Different Types of Milling Processes

In industry, milling is the process of using rotary cutters to remove metal material from a metal piece through advancing the work piece at a certain angle to the cutting tool. The process covers wide variety of operations and levels of advancement. It ranges from small parts manufacturing to heavy milling operations. Due to the complexity of metal forming processes, there are various types of milling processes.

Vertical Milling Process

The connotation vertical is derived from the position of the spindle axis of the machine. They are characterized by a vertically adjustable worktable that rests on a saddle supported by a base referred to as the knee. This Knee” is a solid casting that moves vertically on the column of the machine, and can be clamped on to the column in very firm position. Then, the milling head and spindle can be adjusted vertically during operation.

Plain vertical millers have the spindle in vertical position or parrael to column phase, mounted on to a sliding head for more complex maching. The most common tool used in the vertical mill is the end mill or Flat-bottomed cutter. In some cases, it may refer to round nosed cutters as well. Other tools include slot drills for key slots milling, roughing end mill for removal of large amounts of metal(hogging) , and Ball nose cutters for machining 3 dimensional shapes

Turret Milling

The turret milling process done by the turret milling equipment achieves processes such as shearing, drilling and cutting. The spindle is stationery during the milling process, but the table moves along the X and Y axis and the machine is used for lighter operations such as toy making.

Universal Milling

The universal milling machine has a table swivel housing, which allows the table to swing up to 45 degrees in varying directions for helical and angle milling processes. The equipment can also be added other fixtures like the indexing tools, rotary table, slotting and rack milling attachments. The milling machine uses cutters such as the helical mill, side cutter and interlocking mills for various applications. The slab cutter is also used in universal milling to mill large and broad surfaces quickly.

Horizontal Milling

This machine is best for forming flat surfaces, dovetails, key ways, fluting milling cutters and gears. It is also referred to as arbor milling. They are best operated through the up milling process whereby the metal is fed into the cutter against its rotating direction. The metal is held firmly through a strong vice. Cutting tools include the Horizontal cutter which is a disk with hole at center for positioning along the arbor. A key slot is used to prevent any rotation of the cutter on the arbor. Compared to the vertical milling, the Horizontal milling machine can exert maximum force against he jaw holding the work piece.

Drilling Milling Process

This process involves accurate positioning and drilling holes using the milling machine. The milling machine is far more effective than the drilling machine when correctness is crucial and when large number of holes are required on the work piece. Also when large diameter holes are required, taper drill tool is used.

These milling process have helped development of all forms of metal shapes, making production processes faster and accurate.