Types of CNC Machines - Reverse engineering

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Types of CNC Machines

        Different kinds of CNC machines cover an extremely large variety. their numbers are rapidly increasing. as the technology development advances. it is impossible to identify all the applications, they would make a long list. here is a brief list of some of the groups CNC machines can be party of:

1. CNC Mills and machining center
2. CNC Lathes and Turning Center
3. CNC Drilling Machines
4. CNC Boring mills and Profilers
5. CNC EDM machines
6. CNC Punch presses and Shears
7. CNC Flame cutting machines
8. CNC Routers
9. CNC Water jet and Laser profilers
10. CNC Cylindrical grinders
11. CNC Welding machines
12. CNC Bending machine

CNC machining centers and lathes dominate the number of installations in industry. These two groups share the market just about equally. Some industries may have a higher need for one group of machines, depending on their needs. One must remember that there are many different kinds of lathes and equally many different kinds of machining centers. 

However, the programming process for a vertical machine is similar to the one for a horizontal ma- chine or a simple CNC mill. Even between different machine groups, there is a great amount of general applications and the programming process is generally the same. For example, a contour milled with an end mill has a lot in common with a contour cut with a wire.

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CNC Mills and machining center

VMC machine(medium-bt)

Standard milling works on the concept of removing material from a workpiece using a cutting tool. Basically, milling machines are able to move in 5 axes. According to terminology, they move in the X, Y, Z, A, and B axes. In sectors like automobile, aerospace, marine, and defense, milling machining sectors work precisely.
Various types of milling machines are available, for example, VMC (Vertical Machining Center), HMC (Horizontal Machining Center), UMC (Universal Machining Center), etc. Milling is famous for its precision, accuracy, stability, flexibility, finishing, and complexity. Basically, it works by CNC programming, and in this programming, there are codes mentioned to move axes and rotate the spindle at a particular RPM.

CNC Lathes and Turning Center:

• Like a milling machine, a lathe also works on the removal of material from a workpiece, but in a lathe, the spindle or tool is fixed, and the workpiece rotates, which is held in a chuck. Lathes have been famous since earlier days when work was done on manual lathes, and currently, automatic lathes and turning machines are available in manufacturing.

• In a turning machine, there are only two axes, and material removal is also high. In a lathe machine, you are able to work on rotary jobs using various tools like a boring bar and face mill.

CNC Drilling Machines:

• The simple concept of a drill machine is to create holes of various diameters in a part. There are drills (drilling tools) available in various ranges, and in a drilling machine, we use these drills as per the requirement. They rotate by a motor and by applying pressure by hand or through automatic movement in the opposite direction of the drilling process to be carried out.

CNC Boring mills and Profilers:

• In the case of regular mill-type CNC machines, which are used for material removal, they are not viable for large-size machining, for example, casting beds, heavy construction equipment, and casting structures of big machines, which are big in size. In such cases, boring mills are the best machines because of their large bed size with manual chip removal. In a boring mill, there is a table that moves left, right, front, and back, and it can also rotate.

• On the other side, there are spindle accessories in which the spindle can move forward, backward, as well as up and down by the handle. There are two types of boring mills: horizontal and vertical boring mills. In a horizontal boring mill, the tool rotates and the workpiece remains stationary, whereas in the case of a vertical boring mill, the tool remains stationary and the workpiece rotates. Among boring mills, horizontal boring mills are versatile because the machine tool does not limit part size.

CNC EDM machines:

• Electric discharge machining (EDM) is a non-conventional machining process by which we can machine hard materials that otherwise cannot be machined using conventional machining processes. It works on the principle of metal erosion of the workpiece.

• In an EDM machine, the workpiece to be machined is connected to a negative charge (acting as the cathode) from an electric source, while the tool with a particular pattern on its tip is connected to a positive charge (acting as the anode) from the electric source.
• As the workpiece is connected with a negative charge, when it comes in contact with the positive charge, material is removed according to the pattern on the tool, allowing the EDM machine to machine hard materials in this manner. It is mainly used in drilling micro holes, gear manufacturing, thread cutting, rotary form cutting, and engraving in metal, among other applications.

CNC Punch presses and Shears:

CNC Flame cutting machines:

• A CNC flame/plasma cutting machine is mainly used for cutting ferrous materials up to 150mm with high repeatability and good quality at a low cost compared to laser cutting. Stainless steel and aluminum are the most commonly processed materials by plasma cutting machines. The machine operates in both manual and CNC modes. In manual mode, the operator manually moves the machine to make cuts, while in the case of a CNC plasma cutter, it works automatically in 3 axes.

• In plasma cutting, there is a nozzle that is electrically charged and an electrode that is negatively charged. As gas flows from the nozzle and passes around it, it becomes ionized and generates plasma, which is then used for cutting. This plasma is at high temperature.

CNC Routers:

• In non-ferrous materials, mainly wooden parts are used for 3D designing, cutting text, creating detailed 2D drawings, and making interior accessories, CNC routers are primarily used. Currently, routers available in the market can also engrave ferrous materials. Like CNC mills, routers also work in 5 axes as per requirements, and by rotating the cutting tool, they remove material from the workpiece.

• There are many uses for this machine; for example, PVC, glass, marble, wood, ACP sheet, stone, and granite materials can be machined by this machine. This machine understands G-code and M-code, through which its axes can move in three dimensions.

CNC Water jet and Laser profilers:

• Similar to an EDM machine, a water jet machine is also a type of non-conventional machining where material is removed from the surface of a workpiece by a high-velocity water jet, hence it's called the "Water Jet" process. Mainly soft materials like plastic, rubber, and wood can be easily cut this way, and hard materials like metals and non-metals can also be cut by mixing abrasive materials like granite, aluminum oxide sand, and glass beads with water. It works on the principle of water erosion.

• In the water jet process, a hydraulic jet is used to supply water from a reservoir to the nozzle at a pressure of 5-10 bar. Additionally, a hydraulic intensifier is used to increase the pressure up to 3000 bar, and an accumulator is used to maintain flow at the same pressure. In this way, the high-pressure water jet strikes the material to be cut. 

CNC Cylindrical grinders:

• A grinder is used for final surface finishing, and when a grinder is used for finishing cylindrical parts by numeric control, it's called "Cylindrical Grinding". In this process, there are head and tailstocks that hold the round-shaped job in the center and rotate it by motors. At the same time, on the other end, a grinding wheel also rotates, and when it comes in contact with the rotating piece, the surface of the workpiece is removed. It is commonly used in finishing connecting rods, gear shafts, etc.

CNC Welding machines:

• Welding is also available, which is operated by a controller, saving time, labor costs, reducing chances of errors, and much more. In CNC welding, there is high precision with the best welding quality and less distortion of the electrode on materials like aluminum, steel, copper, etc. In CNC welding, laser welding is particularly famous.

CNC Bending machine:

In manufacturing proces bending machine used do bend any sheetmetal plate at particular degree by punch and die.  there are two types of bending machine NC machine and CNC machine. compare to NC bending machine CNC bending machine provide accurate bending angle by various sensor.

Read More about CNC machine:

Types of CNC machine: click here

Introduction to CNC machine: click here

advantages of CNC machine: click here

application of CNC machine: click here

Milling machines: click here