The most common in metalworking are milling work. CNC machines will provide high quality products: dimensional accuracy, a given high speed of manufacture. These machines achieve a high degree of repeatability of parts.
Pros of automatic cutting
Choosing where to order CNC milling operations, you should check the availability of high-quality tools on the equipment. Multi-blade cutters can withstand multiple cycles of operation if they were made of high quality metals. Accordingly, the products received will be defective.
Known tools with which you can quickly carry out milling operations with CNC control are Sandvik, Vertex, Kemmler. There are cheaper analogues, but their service life is much shorter. Good tooling is also necessary, as are the high precision characteristics of the machine.
Often you have to combine turning and milling work. It is better to choose a universal CNC machine, and many manufacturers of industrial equipment take this into account. So, the latest versions of Emco machines are equipped with additional axes in which the tool itself moves relative to the part.
Musturn machine tools in the design include turrets for several positions with an internal drive tool. The additional C axis provides the positioning of the cylindrical parts at a certain angle. This is often required for the manufacture of grooves, recesses, pockets.
Vertical constructions
For the manufacture of body parts, only one type of processing is required - milling. The CNC system speeds up the manufacturing process and improves accuracy. However, not every machine will be able to provide the declared tolerances. Asian equipment is often not able to produce the required cutting parameters, despite the introduction of the latest systems: Sinumerik, Heidenhain, Fanuc, Mitsubishi.
At risk are equipment owners from China, Taiwan, and Korea. Some models of machines from these countries belong to the premium class. With the declared characteristics, manufacturers from Asia order beds from unscrupulous suppliers for reasons of economy. The latter violate the technology of manufacturing the supporting bases and make welds. Several parts are taken and connected by welding.
High precision can no longer be obtained with such a manufacturing technology. Only cast beds can support the considerable weight of the equipment without distorting the exposed geometry. A small CNC machine weighs about 6 tons. With such masses, the bed can bend and the error of the axial displacement of the tool at a distance of 0.5 meters is up to 3 microns. These values in the presence of a weld in operation will increase by 2 or even 3 times from vibration.
What to look for before choosing an artist?
It is important to determine the required accuracy before milling is performed. The CNC system on the machine is not an indicator of future product quality. With a large production batch, the latest versions of electronic filling are guaranteed to surpass in speed.
Among the managers who tested several different types of machine tools in production , there was a definite opinion: with high requirements, a certain accuracy can be achieved only with expensive equipment. European manufacturers are leading in this matter. Parts for oil companies, spacecraft on an industrial scale are made only on machine tools from the Czech Republic, Germany, Austria, Japan. With equipment from the last country, difficulties arise in terms of service at the domestic service, so it rarely interests buyers from the Russian Federation.
With low requirements for the accuracy of parts, milling work on metal can be entrusted to machine operators working on equipment of Korean or Taiwanese brands. Already there are competitive analogues from the Russian Federation. But it should be remembered that most parts come for assembly again from Asia.
What are they doing?
Milling work on metal allows you to get grooves, holes, threads, chamfers, grooves. The processing plane can be absolutely any. Extend the possibilities of inclined tables with an axis of rotation. Using the latter, you can implement turning functions.
Here are the common types of work on 3D CNC milling machines:
- Teeth, intricate inner cones.
- Helical grooves.
- Complex shapes of grooves enclosed between symmetrical walls.
- Turning elements combined with milling.
The advantage of CNC work is the rapid creation of a machining program according to the size of the customer. The control of the received sizes is carried out automatically by means of a contactless probe. In the process of cutting it is located in a special store.
Choosing an artist by price
The cost of operating a CNC milling machine consists of the type of material and the complexity of the contours. The time spent on work directly affects the total amount. There is a certain threshold of the average amount below which the contractor will no longer be ready to take up work.
For example, a composite cylindrical part 15 cm long with an inner liner consists of 3 parts. The parts are connected using a threaded connection. Manufacturing accuracy not lower than 2 microns. For such a product, the price of 800 rubles apiece will be acceptable. For various customers, the amount will vary +/- 200 rubles.
In case products, calculation is much more complicated. Each insertion into the metal is calculated and added up with the cost of preparing for the automatic cycle.
Before concluding an agreement
Any contractor is interested in receiving an order. To fully assess the capabilities of the equipment, you should require a visit to the work site where the parts will be directly manufactured. Failure to provide a pass will mean that the contractor has problems at work.
Drawings of parts drawn up in accordance with regulatory documents must be received from the customer in a timely manner. Many performers take an advance payment, which is not refundable in the event of a unilateral cancellation of the transaction.