MILLING

MACHINES

Ravi Prakash Upadhyai

Asst. Professor, GPERI
 MILLING
 It is defined as a metal cutting operation in
which the work is fed against a rotating
multipoint cutter.
 The cutter is having number of teeth on its
periphery and each tooth has cutting edge.
 It is considered as a multipoint cutting tool
 Milling machine is superior to other machines
because of better accuracy, surface finish.
 Column and knee type –
(i) Horizontal milling machine
Discussed in class
(ii)Vertical milling machine

(iii)Ram type milling machine

(iv)Universal milling machine

(v)Omniversal milling machine

Column & Base
 Base:
• It is the foundation of the machine upon which
all other parts are mounted.
• It is generally made of grey cast iron to absorb
shock and vibration.
• In some cases, the base is hollow which serves
as a reservoir for cutting fluid.
• It carries the column at its one end.
 Column:
• It is the main supporting frame mounted
vertically on one side of the base.
• It is box shaped, heavily ribbed inside and
motor and other driving mechanisms are
contained in it for spindle and table feed.
• It supports and guides the knee in its vertical
travel with the help of dovetail guide ways.
• It carries the jack for elevating the knee.
• The top of the column holds an over arm which
extends outward at the front of the machine.
Over arm
• The over arm is mounted on and guided by the
top of the column.
• It serves as a bearing support for the other
end of the arbor.
• It is adjusted in and out by hand to the
position of maximum support for the arbor and
then clamped.
• More than one bearing support may be
provided for the arbor.
 Arbor
• The arbor is the extension of the spindle on which all
the various cutters are mounted and rotated.
• It is tapered at one end to fit the spindle nose and
has two slots to fit the nose keys for locating and
driving it.
• Morse taper or self release taper used is 7 : 24.
• The draw bolt is used for managing for locking the
arbor with the spindle and the whole assembly.
• The arbor assembly consists of Arbor, Spindle,
Spacing collars, Bearing bush, Cutter and Draw bolt.
 Spindle
• The spindle of the machine is located in the upper part of
the column and receives power from the motor through
belts, gears, clutches and transmit it to the arbor.
• The front end of the spindle is provided with a tapered
hole into which various cutting tools and arbors can be
inserted.
• The accuracy in metal machining by cutter depends
mainly on the accuracy, strength, and rigidity of the
spindle.
Knee
• The knee is a rigid grey iron casting which
slides up and down on the vertical ways of
the column face.
• An elevating screw mounted on the base is
used to adjust the height of the knee and it
also supports the knee.
• The knee houses the feed mechanism of the
table and different controls to operate it.
 The saddle is placed on the top of the knee
and it slides on slide ways set exactly at 90°
to the column face.
 The top of the saddle provides guide ways for
the table.
 Table
• The table rests on ways on the saddle and
travels longitudinally.
• The top of the table is accurately finished and T-
slots are provided for clamping the work and
other fixtures on it.
• A lead screw under the table engages a nut on
the saddle to move the table horizontally by
hand or power.
• The longitudinal travel of the table may be
limited by fixing trip dogs on the side of the
table.
 It resembles a planer. It is
having two spindle heads
adjustable in vertical and
transverse directions.
 It has a cross rail which can
be raised or lowered along
with cutters.
 Hence no. of work surfaces
can be machined
simultaneously, thereby
reducing production time.
 In a plano miller, the table
has feed movement instead
of reciprocation. Hence the
table movement here is much
slower than planning
machine.
 A modification of vertical milling
machine adopted for machining
flat surfaces.
 A No. of work pieces can be
mounted on a circular table which
rotates about vertical axis.
 The face milling cutters can be
mounted on tow (or) more
vertical spindles and can be set
at diff. heights relative to work so
that when one cutter is roughing
the other is finishing them.
 Continuous loading and unloading
of work pieces can be done by the
operator while milling is in
progress.
 Here the work is held
stationary while the
revolving cutter / cutters
move in a planetary path to
finish a cylindrical surface
on the work either internally
/ externally / simultaneously.
 This machine is particularly
adopted for milling internal /
external threads of different
pitches.
 It can duplicate a job by using a pantograph mechanism
which permits the size of the work piece reproduced to be
smaller than, equal to or greater than the size of a template
or model used for this purpose.
 A pantograph is a mechanism that is generally
constructed of four bars or links joined in the form of
parallelogram. Pantograph machines are available in 2D or
3D models.
 2-D models are used for engraving letters
or other designs, 3-D models are used for copying any
shape and contour of the work piece. The tracing stylus
is moved manually on the contour of the model to be
duplicated and the milling cutter mounted on the spindle
moves in a similar path on the work piece, reproducing the
shape of the model.
1. The max. length of longitudinal, cross
and vertical travel of the table.
2. No. of spindle speeds,
3. No. of table speeds and feeds
4. Floor space required
5. Net weight required
6. Spindle nose taper (for vertical milling
machines)
 Peripheral cutter: As the cutting edges are arranged radially
on the periphery the rake angle is called radial rake which is
the cutting edges angle w.r.t to the periphery of the cutter. +ve
radial rake gives better performance in peripheral milling.
 Face cutter: Two rake angles are defined here.
(a) Radial rake is the cutting insert’s angle w.r.t the periphery
of the cutter (b) Axial rake is the cutting insert’s angle w.r.t the
central axis of the cutter.
 Axial Rake has significant effect on axial force and thrust
applied to the spindle. Radial rake has major effect on
tangential and radial forces. +ve axial rake, - ve radial rake
gives best performance.
1. Peripheral Milling: It is the operation performed by a
milling cutter to produce a machined surface parallel to the
axis of rotation of the cutter.
Here the cutting force is not uniform throughout the length

