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Turning vs Milling: What’s the Difference?

by: Oct 08,2021 4642 Views 0 Comments Posted in CNC Machining

CNC machining Craft Introduction turning milling

What is turning?  

Turning is to change the shape and size of the blank by using the rotational motion of the workpiece and the linear or curvilinear motion of the tool on the lathe, so as to make it meet the requirements of the drawing.

Turning is a method of cutting workpiece on lathe by using workpiece relative to tool rotation. The cutting energy of turning is mainly provided by the workpiece rather than the tool. Turning is the most basic and common cutting method, which occupies a very important position in production. Turning is suitable for machining rotary surface. Most of the workpieces with rotary surface can be machined by turning method, such as internal and external cylindrical surface, internal and external conical surface, end face, groove, thread and rotary forming surface.

Among all kinds of metal cutting machines, lathe is the most widely used one, accounting for about 50 % of the total number of machine tools. The lathe can not only turn the workpiece with lathe tool, but also drill bit, reamer, tap and hob for drilling, reamer, tapping thread and hob operation. According to the different process characteristics, layout forms and structural characteristics, lathes can be divided into horizontal lathes, landing lathes, vertical lathes, turret lathes and profiling lathes, most of which are horizontal lathes.

What is milling?  

CNC lathes can be used to process complex rotary body shape. Milling is to fix the blank, with high speed rotating milling cutter on the blank, cutting out the required shape and characteristics. Traditional milling is mostly used for milling simple shape features such as contour and groove. CNC milling machine can process complex shapes and features. Milling and boring machining center can be used for three-axis or multi-axis milling and boring, for processing, mold, fixture, tread, thin-walled complex surface, artificial prosthesis, blade, etc. The advantage and key role of NC milling machine should be brought into full play when selecting NC milling content.

A common metal cold working method is different from turning in that the tool rotates at a high speed driven by the spindle in the milling process and the workpiece is relatively static.  Differences between turning and milling : Turning is used to process the rotary parts. The parts are clamped on the main shaft of the machine tool through the three-grasp chuck and rotated at high speed. Then, the lathe tool is used to cut out the product shape according to the generatrix of the rotary body. The lathe can also be internal hole, thread, bite flower processing, the latter two for low speed processing.

Difference between Turning and Milling

To put it simply: lathes are round, milling machines are flat, and boring machines are dry holes. Lathe processing means that the workpiece rotates, but the cutter does not rotate. Milling machine processing is tool rotation, the workpiece does not rotate.

Lathe is a machine tool that mainly turns rotating workpieces with turning tools. On the lathe, drills, reamers, reamers, taps, dies and knurling tools can also be used for corresponding processing. Lathe is mainly used for machining shafts, discs, sleeves and other workpieces with rotating surfaces, and is the most widely used machine tool in machinery manufacturing and repair factories. Rotating machines such as milling machines and drilling machines are all extended from lathes. In Hong Kong and other places in China, there are also people called rotary beds. Milling machine refers to a machine tool that mainly uses milling cutters to machine various surfaces on workpieces. Usually, the rotary motion of milling cutter is the main motion, and the movement of workpiece (and) milling cutter is the feed motion. It can process planes and grooves, as well as various curved surfaces and gears. Milling machine is a machine tool for milling workpieces with milling cutters. In addition to milling planes, grooves, gear teeth, threads and splined shafts, milling machines can also process more complex profiles, with higher efficiency than planers, and are widely used in machinery manufacturing and repair departments. Milling machine is a widely used machine tool, which can process planes (horizontal and vertical planes), grooves (keyways, T-shaped grooves, dovetail grooves, etc.), gear parts (gears, spline shafts, sprockets, spiral surfaces (threads, spiral grooves) and various curved surfaces. In addition, it can also be used for machining the surface and inner hole of the rotating body and cutting off, etc. When the milling machine is working, the workpiece is mounted on the worktable or the accessories such as the indexing head, and the rotation of the milling cutter is the main movement, supplemented by the feeding movement of the worktable or milling head, so that the workpiece can obtain the required machined surface. Because it is multi-cutter intermittent cutting, the productivity of milling machine is higher. A machine tool for milling workpieces with a milling cutter. In addition to milling planes, grooves, gear teeth, threads and splined shafts, milling machines can also process more complex profiles, with higher efficiency than planers, and are widely used in machinery manufacturing and repair departments. Two kinds of machine tools are programmed to take the knife path, which is called numerical control, and the word numerical control is added before its name, that is, automatic processing.

What is turn-milling combination?   

With the increasing number of types of CNC lathes, the names of many lathes gradually become difficult to understand. Next, we will understand what is CNC turn-milling combination. Before understanding CNC turn-milling combination, we should first understand the CNC lathe and CNC milling machine separately, and see what difference they have before.

CNC lathe is the first machine tool to turn the rotating work-piece with CNC lathe tool. Generally refers to that the tool of the lathe is fixed at a specific position on the machine tool. The work-piece rotates along the axis under the clamping of the fixture, and is cut when it is close to the knife edge. Therefore, it is first applicable to machining shafts, plates, sleeves and other work-pieces with reverse appearance. It is the most widely used machine tool in machinery manufacturing and repair factories. Common CNC milling machines and drilling machines such as rotary machines are drawn from CNC lathes. Its processing principle is that the work-piece is rotating and the tool is fixed.

CNC milling machine is a machine tool that mainly uses milling cutters to process various appearances on the workpiece. The main motion of the milling cutter is rotation, and the workpiece and the milling cutter can move to feed motion. In other words, its object is fixed at a certain position of the machine tool, and the milling cutter makes a high-speed rotation under the clamping of the fixture. When touching the workpiece, it processes the plane and groove on its surface, and can also process various surfaces, gears and other numerical control milling machines. The machine that uses the milling cutter to mill the workpiece can process the plane ( horizontal plane and vertical plane ), groove ( key groove, T-shaped groove, swallowtail groove, etc. ), tooth part ( gear, spline shaft, sprocket, spiral surface ( thread, spiral groove ) and various surfaces on the numerical control milling machine. In addition, it can also be used for reverse body surface, inner hole processing and blocking operation. Therefore, the productivity of CNC milling machine is high. The machining principle of CNC milling machine is that the workpiece is fixed and the tool is rotating.

CNC turn-milling composite is a composite machine tool that contains all the functional characteristics of CNC lathe and CNC milling machine. Its functions include turn-milling composite, turn-milling composite and milling-milling composite. The purpose of composite is to make a machine tool have multiple functions. It can complete multiple tasks in one clamping, and improve processing efficiency and machining accuracy. Because it combines the characteristics of a CNC lathe to a machine, it greatly reduces the floor area and reduces the cost of rent and other funds. Although the unit price of CNC turn-milling is relatively high, because it can shorten the number of manufacturing process chains and fixtures, floor space and reduce equipment maintenance costs, it can also effectively reduce the overall investment in fixed assets and greatly reduce the cost of production operations and personnel and equipment management from the perspective of enterprise investment.


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