The growth of the CNC industry from the year 2019 to 2023 is unimaginable. From 80 billion USD global worth in 2019 to 83.99 billion USD in 2023, it’s clear that the industry is flourishing.
CNC precision machining accounts forth only strength of this industry. From MRI imaging machines to all aircraft parts, CNC precision machining plays a crucial role. Manufacturing almost every complex component can’t proceed without a precision machine.
In layman’s terms, CNC precision machining is a computer-aided machine for creating highly precise products with intricate details and specifications.
Without technical information on the deep corners of precision machining, you cannot begin manufacturing even a single part for your first customer.
This article will explain everything regarding precision CNC machine types to applications so you can know what you exactly need.
What is CNC Precision Machining?
A CNC machine works on the raw form of metals and plastic materials for making the machine parts. The machine works on computer-aided design (CAD) when given a CNC-compatible file.
A computer-aided manufacturer (CAM) guides the machine in cutting directions. A blueprint is provided to the CAM to give the details and instructions for successful parts-making.
CAM and CAD are highly efficient and complex programs, carrying 3D outline information crucial for precise components.
The manufacturing industry cannot proceed even a single day without precision machining. Professional designers and expert machine operators work with precision CNC machining to produce the best possible parts for manufacturing industries.
In addition, there is a need for coded instructions in the machine language that a CNC machinist provides.
The world is working on the efficiency of precision machines. Simply put, without these machines, you cannot save a person’s life or even drive a car.
They manufacture complex geometrical parts using advanced tools, maintaining the quality of every small part with a +/- 0.0005 inches tolerance.
What Are the Types of CNC Machining Equipment?
CNC Precision machining does not rely on a single type of CNC machine. CNC machines themselves require different equipment and processes to use the parts in high-functioning applications.
Learning about the several precision machine types will help with knowing about their working and functionality.
Milling Equipment
The CNC milling has rotatory cutters from one direction to the other for the desired material. These rotatory cutters use CAM and CAD to manufacture the workpieces exponentially.
There are multiple meals included in CNC milling equipment. Some of these meals include helical Mills and end mills.
Milling machines have the capacity to ensure the manufacturing of different geometrical shapes. Some of these shapes are: Face-milled or peripheral-milled.
Flat surfaces with shallow cavities fall under the face-milled features. In comparison, surfaces with deep cavities belong to the peripheral milled features.
Turning Equipment
The working mechanism of CNC turning equipment differs from CNC milling machines. The tools of CNC turning equipment remain fixed in their place while the material is rotated.
The means for cutting the material are kept in a linear motion around the material to align the process of cutting effectively.
These machines can create deeper interior features and exterior details, making them very useful for manufacturing complex parts with additional information.
Drilling Equipment
In some CNC machines, drilling equipment moves their drills in rotator motions, producing customer-oriented products. These drills are designed professionally, not letting the chips come in the way of the workpiece, ultimately giving out perfect holes.
The drilling equipment contains improved and multiple holes creating capacity. Thus materials get accurate holes without disturbing their structure.
Drilling equipment further contains exponential functions depending on the particular bits the manufacturer uses.
The range of bits used includes peck drills, which help reduce the chip count when making a product, and chucking drills, used for maturing the already-created holes of the defined parts.
CNC Electric Discharge Mining Equipment
Using a combination of the tooling electrode and the electrode of the piece on which work is being done, the EDM utilizes electricity sparks to get the desired results.
The electrodes must have a connection yet separation from each other, and it’s only possible with the dielectric fluid. This process is also referred to as spark machining or spark eroding.
There are different types of parts manufactured with CNC machines. The specific CNC machine a manufacturer selects depends on a particular part’s shape, function, and complex nature.
For example, if a manufacturer needs to make a cylindrical part, he can use a CNC lathe machine.
What are Main Applications for CNC Precision Machines?
The applications of CNC precision machines are not confined to a few industries or applications. Besides making complete parts, CNC prototyping is also a worth-mentioning application of these machines.
Below are some of the main applications for CNC machines.
Medical Industry
With each rising new year, the medical industry brings up advanced tools and ways of curing to improve the life of human beings. New technologies require advanced new tools for performing successful surgeries.
Additionally, there is a need to manufacture a high quantity of existing equipment, that’s only possible through CNC machining.
Medical devices need high precision because these tools are involved in saving lives. Not even a single deviation from the exact design is acceptable for the medical industry.
CNC precision machining is the best practice for getting the required medical tools. These include operation theater tools, femto laser parts, MRI machines, and orthotic devices.
Automotive Industry
The automotive industry has moved from manual functioning to automatic. Most vehicles now run on power instead of petrol, so there is a need for advanced tools and vehicle parts that fit the rising demands of today’s society.
Before any new automotive part can be introduced in the vehicle, there is a need to test it beforehand.
CNC machining can help with manufacturing prototypes of the original automotive parts. It helps to determine companies if the specific component is accurate according to the demands.
