Unit 2 Part 2

Mr.
Anupam Thakur Computer Integrated Manufacturing

ETME 403
1
Mr. Anupam Thakur Computer Integrated Manufacturing
ETME 403
CNC Milling: Introduction to cutting tools
Cutting tools come in a range of sizes, materials, and geometry types.
It is generally more efficient to use a combination of different tool paths and tools to achieve a
detailed model rather than assuming that a small tool with a smaller step over is the only way.
Often, a larger tool can achieve better finish results.
In end milling, the cutter generally rotates on an axis vertical to the work piece. Cutting teeth are
located on both the end face of the cutter and the periphery of the cutter body.
A ball nose end mill, also known as a spherical end mill or ball end mill, has a semi sphere at the
tool end. Ball nose end mills are used on work pieces with complex surfaces.
Choosing flat end mill vs. a ball end mill will determine the characteristics of the tooling marks
(or lack thereof) on your model. Most jobs will benefit from strategic use of multiple size and
shape tools for milling different features. End Mills are often used for roughing and 2D cutting
and V-Bit and Ball Nose cutters are often used for finishing operations.
2
ETME 403
End geometry
There are up-cut, down-cut, compression cut end mills with varying numbers of flutes. End mills
are intended to cut horizontally.
Up-cut, down-cut and compression cut determine the way the chips (cut material) are ejected and
the smoothness of the surface. With an up-cut end mill, the chips will be ejected upward and the
bottom of the material will be smooth. The down-cut end mill is the reverse by puching the chips
downward and the top of the material is smooth. The compression end mill creates a smooth
surface on top and bottom, which is perfect for pre-laminated woods.
End mills come in a variety of shapes. The most common are flat end mills and ball end mills.
Flat end mills will cut flat areas with no scallops. However, they leave a terrace-like scallop on
non-flat surfaces. Ball end mills will leave smaller scallops for the same stepover value on sloped
surfaces, but they will also leave scallops on flat areas.
Models can be tooled with a combination of flat and ball end mills. If only one tool will be used
for all surfaces a ball end geometry will give a more consistent overall feel and smooth result.
Flat end mills can be Center Cutting and Non Center Cutting: Center cutting square endmills are
essential for plunge milling. Non-center cutting mills are used only for side milling.
3
ETME 403
When choosing a ball end mill always chooses the largest size available. For the same stepover, a
larger tool will leave smaller scallops, thus giving a smoother result. For a generally smooth
model with some areas of fine detail, a large tool should be used for the overall job and a smaller
tool should be used only to clean out detailed areas.
Larger tools cut more cleanly, have larger clearance, and stay sharp longer. The velocity of the
cutting edge on a larger tool is higher for the same spindle speed.
Stepover
Stepover is the distance the tool moves over between subsequent passes.
The stepover value (along with tool size) will determine whether the model has a smooth finish,
or tooling marks are visible. It will also directly impact cutting time. Models with a smaller
stepover take longer to cut.
4
ETME 403
Stepdown
The length of the cutting area within the tool determines how deep the material can be cut in one
operation –this is called the maximum stepdown. This stepdown value will only be used to its
maximum when the material that is being cut is soft; for harder materials a smaller value is often
required, setting the toolpaths to mill away layers of materials in separate passes.
Flute geometry
While the number, direction and type of flutes that a cutting tool has can vary widely, the tools
most commonly used have two flutes and are up-cut spirals.
Some projects may benefit from other types of flute geometry. Contour cutting MDF or plywood
sheets would benefit from down-cut spirals as the tool would push the material against the CNC
machine table as it cuts rather than lift it.
5
ETME 403
Number of Flutes
Single Flute - Allows for larger chiploads in softer materials
Double Flute - Allows for better part finish in harder materials
Multiple Flutes - Allows for an even better part finish in harder materials
As the number of cutting edges increases, your feed rate should increase to prevent burning and
premature tool dulling. More flutes reduce chip load and improves surface finish if feed rate
remains the same. The most common flute numbers for general milling operations are two (better
space for chip ejection) and four (better surface finish).
Examples of applications using end mills:
Tool Materials
Material: end mills are made either out of cobalt steel alloys (known as high speed steel, or
HSS), or from tungsten carbide in a cobalt lattice (colloquially shortened to "carbide"). The latter
option is considerably harder, more rigid, and more resistant. Carbide tools can be run at speeds
2 to 2.5 times faster than HSS tools. When using carbide tools ensure that your machine tool is
rigid with a solid spindle and that holders have little or no runout. Due to the brittle nature of
carbide and the speeds at which carbide tools are typically run, rigidity is critical to prevent tool
breakage.
