Machining

mills, lathes, and other cutting machines.

1 History and terminology

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 simply
meant a person who built or repaired machines. This persons work was done mostly by hand, using processes such
as the carving of wood and the hand-forging and handling 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
t the denition. The noun machine tool and the verb to
machine (machined, machining) did not yet exist.
Around the middle of the 19th century, the latter
words were coined as the concepts that 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, reaming, and tapping.[3] In these tradiNew Guinea in 1943. Mobile machine shop truck of the US Army
tional or conventional machining processes, machine
with machinists working on automotive parts
tools, such as lathes, milling machines, drill presses, or
others, are used with a sharp cutting tool to remove maMachine Shop redirects here. For the record label, see terial to achieve a desired geometry.[4]
Machine Shop Records.
Since the advent of new technologies such as electrical
discharge machining, electrochemical machining,
Machining is any of various processes in which a piece electron beam machining, photochemical machining,
of raw material is cut into a desired nal shape and size and ultrasonic machining, the retronym conventional
by a controlled material-removal process. The many pro- machining can be used to dierentiate those classic
cesses that have this common theme, controlled mate- technologies from the newer ones. In current usage, the
rial removal, are today collectively known as subtractive term machining without qualication usually implies
manufacturing, in distinction from processes of con- the traditional machining processes.
trolled material addition, which are known as additive
manufacturing. Exactly what the controlled part of the
denition implies can vary, but it almost always implies
the use of machine tools (in addition to just power tools 2 Machining operations
and hand tools).
Machining is a part of the manufacture of many metal The three principal machining processes are classied as
products, but it can also be used on materials such as turning, drilling and milling. Other operations falling into
shaping, planing, borwood, plastic, ceramic, and composites.[1] A person who miscellaneous categories include
[5][6][7]
broaching
and
sawing.
ing,
specializes in machining is called a machinist. A room,
building, or company where machining is done is called a
machine shop. Machining can be a business, a hobby, or
both.[2] Much of modern day machining is carried out by
computer numerical control (CNC), in which computers
are used to control the movement and operation of the

Turning operations are operations that rotate the

workpiece as the primary method of moving metal
against the cutting tool. Lathes are the principal machine tool used in turning.
1

3 OVERVIEW OF MACHINING TECHNOLOGY

machines. Many of these same techniques are used in
woodworking.
More recent, advanced machining techniques include
electrical discharge machining (EDM), electro-chemical
erosion, laser cutting, or water jet cutting to shape metal
workpieces.
As a commercial venture, machining is generally performed in a machine shop, which consists of one or more
workrooms containing major machine tools. Although
a machine shop can be a stand-alone operation, many
businesses maintain internal machine shops which support specialized needs of the business.

Machining requires attention to many details for a workpiece to meet the specications set out in the engineering drawings or blueprints. Beside the obvious problems related to correct dimensions, there is the problem of achieving the correct nish or surface smoothness
on the workpiece. The inferior nish found on the machined surface of a workpiece may be caused by incorrect clamping, a dull tool, or inappropriate presentation
of a tool. Frequently, this poor surface nish, known as
Making a shipboard manhole cover in the machine shop of the chatter, is evident by an undulating or irregular nish, and
aircraft carrier USS John C. Stennis.
the appearance of waves on the machined surfaces of the
workpiece.
Milling operations are operations in which the cutting tool rotates to bring cutting edges to bear against
the workpiece. Milling machines are the principal
machine tool used in milling.

Motion of chip

Chip

Cutting tool

Rake face

Motion of tool
(relative to work)
Cutting tool

Original surface
Flank

Drilling operations are operations in which holes are

produced or rened 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
Basic machining process.
mills.
Shear deformation
to form chip

Cutting edge of tool

New surface

Negative
rake angle

Workpart

Relief angle
Cutting edge

Miscellaneous operations are operations that strictly

speaking may not be machining operations in that
they may not be swarf producing operations but 3 Overview of machining technolthese operations are performed at a typical machine
ogy
tool. Burnishing is an example of a miscellaneous
operation. Burnishing produces no swarf but can be
Machining is any process in which a cutting tool is used to
performed at a lathe, mill, or drill press.
remove small chips of material from the workpiece (the
workpiece is often called the work). To perform the opAn unnished workpiece requiring machining will need eration, relative motion is required between the tool and
to have some material cut away to create a nished the work. This relative motion is achieved in most maproduct. A nished product would be a workpiece that chining operation by means of a primary motion, called
meets the specications set out for that workpiece by cutting speed and a secondary motion called feed.
engineering drawings or blueprints. For example, a work- The shape of the tool and its penetration into the work
piece may be required to have a specic outside diameter. surface, combined with these motions, produce the deA lathe is a machine tool that can be used to create that sired shape of the resulting work surface.
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 nish. A drill 3.1 Types of machining operation
can be used to remove metal in the shape of a cylindrical
hole. Other tools that may be used for various types of There are many kinds of machining operations, each of
metal removal are milling machines, saws, and grinding which is capable of generating a certain part geometry

3
and surface texture.