Aerospace Industry
We all know the aerospace industry contains machinery designed to operate in the air and space. Given the consequences of even the slightest risk in this industry, there can be no acceptable flaw in making these machines.
That’s why CNC procedure machining is required for manufacturing complex aerospace industry parts. Numerous small to large parts of the aerospace industry are manufactured with CNC machining technology. Some of these parts include airfoils, manifolds, and bushings.
Military and Defense Industry
The military and defense industry is designated for protecting the countries and their people from external forces. For that, all the weapons and other products of the military and defense industry must be manufactured with exactness.
Computer numerical control machining is getting more involved in the defense industry because of its benefits and efficiency.
Every major power needs to deliver new advancements in the defense industry to improve the defense system. This range of developments includes transportation components, ammunition, and military vehicles.
What Are the Advantages of High Precision CNC Machining?
The benefits CNC precision machining produces must be treated differently from the money-saving CNC prototyping. The productions cost and time to make a certain amount of parts are reduced with these machines. With that said, the main benefits of the process are listed below.
Reduced Production Costs
The CNC machining system is more cost-effective than the injection molding method. You can reduce the cost of production by keeping the designs simple.
It will alsohelp with the labor cost because more complex designs require additional labor and expertise to execute the design.
With injection molding, a considerable cost is also involved in making the molds for a particular product. Whenever you need to manufacture a custom product, it increases your expenses. This cost can be mitigated by using CNC Machining for more simplistic products.
Enhanced Product Quality
No matter whatever manufacturing process you use, CNC machining is unbeatable. Many procedures like plastic injection modeling and 3D modeling are available in the market. However, they have their flaws.
Before producing the original product, there’s an option to get a prototype with CNC machining to determine if it meets the customer’s demands.
Most industries trust CNC precision machining because of the accuracy, strength, and efficiency of the parts manufactured by these machines.
Allows for Repeatable Prototyping
Most of the time, customers need bulk orders manufactured by CNC machining. The repeatability of CNC machines allows manufacturing of more than 100 parts in one batch.
This efficiency enhances production time and reduces labor costs by making it possible to fulfill the demand for multiple products within a short time. Best of all, no matter how many parts you manufacture with the CNC machining, the tight tolerance will be unaffected at any cost.
You can manufacture parts with a tolerance equal to +/- 0.0001 inches. Such a tight tolerance will define these parts as efficiently applicable to the applications for which they are designed.
Providing your customer with many products without compromising quality ensures that your customer will have long-lasting trust.
Overview of the Precision Machining Process
CNC precision machining is a complex yet highly crucial procedure required for multiple applications worldwide.
To carry out precision machining, you need the necessary materials, metals, plastic, programming code, process method, and surface finishing for a complete product.
CNC precision machining applies to multiple materials, the most used of which are metal and plastic.
Metal
Different metals have different properties, strengths, and hardness. Almost every metal can be used for CNC precision machining. Various methods are used in applications like automotive, aerospace, and medical industry to provide the best possible results.
The best metals used in CNC machining include copper, brass, bronze, metal alloys, steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.
Plastic
Plastic is also used as appropriate raw material in CNC machining. Out of many materials used for manufacturing, this moldable material also fulfills a plethora of needs.
It depends on your purpose and product, and then you can decide the type of plastic you want to use.
The most used plastic materials include PA, PC, POM, PMMA, and ABS.
Programming
CNC machines must also be programmed before performing a specific task, just like any other machine. You must transfer the CAD software to a CNC-compatible file format to make the process run smoothly.
If this step is skipped, you cannot get the machine to work. STEP and IGES Are the most compatible file formats with CNC machines.
Once the file is transferred, the second step involves generating digital programming code for making the custom parts. CAM is responsible for the digital programming code.
Processing
You cannot just directly use the material in the CNC machine. In fact, it needs to be processed for fitting to the machine’s specifications. Different CNC decision machines and processes are involved in turning a material into its final product.
These processes include CNC drilling, CNC milling, and CNC turning.
Surface Finishing
A surface finish is applied to keep the manufactured parts from corrosion and add beauty. In this regard, different finishing techniques are available in the market. Depending on the purpose of adding up this last layer, you can add any surface finish.
Kemal: The Precision CNC Machining Company You’ve Been Searching For
Do you believe that machine manufacturers design every part themselves? Not at all. Instead, some components require heavy machines like CNC machining. CNC machines need particular experience and investment that’s impossible for product manufacturers.
Kemal has over 28 years of experience in prototyping and precision CNC machining. More than 2,000 companies have made their business successful by utilizing the quality services we provide for their parts.
Contact us today for a quote on customized product parts manufactured with precision CNC machining. We are a precision CNC machining company you have always been searching for to get the best product parts.
You can also find CNC machining services near you to manufacture the parts.
Don’t waste your time thinking; let us be your manufacturing partners.
