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5 Axis Milling

Milling is as basic as drilling among powered metal cutting processes.  Milling is versatile for a basic machining process, but because the milling set up has so many degrees of freedom, milling is usually less precise than turning or grinding unless especially rigid fixturing is implemented. For manual machining, milling is important to fabricate any object that is not axially symmetric.

Such typical column-and-knee type manual mills are plain in job shops that specialize in parts that are low volume and quickly fabricated. Such job shops are often termed "model shops" because of the prototyping nature of the work. The parts of the manual mill are separated. The knee moves up and down the column on guideways in the column. The table can move in x and y on the knee, and the milling head can move up and down.

Five-Axis machines are the most advanced computer numeric controlled (CNC) milling machines, adding two more axes in addition to the three normal axes (XYZ). 5-Axis milling machines also have a B and C axis, allowing the horizontally mounted workpiece to be rotated, essentially allowing asymmetric and eccentric turning. The fifth axis controls the tilt of the tool itself. When all of these axes are used in conjunction with each other, a competent and experienced machinist can produce extremely complicated geometries with very high precision. Many industries today, especially the high-tech, precision-dependent worlds of optical equipment, medical devices, satellites, aircraft, and aerospace, are turning to 5-Axis machining as a means to speed manufacturing ability and increase repeatable accuracy. The ability to machine complex shapes, undercuts and difficult angles in a single setup reduces tooling cost and labor time, resulting in much better precision along with lower cost per part and the ability to maintain parts conformity throughout the part run and in future runs.