What Is Milling?

Posted on: 8 April 2019

Turning a chunk of metal into a product that can be used isn't always easy. You can't just take a piece of steel and turn it into a custom car part or a piece of a skyscraper. It takes work. One of the things that has to happen to that piece of metal is that it has to go through some kind of machining. There are all kinds of processes that fall under machining. One of them is milling. Milling also has several things that fall under it. But what is milling?

Milling

Milling, as carried out by companies like Allied High Tech, is a rotary kind of cutting. The cutters themselves would generally have more than one cutting space so that they get the material off the workpiece as quickly as possible. Generally, the tool would be pushed horizontally around the workpiece's surface, but the cutters would be more perpendicular to the tool. As the cutters spin around, they cut away the material. In the past, the tools were generally manual tools, but these days, they are much different, although there are still manual milling tools that can be used. So what are some of the improvements and differences in milling?

CNC Machines

CNC stands for computer numerical control machines. These machines use designs programmed into their systems in order to create the tool. The design can be made directly on the computer that is attached to the machine, or it could actually be designed on another computer, and then moved over to the machine for the final production. If you can come up with your own design using a CAD program, but you don't have the machine, you can provide the files to someone who has the machine and let them cut out the piece for you.

One of the benefits to using this kind of milling is that you are going to be able to get precise cuts, which can be really helpful if you have really tight tolerances, or you have an elaborate design to create. The design can also be saved so that it can be endlessly replicated, making it easy for large-scale production, instead of one or two customized pieces. 

Milling helps turn metal from a chunk of metal into something that is useful for more than just a doorstop. Without milling tools and machines, it would be much, much more difficult to create any kind of part, no matter what it's being used for. 

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