Thursday, January 5, 2017

What To Know About Machining In Chicago IL

By Carl Cole


Machining is a manufacturing process that employs power tools to cut and shape raw materials into specific sizes. A controlled material-removal process is used for the cutting. Machining is one of the methods classified under subtractive manufacturing. Machining in Chicago IL is a well-developed industry with many experts and service companies operating within it. Companies and individuals hire the services of service companies when they need them at a fee.

The process of machining is also defined as a form of subtractive manufacturing in which a collection of material-working processes use power-driven machine tools to attain desired geometry in materials. The removal is done physically and some of the power tools used include drill presses, milling machines, lathes, and saws. Usually, these tools are used in combination with sharp cutting tools.

Today, machining applications heavily employ CNC. Computer Numeric Control is the long-form for CN. In this method, materials are shaped and sized according to the instructions fed into the CNC machine by the programmer. The process usually has CAM and Cad integrated into it. CAM and CAD make the process more efficient and accurate.

Metal products were the only kind of products that could be machined initially. However, with better technology coming up, it became possible to machine just about any material. Glass, ceramic, wood, plastic, and stone are some of the materials that can be machined today. Composite materials are also capable of being machined. Depending on the application, end-products can be of any size and shape. Round, hexagon, rectangle, square, and oval are some of the shapes that can be achieved.

Plates with different thicknesses can be machined using CNC machines including billet, sheets, coils, forgings, and molded parts. The size of the produced parts vary a lot and can be as tiny as 0.003 inches. The minimum and maximum size of parts can usually be adjusted into the machine. The nature of material that is being machined usually determines the choice of the tool to be used for the process.

Harder materials usually need carbide tipped tools to cut through them. The tools must be sharpened properly to ensure that accurate results are achieved. In materials that have poor thermal conductivity, good heat flow must be ensured to avoid deformation. This is more applicable to plastics and other softer materials. In most cases, chips are used to dissipate the heat that is generated from the process.

There are several different methods used in the machining process. Some of these methods include turning, milling, drilling, sawing, and thread cutting. End-milling is preferred for being more economical than peripheral milling in plane surfaces. Turning is preferred in circumstances in which high quality requirements are involved. The geometry of the cutting edge must be designed to suit the machining situation.

Twist drill is the form of drilling used. The angle at which twist drills are placed range between 12 and 16 degrees. Spiral grooves are made very smooth in order to attain the best level of swarf removal. In order to increase precision when drilling larger holes, a pilot hole is made first. If a pilot hole is not made, hollow drills may be used or trepanning.




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