the basis of general milling machine. The processing technology of the two is basically the same, and the structure is similar. CNC milling machines are divided into two categories: without a tool magazine and with a tool magazine. The CNC milling machine with a tool magazine is also called a machining center. It uses computer control and rotating multi-point cutting tools to gradually remove materials from the workpiece and produce customized parts or products. This process is suitable for processing various materials, such as metals, plastics, glass and wood, as well as producing various customized design parts and products.

Development of CNC Milling

The world's first successfully developed CNC machine tool was a three-coordinate CNC milling machine, which was completed in 1952 by Parsons and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). In 1948, when the United States developed the processing machine tool for the processing of helicopter blade contour inspection, it proposed the initial idea of developing CNC machine tools. In 1949, with the support of the US Air Force, Parsons officially accepted the commission and cooperated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's servo laboratory to start working on the development of CNC machine tools. After three years of research, in 1952, the world's first experimental prototype of CNC machine tools was successfully produced. This is a true-line interpolation three-coordinate continuous control milling machine using the principle of pulse multiplier. Its control unit consists of more than 2,000 tubes, which is as large as an ordinary laboratory. The birth of this CNC milling machine marks the beginning of the era of digital control in machine building.

With the rapid development of social production and science and technology, mechanical products are becoming more and more sophisticated, and the demand is frequently modified, especially for mechanical parts required in the fields of aerospace, shipbuilding, military, etc. These parts have high precision requirements, complex shapes, and small batch sizes. . Processing such products requires frequent modification or adjustment of equipment, and ordinary machine tools or highly specialized automated machine tools cannot meet these requirements. In order to solve the above problems, a new type of machine tool - CNC machine tool came into being. This new type of machine tool has the advantages of strong adaptability, high processing precision, stable processing quality and high production efficiency. It comprehensively applies various technical achievements such as electronic computer, automatic control, servo drive, precision measurement and new mechanical structure, and is the development direction of CNC machine tools in the future.

Features of CNC Milling

• In the process of processing, there is no need to interfere too much, and the influence of processing accuracy is minimized.

• With standardized and modular tools and fixtures, different parts can be processed by changing the corresponding processing procedures, which is highly adaptable.

• For the machining parts are frame-shaped planes or steps of unequal height, then the CNC milling machine with the point---linear system can be used. If the machining part is a curved contour, the system that selects the two-coordinate linkage and the three-coordinate linkage should be determined according to the geometry of the surface. According to the requirements of parts processing, on the basis of the general CNC milling machine, the numerical control indexing head or the numerical control rotary table can be added. At this time, the system of the machine tool is a four-coordinate numerical control system, which can process spiral grooves and blade parts.

• Improve the working conditions of workers and greatly reduce the labor intensity.

• Different sizes of CNC milling machines meet different processing requirements. The smaller size of the bench-top CNC milling machine has a table width of less than 400mm. It is ideal for machining small and medium-sized parts and contour milling of complex shapes. For larger specifications, such as gantry milling machines, the table is 500-600mm or more, which is used to solve the processing needs of large and complex parts.

After reading whole article, we believe you have already had a probably cognition of CNC milling and we hope this will help you.