What is
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machining?
Machining is a process in by which material is removed from a larger piece of stock to create a part. Removal of material means it is a subtractive process, unlike 3D printing which is an additive process.
When people talk about “machining,” there are a few things they could be referring to. There is light machining, like laser cutting, water jetting, angle grinding, etc. Heavy machining, which this guide covers, involves the use of large machines such as mills and lathes.
What does this guide cover?
Tool Setup HSM
Tool Setup Physical
Workholding
Material Selection
Mills 101
Lathes 101
Mill Operations
Lathe OperationsThe materials we typically deal with are various alloys of Aluminum and Steel, however sometimes we also use nickel and copper alloys.
CNC Mills
Mills are machines in which a rotating cutter takes material away from the stock. The mills that we use are CNC mills, which require preprogrammed code to tell the tool where to travel. Many software that can be used to create this code, however we use HSMWorks, which is an add in to SOLIDWORKS. The machines that we use are all Tormach 1100M, a relatively simple and user friendly entry level machine.
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Statement of Purpose
In these documents we will be outlining the basics of what tools we have, how we hold our work, ways to cut material, what speed and amount of material to remove with different tools and metals. We will also provide a checklist to use when machining, and common pitfalls to be aware of. The relevant pages are listed below. Enjoy!
https://nerdocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/NER/pages/166002984/Mill+Workholding
https://nerdocs.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/NER/pages/166101384/Mill+Tools