How to choose such a machine and what to look for?

On a milling machine, CNC Milling Parts Manufacturers make products from metal, plexiglass, plastic, wood and many others. On the milling cutter, both transverse cutting and the creation of complex curvilinear patterns on the surface of the material are possible.

Whether you want to engrave huge monuments in stone or make small boxes out of plywood, there is a CNC router for every task.

In this article we will tell you how to choose such a machine and what to look for like pro CNC Milling Parts Manufacturers. First of all, you need to start from the tasks: what products will you make on a milling machine? What is the volume of your production – piece or streaming? What material are you planning to work with? Many characteristics of the machine depend on the answers to these questions.

CNC MILLING MACHINE WORKING AREA

Its size depends on the type of manufactured products and the area of ​​the working room.

And depending on this, there are two types of CNC milling machines:

On larger machines, the table is always stationary and the gantry moves along the Y axis.

Desktop milling machines; CNC Milling Parts Manufacturers

For the production of small wooden boxes, compact versions of cutters are suitable – Wattsan 0404 and 0609 . In addition, they can be applicable in small furniture production, for making souvenirs, interior and exterior decoration.

TYPES OF MILLING MACHINES DEPENDING ON THE MATERIAL BEING PROCESSED

In addition, there are several types of milling equipment, depending on the material being processed:

High speed CNC milling machines 

They are good to design for cutting and cutting metals, wood, double-layer plastic, plexiglass, PVC, gypsum. And besides, they can be applicable for milling granite and marble, which is very common in the ritual business for processing slabs and monuments.

Compact CNC machines:

They can be applicable for milling 3d cutting and engraving of wood, MDF, chipboard, plexiglass, PVC, composite, aluminum. Compact machines are common for woodworking, light industry, souvenir art, interior and exterior decoration.

COMPLETE SET OF CNC MILLING MACHINE

When choosing a milling machine, this parameter is not as important as, for example, structural rigidity and positioning accuracy. However, the components must be select correctly.

So, let’s figure out what a milling machine consists of.

How does the spindle work?

The spindle is a powerful compact electric motor. The cutter clamps in the spindle using a collet chuck. The collet compresses the shank of the cutter from all sides, in contrast to the same three-jaw chuck. This is important because the cutter experiences lateral loads and the collet helps to distribute them evenly and provides a tighter clamping.

MILLING MACHINE GUIDES

The accuracy of processing and the rigidity of the structure of the milling machine depend on them.

Guides are:

Round rail

They, as a rule, come with budget machines. They can handle wood, plastics, jewelry wax and much more.

Rectangular profile rail

These are better quality CNC Milling Parts Manufacturers guides from brands such as AMT, PMI, Hiwin, THK. They are common for machining that requires the greatest precision.

Milling Machine Coolant

It is a cutting fluid. It is found in all machines that are designed for metal processing. Coolant cools down the milling area.

The composition of the cutting fluid can include emulsions with the addition of disulfide and molybdenum, oils.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN CONTOUR MILLING AND 3D CNC Milling PARTS

2d milling

Vector layout for planar milling can be done in AutoCAD or CorelDraw.

And the UE settings for it do not differ in a lot of commands, because the cutter goes in one direction, then it rounds and goes to the other. The size of the layout for 2d milling usually weighed several kilobytes.

3d milling

In this case, the layout is created in specialized programs – 3ds Max and Solidworks.

Unlike 2d, during 3d milling the tool, in addition to moving along two planes, also changes the position height. Also, with 3d wood processing, the relief changes more often than with 2d.

In the control program, each such change is marked as a point. Accordingly, the CNC Milling Parts Manufacturers cutter moves from one point to another, while not only moving left and right, but also rising and falling. This creates a 3d model.

The size of the layout for 3d milling is several megabytes.

Automatic tool change in a CNC milling parts machine

It so happens that milling needs to be done in several stages – first, remove the top layer with a thick cutter, and then apply a thin pattern, for which a large cutter is definitely not suitable.

During the cutting process, CNC Milling Parts Manufacturers no longer need to change the cutter manually, because there is an automatic tool change system. It is a so-called station, located above the spindle.

Several tools necessary for work are fixed on it. And it is controlled in the program, where it is set what and with what cutter to cut. The spindle returns to the station before each tool change.

How is the workpiece secured to the milling machine table?

There are different ways – a clamp or screws on a T-slot table or – a vacuum table. Consider these two types of tables. So,

Vacuum table

It fixes the workpiece to the work table with the power of a vacuum pump. It comes with a sealing cord, which allows you to cut off parts of the workpiece that do not fit into the working field of the machine.

The vacuum table has several disadvantages:

• It will not work to fix small workpieces;
• It is incompatible with tool cooling system, chip removal system;

Types of milling work: cnc milling parts manufacturers

Milling work on metal is a set of operations carried out by modern cnc milling parts manufacturers equipment – CNC milling machines for processing surfaces from various materials. Thus, the main method of operation of a milling machine is to rotate a spindle (rotating shaft) on which a carbide cutting tool is fixed.

Directly this tool is called a milling cutter and with the help of it the surface of the material is processed to give it the required shape.

Milling work by type of metal

Milling directly depends on the composition and properties of the material that is being milled. According to the type of material, milling can be divided into:

• aluminum milling;
• copper milling
• flange milling;
• milling stainless steel
• milling titanium.

These metals are the most popular milling materials. CNC milling parts manufacturers processes these metals with micron precision.

Milling work by type of surface

• CNC milling of vertical surfaces;
• CNC milling of horizontal surfaces;
• The CNC milling of inclined surfaces;
• CNC milling of grooves of teeth and combined surfaces.

Depending on the type of order, milling work requires a special cnc milling parts manufacturers technology for processing surfaces of various materials. In the section our works are widely presented examples of parts with different types of surfaces.

By the intricacies of the milling process, operations are divided into:

Milling is passing. The direction of feeding the workpiece and the rotation of the cutting tool are the same

Counter milling. The direction of rotation of the cutter and the feed of the workpiece are opposite.