Coatings: carbide cutters may be further coated with ceramics such as titanium aluminum
nitride (TiAlN, aka AlTiN), titanium nitride (TiN), titanium carbon nitride (TiCN), and so on. Of
these, the bluish-gray TiAlN coating is most common one, and by the virtue of reducing friction
and improving hardness, it boosts the speed of metal cutting by up to 20%. It extends tool life.
6
ETME 403
Other types of tools used at our fablab:
Carbide Drill bits to drill PCB.
Carbide PCB Engraving V Bits
Diamond dental Bits to engrave PCB
Angle plate
An angle plate is a work holding device used as a fixture in metalworking.
The angle plate is made from high quality material (generally spheroidal cast iron) that has been
stabilized to prevent further movement or distortion. Slotted holes or T bolt slots are machined
into the surfaces to enable the secure attachment or clamping of work pieces to the plate, and
also of the plate to the worktable.
Angle plates also may be used to hold the work piece square to the table during marking out
operations.
Adjustable angle plates are also available for work pieces that need to be inclined, usually
towards a milling cutter.
Angle plates are used to measure and hold various work piece whilst being worked upon.
7
ETME 403
Work Holding Devices

Work holding is the generic term for any device used to firmly hold your work piece while
machining it. There are two components to work holding:
- The actual work holding device, such as a milling vise.
- The method of locating and securing that work holding device to your machine. This includes
the ubiquitous T-Slots but goes on to include modular fixture plates, 4th axis solutions, and much
more.
We'll go through the various methods of locating the work holding devices and then follow up
with a description of your choices for work holding devices.
Positioning for Work holding Devices
8
ETME 403
T-Slots
T-Slots are the most common method of positioning and holding down your work holding
solution...
T-Slots are by far the most common way of positioning and holding down your Work holding
solution. They are simple, robust, and they work. To attach something to a T-Slotted table, use
T-Slot nuts and suitable studs or other fasteners that fit the nuts:
T-Slot Nuts
9
ETME 403
While they are common, they have some disadvantages relative to other solutions. Aside from
the fact that T-Slots can collect chips and other debris, their biggest disadvantage is that it's hard
to get your vise or other Work holding fixture back onto the table in exactly the same place and
orientation. This can result in extra work every time a machine needs to be set up with new
workholding for a new job. Over time, the cost of that inefficiency can be quite large.
Just imagine, what if instead of having a tool changer and a tool table you had to dial in each tool
every time it was used? Wouldn't that be a huge productivity block in your machining workflow?
Well, setup time can be a big productivity block too, and T-Slots are not helpful for that.
There are some solutions that've been tried to make them a little better:
Truing the Slots
We can check the T-Slots of machine to make sure the run parallel to axis motion by sweeping
them with a Dial Test Indicator (DTI). If they don't, we can mill them true. A lot of folks hate the
idea of intentionally milling their table, but if the T-Slots aren't true and you need them to be, it's
hard to see what choice you have. But there is a choice that involves using something other than
T-Slots as we will see shortly.
Keyed Vises and Fixtures
If your T-Slots are true, you can install keys on the bottom of vises or fixture plates that line up
with the T-Slots. You can also install keys in the T-Slots that line up the edge of a plate or vise
base. Doing so can save you quite a lot of time tramming vises and such, and it isn't hard to do,
so it is definitely worth considering.
The trouble is, these kinds of solutions will help with one dimension (typically the short
dimension of the table is the Y dimension and is aligned perpendicular to the slots), but we still
have the problem of positioning along the axis of the T-Slot.
Fortunately, there is a better way in the form of Fixture Sub-Plates (also called Tooling Plates).
Fixture Sub-Plates, Tooling Plates, and Modular Fixturing
Fixture Sub-Plates (also called Tooling Plates) are plates that are installed on top of a T-Slot
table to provide a new way to position and secure Work holding. A typical Tooling Plate looks
like this:
10
ETME 403
A typical Tooling Plate
Tooling Plates typically use a grid of holes that alternate between holes for precision dowel pins
for positioning and threaded holes for fasteners. If this grid is precisely positioning (or even if it
isn't and the positions are precisely known) you have a very repeatable way to install
Workholding on the plate. The dowel pins provide precision location that is repeatable to
perhaps half a thousandth. Imagine being able to drop a vise mounted on its own fixture plate
with dowel pins and fastener holes onto a Tooling Plate and have it be repeatable to half
thousandth. If all your fixtures can drop onto the Tooling Plate you can change the machine over
to a new Workholding configuration very quickly indeed. The savings in time adds up to pay off
the cost of such a system very quickly.
With an air ratchet in hand, a vise can be installed on one of these plates within a minute or two.
A CNC Machine can be reconfigured in 5 or 10 minutes for a completely different job. And the
skills required of the machine operators, as well as the potential for mistakes, are greatly reduced
if the fixtures don't have to be carefully dialed in each time. There are advantages for the creation
of modular g-code too, because it can rely on the positioning grid of the Tooling Plate.