of cut by each tooth. Due to this reason, a shock is developed

in the mechanism of the machine that leads to a vibration.
The quality of surface generated and the shape of the chip

formed is dependent upon the rotation of the cutter relative

to the direction of feed movement of the work.
According to the relative movement between the tool and

work, the peripheral milling is classified into two types:

Up milling/ Conventional milling:
The metal is removed by the cutter which is rotated

against the travel of the W.P.

The thickness of the chip is min. at the beginning of

cut max. when the cut terminates.

The cutting force is directed up wards and this tends

to lift the work from the fixtures. This is used for

roughing operations.
The chips accumulate at the cutting zone, and may be

carried over with the cutter, spoiling the work surface.

It generates a poor finish. Cutting force and power are
more.
Down milling/ Climb milling:
The metal is removed by the cutter which is rotated in the same
direction of travel of the W.P.
The thickness of the chip is max. when the tooth begins its cut and
it reduces to the min. when the tooth leave the work.
The cutting force is directed down wards and
this tends seat the work firmly in the work holding devices.
Hence fixture design is easier.
This operation cannot be used on old machine as the backlash
error present in the screw elements that may cause vibration and
damages the work surface considerably.
This is used for finishing operations.

The chips are also disposed off easily and do not interfere with the
cutting. This results in improved surface finish. Cutting
force and power are less.
2. Face Milling:
This is performed to produce a flat machined surface to the axis of
rotation of the cutter.
In this operation both up milling and down milling may be considered to
be performed simultaneously on the work surface.
When the cutter rotates through half of the revolution the direction of
movement of the cutter tooth is opposite to the direction of feed and the
condition reverse when the cutter rotates through other half of revolution.
The chip thickness is min. at the beginning and at the end o the cut, and
it is max. when the work passes through the centre line of cutter. The
surface generated in face milling is characterized by the tooth circular
marks of the cutter. Face milling gives superior finish than peripheral
milling.
3. End Milling:
It is a combination of peripheral and face
milling operations. The cutter has cutting edges both on
the
end face and on the periphery.
The cutting characteristics may be of peripheral or face
milling type according to the particular cutter surface used.
When end cutting edges are only used to remove metal,
the direction of rotation and direction of cutters should be
same.
When peripheral cutting edges are used, they must be
opposite to each other.
MILLING PROCESSES / OPERATIONS

