Machining

The precise meaning of the term machining has evolved over the past one and a half centuries as technology has advanced. In the 18th century, the word machinist meant a person who built or repaired machines. This person's work was primarily done by hand, using processes such as the carving of wood and the writing-forging and hand-filing of metal. At the time, millwrights and builders of new kinds of engines (meaning, more or less, machines of any kind), such as James Watt or John Wilkinson, would fit the definition. The noun machine tool and the verb to machine (machined, machining) did not yet exist.

Around the middle of the 20th century, the latter words were coined as the concepts they described evolved into widespread existence. Therefore, during the Machine Age, machining referred to (what we today might call) the "traditional" machining processes, such as turning, boring, drilling, milling, broaching, sawing, shaping, planing, abrasive cutting, reaming, and tapping.[3] In these "traditional" or "conventional" machining processes, machine tools, such as lathes, milling machines, drill presses, or others, are used with a sharp cutting tool to remove material to achieve a desired geometry.[4]

Since the advent of new technologies in the post–World War II era, such as electrical discharge machining, electrochemical machining, electron beam machining, photochemical machining, and ultrasonic machining, the retronym "conventional machining" can be used to differentiate those classic technologies from the newer ones. Currently, "machining" without qualification usually implies the traditional machining processes.

In the decades of the 2000s and 2010s, as additive manufacturing (AM) evolved beyond its earlier laboratory and rapid prototyping contexts and began to become standard throughout all phases of manufacturing, the term subtractive manufacturing became common retronymously in logical contrast with AM, covering essentially any removal processes also previously covered by the term machining. The two terms are effectively synonymous, although the long-established usage of the term machining continues. This is comparable to the idea that the verb sense of contact evolved because of the proliferation of ways to contact someone (telephone, email, IM, SMS, and so on) but did not entirely replace the earlier terms such as call, talk to, or write to.

Making a shipboard manhole cover in the machine shop of the aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.

The three principal machining processes are classified as turning, drilling and milling. Other operations falling into miscellaneous categories include shaping, planing, boring, broaching, and sawing.[5]

• Turning operations rotate the workpiece as the primary method of moving metal against the cutting tool. Lathes are the principal machine tool used in turning.
• Milling operations are operations where the cutting tool rotates to bring cutting edges to bear against the workpiece.[6] Milling machines are the principal machine tool used in milling.
• Drilling operations are those in which holes are produced or refined by bringing a rotating cutter with cutting edges at the lower extremity into contact with the workpiece. Drilling operations are done primarily in drill presses but sometimes on lathes or mills.
• Miscellaneous operations may not be strictly machining because they may not produce swarf, but are still performed with a typical machine tool. Burnishing is an example; it produces no swarf but can be performed at a lathe, mill, or drill press.

An unfinished workpiece requiring machining must have some material cut away to create a finished product. A finished product would be a workpiece that meets the specifications set out for that workpiece by engineering drawings or blueprints. For example, a workpiece may require a specific outside diameter. A lathe is a machine tool that can create that diameter by rotating a metal workpiece so that a cutting tool can cut metal away, creating a smooth, round surface matching the required diameter and surface finish. A drill can remove the metal in the shape of a cylindrical hole. Other tools that may be used for metal removal are milling machines, saws, and grinding machines. Many of these same techniques are used in woodworking.

As a commercial venture, machining is generally performed in a machine shop, which consists of one or more workrooms containing primary machine tools. Although a machine shop can be a stand-alone operation, many businesses maintain internal machine shops that support the business's specialized needs.

Machining requires attention to many details for a workpiece to meet the specifications in the engineering drawings or blueprints. Besides the obvious problems related to correct dimensions, there is the problem of achieving the right finish or surface smoothness on the workpiece. The inferior finish found on the machined surface of a workpiece may be caused by incorrect clamping, a dull tool, or inappropriate presentation of a device. Frequently, this poor surface finish, known as chatter, is evident by an undulating or irregular finish and waves on the machined surfaces of the workpiece.

Basic machining process.