The rake face; and

In turning, a cutting tool with a single cutting edge is used

to remove material from a rotating workpiece to generate
a cylindrical shape. The primary motion is provided by
rotating the workpiece, and the feed motion is achieved
by moving the cutting tool slowly in a direction parallel to
the axis of rotation of the workpiece.

The ank.

Drilling is used to create a round hole. It is accomplished

by a rotating tool that typically has two or four helical
cutting edges. The tool is fed in a direction parallel to
its axis of rotation into the workpiece to form the round
hole.
In boring, a tool with a single bent pointed tip is advanced into a roughly made hole in a spinning workpiece
to slightly enlarge the hole and improve its accuracy. It is
a ne nishing operation used in the nal stages of product manufacture.
In milling, a rotating tool with multiple cutting edges is
moved slowly relative to the material to generate a plane
or straight surface. The direction of the feed motion is
perpendicular to the tools axis of rotation. The speed
motion is provided by the rotating milling cutter. The
two basic forms of milling are:

The rake face which directs the ow of newly formed

chip, is oriented at a certain angle is called the rake angle
"". It is measured relative to the plane perpendicular to
the work surface. The rake angle can be positive or negative. The ank 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 nish. This angle between the work surface and the
ank surface 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 and is used for
turning, boreing and planing. During machining, the
point of the tool penetrates below the original work surface of the workpart. The point 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
Peripheral milling
workpart by rotating. Drilling and milling uses rotating multiple-cutting-edge tools. Although the shapes of
Face milling.
these tools are dierent from a single-point tool, many
Other conventional machining operations include shap- elements of tool geometry are similar.
ing, planing, broaching and sawing. Also, grinding and
similar abrasive operations are often included within the
category of machining.
4 Cutting conditions
Relative motion is required between the tool and work
to perform a machining operation. The primary motion
is accomplished at a certain cutting speed. In addition,
Main article: Cutting tool (machining)
the tool must be moved laterally across the work. This
A cutting tool has one or more sharp cutting edges and is
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, called the depth of cut.
Collectively, speed, feed, and depth of cut are called the
cutting conditions. 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:

3.2

The cutting tool

RM R = vf d
where
A numerical controlled machining cell machinist monitors a B1B aircraft part being manufactured.

made of a material that is harder than the work material.

The cutting edge serves to separate chip from the parent
work material. Connected to the cutting edge are the two
surfaces of the tool:

RM R the material removal rate in mm3 /s, (in3 /s),

v the cutting speed in mm/s, (in/min),
f the feed in mm, (in),
d the depth of cut in mm, (in).

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

4.1

methods can produce very intricate prototype designs impossible to replicate by machining, strength and material
selection may be limited.[8][9][10]

Stages in metal cutting

Machining operations usually divide into two categories,

distinguished by purpose and cutting conditions:
Roughing cuts, and
Finishing cuts

6 See also
7 References
[1] Machining Page
[2] Machining and Metalworking at Home

Roughing cuts are used to remove large amount of material from the starting workpart as rapidly as possible, [3]
i.e. with a large Material Removal Rate (MRR), in order
to produce a shape close to the desired form, but leav- [4]
ing some material on the piece for a subsequent nishing operation. Finishing cuts are used to complete the [5]
part and achieve the nal dimension, tolerances, and surface nish. In production machining jobs, one or more [6]
roughing cuts are usually performed on the work, followed by one or two nishing cuts. Roughing operations [7]
are done at high feeds and depths feeds of 0.41.25
[8]
mm/rev (0.0150.050 in/rev) and depths of 2.520 mm
(0.1000.750 in) are typical, but actual values depend on
the workpiece materials. Finishing operations are car- [9]
ried out at low feeds and depths feeds of 0.01250.04
mm/rev (0.00050.0015 in/rev) and depths of 0.752.0
mm (0.0300.075 in) are typical. Cutting speeds are [10]
lower in roughing than in nishing.
A cutting uid is often applied to the machining operation to cool and lubricate the cutting tool. Determining
whether a cutting uid should be used, and, if so, choosing the proper cutting uid, is usually included within the
scope of cutting condition.
Today other forms of metal cutting are becoming increasingly popular. An example of this is water jet cutting.
Water jet cutting involves pressurized water in excess of
620 MPa (90 000 psi) and is able to cut metal and have
a nished product. This process is called cold cutting,
and it increases eciency as opposed to laser and plasma
cutting.