1. PLAIN OR SLAB MILLING

2. END MILLING
3. SLOT MILLING
4. ANGULAR MILLING
5. FORM MILLING
6. STRADDLE MILLING
7. GANG MILLING
8. FACE MILLING
PLAIN OR SLAB MILLING
 It is used for machining of flat surfaces which
are parallel to the axis of the cutter.
 The cutters employing this type of process
are hollow straight HSS cylinder of 40 to 80
mm outer diameter having 4 to 16 straight or
helical equi-spaced flutes or cutting edges.
 They are used in horizontal arbor to machine
flat surface.
END MILLING
 They are commonly made of HSS.
 4 to 12 straight or helical teeth on the
periphery and face diameter ranges from
about 1 mm to 40 mm.
 It is most versatile and widely used in
vertical spindle type milling machines.
SLOT MILLING
FORM MILLING
 It is the process of machining special contours
composed of curved and straight line, or entirely of
curves, at a single cut.
 This is done with formed milling cutters, shaped to
the contour to be cut.
 The more common form milling operations involve
milling half – round recesses and quarter round radii
on the work piece.
 This is done by using convex, concave and corner
rounding milling cutters ground to the desired circle
diameter.
STRADDLE MILLING
 For fast and accurate machining of two
parallel vertical surfaces at a definite
distance, two separate side milling cutters
are mounted at appropriate distance on the
horizontal milling arbor.
FACE MILLING
 It is use for machining flat surfaces which are
at righr angles to the axis of the cutter.
 The cutters employing this process are usually
large in diameter (80 to 800 mm) and heavy.
 They are used only for machining flat surfaces
in different orientations.
 Cutter is mounted directly in the vertical and /
or horizontal spindles.
 They are generally used for high production
machining of large jobs.
FACE MILLING
 Coated or uncoated carbide inserts are
clamped at the outer edge of the
carbon steel body.
Machining several surfaces simultaneously
using a No. of cutters of same or diff.
diameters mounted on the arbor of the
machine, used widely for repetitive work.
 In this type of operation, for quick production
of complex contours comprising of a number
of parallel flat or curved surfaces , a proper
combination of several cutters are mounted
tightly on the same horizontal milling arbour.
Angular Milling

 It is use for machining flat surfaces which are

at an inclination to the axis of the cutter.
 A single angle milling cutter is used for angular
surfaces such as chamfers an grooves.
 When milling dovetails, the usual angle of the
cutter is 45, 50, 55 0r 60 based on the design
of dovetails.
Gear cutting: By using form relieved cutter
having the same profile of the tooth space of the
gear.
Helical Milling: Producing helical flutes or
grooves around the periphery of a cylindrical or
conical work piece.
Cam Milling: Producing cams by using universal
dividing head and a vertical milling attachment.

Note: above can be done in indexing.

Types of milling cutters

 There are many different types of standard

milling cutters. They are classified as
1. Plain milling cutter
(a) Light duty plain milling cutter.
(b) Heavy duty plain milling cutter.
(c) Helical plain milling cutter.
 Plain milling cutter:
• The plain milling cutters are cylindrical in
shape and have teeth on the circumferential
surface only.
• The cutters are intended for the production
of flat surfaces parallel to the axis of rotation
of the spindle.
• Very wide plain milling cutters are termed as
slabbing cutter.
 a. Light duty plain milling
cutter:
• The light duty plain milling
cutters have face width less
than 20 mm and are made
with straight teeth parallel to
the axis.
• The wider cutters are made
with helical teeth, with helix
angle of less than 25°.
• These are relatively fine tooth
cutters.
 b. Heavy duty plain milling cutter:
• The heavy duty plain milling cutters are wider
cutters and are used for heavy duty work.
• The helix - angle of the teeth ranges from 25 to
45°.
• The cutters have fewer teeth on the periphery
and that increases chip space permitting them to
take deeper cuts.
• They are also sometimes called coarse tooth
milling cutters.
 c. Helical plain milling cutter:
• The helical plain milling
cutters have further coarse
pitch and the helix angle of
the teeth ranges from 45° to
60°.
• The cutter is useful in profile
milling work due to its smooth
cutting action and is opted for
taking light cuts on soft steel
or brass and where wide
surfaces are to be
maintained.
Side milling cutter

 The side milling cutters have teeth on its

periphery and also on one or both of its
sides.
 The side milling cutters are intended of
removing metals from the side of a work.
 The side milling cutters are available from 50
to 200 mm in diameter and the width of the
cutter ranges from 5 to 32 mm.
 The plain side milling cutters have straight
circumferential teeth and have side teeth on
both of its sides.
 Two or more such cutters may be mounted
on the arbor and different faces of the work
piece may be machined simultaneously.
 High carbon steel
 High speed steel
 Cemented carbide tools
 Stellite
 ceramics