Machining is any process in which a cutting tool removes small chips of material from the workpiece (the workpiece is often called the "work"). Relative motion is required between the device and the work to perform the operation. This relative motion is achieved in most machining operations using a primary activity called "cutting speed" and a secondary movement called "feed".[7] The shape of the tool and its penetration into the work surface, combined with these motions, produce the desired shape of the resulting work surface.

Cutting tool

Main article: Cutting tool (machining)

A "numerical controlled machining cell machinist" monitors a B-1B aircraft part being manufactured.

A cutting tool has one or more sharp cutting edges and is made of a harder material than the work material. The cutting edge serves to separate the chip from the parent work material. Connected to the cutting edge are the two surfaces of the tool:

• The rake face; and
• The flank.

The rake face, which directs the flow of the newly formed chip, is oriented at a certain angle and is called the rake angle "α." It is measured relative to the plane perpendicular to the work surface. The rake angle can be positive or negative. The flank of the tool provides a clearance between the tool and the newly formed work surface, thus protecting the surface from abrasion, which would degrade the finish. This angle between the work and flank surfaces is called the relief angle. There are two basic types of cutting tools:

• Single point tool; and
• Multiple-cutting-edge tool

A single-point tool has one cutting edge for turning, boring, and planning. During machining, the device's point penetrates below the work part's original work surface. The fact is sometimes rounded to a certain radius, called the nose radius.

Multiple cutting-edge tools have more than one cutting edge and usually achieve their motion relative to the work part by rotating. Drilling and milling use turning multiple-cutting-edge tools. Although the shapes of these tools are different from a single-point device, many elements of tool geometry are similar.

Relative motion is required between the tool and work to perform a machining operation. The primary action is at a specific cutting speed. In addition, the device must be moved laterally across the work. This is a much slower motion called the feed. The remaining dimension of the cut is the penetration of the cutting tool below the original work surface, reaching the cut's depth. Speed, feed, and depth of cut are called the cutting conditions.[8] They form the three dimensions of the machining process, and for certain operations, their product can be used to obtain the material removal rate for the process:

${\displaystyle {R}_{MR}=vfd\,\!}$

where

• ${\displaystyle {R}_{MR}\,\!}$ – the material removal rate in mm³/s, (in³/s),
• ${\displaystyle v\,\!}$ – the cutting speed in mm/s, (in/min),
• ${\displaystyle f\,\!}$ – the feed in mm, (in),
• ${\displaystyle d\,\!}$ – the depth of cut in mm, (in).

Note: All units must be converted to the corresponding decimal (or USCU) units.

With the recent proliferation of additive manufacturing technologies, conventional machining has been retronymously classified, in thought and language, as a subtractive manufacturing method. In narrow contexts, additive and subtractive methods may compete with each other. In the broad context of entire industries, their Relationship is complementary. Each method has its advantages over the other. While additive manufacturing methods can produce very intricate prototype designs impossible to replicate by machining, strength and material selection may be limited.[9]

• Albert, Mark (2011-01-17), "Subtractive plus additive equals more than ( - + + = > )", Mark: My Word, Modern Machine Shop, Cincinnati, Ohio, USA: Gardner Publications Inc, 83 (9): 14.

• Groover, Mikell P. (2007), "Theory of Metal Machining", Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing (3rd ed.), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 491–504, ISBN 978-0-471-74485-6
• Oberg, Erik; Jones, Franklin D.; McCauley, Christopher J.; Heald, Ricardo M. (2004), Machinery's Handbook (27th ed.), Industrial Press, ISBN 978-0-8311-2700-8.
• "Machine Tool Practices", 6th edition, by R.R.; Kibbe, J.E.; Neely, R.O.; Meyer & W.T.; White, ISBN 0-13-270232-0, 2nd printing, copyright 1999, 1995, 1991, 1987, 1982 and 1979 by Prentice Hall.

• www.nmri.go.jp/eng, Elementary knowledge of metalworking
• Videos about machining published by Institut für den Wissenschaftlichen Film. Available in the AV-Portal German National Library of Science and Technology.
• Crankshaft Machining