Relationship of subtractive and

additive techniques

With the recent proliferation of additive manufacturing technologies, conventional machining has been
retronymously classied, 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 own
advantages over the other. While additive manufacturing

Machining: An Introduction
Additive Manufacturing Advances Another Step
Dene Machining
Machining
Universal Tools and Manufacturing Company, Denitions
ADDITIVE/SUBTRACTIVE
RESEARCH

MANUFACTURING

How and When to Choose Between Additive and Subtractive Prototyping

Additive or subtractive?

8 Bibliography
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.

9 Further reading
Groover, Mikell P. (2007), Theory of Metal Machining, Fundamentals of Modern Manufacturing
(3rd ed.), John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 491504,
ISBN 0-471-74485-9
Oberg, Erik; Jones, Franklin D.; McCauley,
Christopher J.; Heald, Ricardo M. (2004),
Machinerys 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.

10

External links

www.efunda.com, Machining: An Introduction

www.nmri.go.jp/eng, Elementary knowledge of
metalworking
www.machiningpartners.com, Machining:Climb
Milling VS Conventional Milling
www.mmsonline.com, Drill And Bore With A Face
Mill
Buhl Fijnmetaalbewerking

11

11

TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

11.1

Text

Machining Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machining?oldid=651010968 Contributors: William Avery, Edward, JohnOwens,

Michael Hardy, Breakpoint, Andres, Samw, Tempshill, Everyking, Mcapdevila, Pashute, Mboverload, Quadell, Bodnotbod, Pascalv, Jimaginator, Apwoolrich, Poccil, Imroy, Discospinster, Kjkolb, David Gale, Mdd, Espoo, Comrade009, Sligocki, Spangineer, Radical Mallard,
Gene Nygaard, Bushytails, Woohookitty, RHaworth, Commander Keane, Tawker, LBridges, Boccobrock, Graibeard, Sumanch, Srlefer, DerrickOswald, YurikBot, Gaius Cornelius, Ksyrie, ONEder Boy, Zzuuzz, SilentC, SmackBot, Zs, Ephraim33, JesseStone, ZyMOS,
Colonies Chris, RedHillian, Makemi, Pissant, Only, FelisLeo, Ohconfucius, Acidburn24m, Tcleary, TastyPoutine, Peter Horn, DaveDent,
White Ash, Wizard191, Phasmatisnox, AbsolutDan, Christian75, Alaibot, Kozuch, Toolingu, Thijs!bot, Begs, Dfrg.msc, I already forgot,
Toastydeath, Rabbitsrule0, Gphoto, MartinBot, R'n'B, Pharaoh of the Wizards, Trusilver, Ron.swonger, Kovo138, STBotD, VolkovBot,
Kyle the bot, Veddan, Rei-bot, Nagy, Biscuittin, Gprince007, Krawi, Upload stu, Yintan, FirstIndex, Macy, Hamiltondaniel, Ken123BOT,
Martarius, ClueBot, LP-mn, Foxj, The Thing That Should Not Be, Jbantz08, Abdullah Krolu, Three-quarter-ten, Jlharvey1, Moberg, Leofric1, Achyutwiki, Vilkapi, Mdeby, XLinkBot, Addbot, AkhtaBot, Cst17, SamatBot, Rookiecool, Ysoong, Solid State, Meisam, Luckasbot, WikiDan61, Bergstroem, SwisterTwister, Richard199, Allmorris, Qbdils, Materialscientist, Citation bot, The Magnicent Cleankeeper, UBJ 43X, Dfmcnc, Swisstack, Kierkkadon, Thehelpfulbot, Anto2002, Craig Pemberton, Tegel, Louperibot, SME2009, Bryancpark, Trappist the monk, DARTH SIDIOUS 2, Strano.m, EmausBot, Mashaunix, Wilhkar, Smpatel2, , Bpc.ajay, Spicemix,
Shop-Floor-Manager, ClueBot NG, Rezabot, Mmarre, MerlIwBot, Helpful Pixie Bot, FRibeiro66, Littelal2, Buhl1946, MadEngineer13,
Hmainsbot1, Malerooster and Anonymous: 122

11.2

Images

File:B1_machining.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/B1_machining.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Transferred from en.wikipedia; transferred to Commons by User:Tomas_er using CommonsHelper.
Original artist: U.S. Air Force photo/Margo Wright. Original uploader was Tempshill at en.wikipedia
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Contributors:
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Original artist: U.S. Army Signal Corps
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11.3

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