If accuracy of more than half a thousandth is required, it is often better to use probing together
with selected g-code parameterization to correct for the remaining error. You could try to dial
things in more precisely by hand, but a probing solution can rely on things being nearly right to
determine the last little bit of error correction that needs to be applied in the g-code itself. For
example, it's possible to apply rotation to the g-code based on a probes results to tram (that's
aligning things to the axis motion) very precisely an almost right situation.
11
ETME 403
Tooling Plates are typically made of either Cast Iron or Aluminum, though there are steel ones
available too. They can be purchased or made from scratch. For more on how they're made, be
sure to visit our Fixture Plate page.
Modular Fixturing
One other thing Tooling Plates help facilitate is Modular Fixturing. Once we have a fixed grid to
rely on, we can purchase ready-made fixturing components that will fit the grid. This can save
quite a lot of cost versus having to fabricate everything to some custom arrangement.
Ball Locks and Other Quick Change Tooling Plate Solutions
By now I hope you're seeing how much Setup Time could be saved by using Tooling Plates.
What could be better? Why there are at least two different ways to improve on the theme: quick
change tooling plates and pallets.
With a Quick Change system, the time required to deal with the dowel pins and fasteners is
reduced through some kind of integrated solution that allows precise position and locking very
quickly. One such is the Jergens Ball Lock system
Ball Locks are a Quick Release system for Tooling Plates
12
ETME 403
With this system, you get precise positioning and secure holding with 4 Ball Locks. Just align the
plate to the sub-plate (which has the Receiver Bushings and is mounted to the table), drop the
Ball Lock Shanks into the hole, twist the bolt on top of the Ball Lock Shank, and you are done.
Twisting four bolts and no fooling around with dowel pins or extra fasteners is really quick and
easy. Jergens talks about 30 second fixture change times which is very fast indeed.
Pallets
The next step up are Pallets. Think of them as power operated Tooling Plates whereas everything
else we've talked about has been hand operated. A typical machine with Pallets allows you to be
setting one or more Pallets up while the machine is working on another. A Pallet change
operation cycles the old Pallet outside of the machine's milling area and brings the new one in.
This minimizes the time the machine has to be offline and allows Setup to be done in parallel
with machining.
Some machines have what are called "Pallet Pools", which allow multiple pallets to be set up in
advance and scheduled to run. A Pallet Pool can allow a machine to run unattended for quite a
long time and can be a useful building block for total automation.
Pallets are typically only seen on Horizontal Machining Centers and some high end Vertical
Machining Centers. They're definitely a full-on production feature that is fairly expensive, so the
cost has to be justified by the need ot keep the machines churning out parts constantly.
4th Axis, Trunion Fixtures, Tombstones, and Tool Columns
Sometimes it is helpful to be able to apply another dimension to our thinking--in this case a 4th
Axis. In CNC, a 4th Axis is commonly a rotary axis that is aligned to spin along an axis parallel
to one of the machine's other 3 axes. On Vertical Mills, the 4th Axis is frequently parallel to X or
Y, and is laid down. On a Horizontal Mill, the 4th Axis is also parallel to X or Y, but it is
standing up. Both methods work great, but the horizontal mill's standing 4th axis frequently has
more clearance available since the work is never trapped between the table and the axis.
From a Workholding standpoint, a 4th Axis can be used to bring new orientations into play for
two purposes:
1. It allows access to more sides of the part so machining can continue without having to flip
parts around by hand.
2. It allows access to more parts which may be arrayed around the 4th Axis.
13
ETME 403
To find out more about these uses for Work holding, check out our excellent series on 4th Axis
Basics.
Work holding Solutions
Having seen how we're going to position and attach our Work holding Solutions to our milling
machine, let's delve into what types of Work holding are available.
Milling Vise
A pair of milling vises sits side by side on a machine table
It's not too much of a stretch to say that the most popular Work holding Solution today is the
Milling Vise. While there are many manufacturer's of such vises, the poster child is Kurt who
shipped their first "Kurt Vise" in the 1950's.
What Makes a Good Milling Vise?
A good vise is well made, typically of cast iron. It operates smoothly, repeatedly, and with a
wedge mechanism that pulls the movable jaw down onto the bed so the part is not lifted due to
deflection as the jaws are tightened. Don't scrimp on your milling vises because they're most
likely the Work holding Solution you'll turn to most often.
14
ETME 403
Clean the Table and Tram the Vise
Before putting any vise on your machine table, be sure to clean the table of chips. You don't
want to trap a chip between the vise or table. If you have a T-Slot table you're mounting the vise
to, you'll probably want to tram the vise as well. This is the procedure of using an indicator to
sweep a vise jaw (you want the fixed jaw, not the movable jaw) so you can adjust the vise
position until the sweep shows the vise jaw is parallel to the axis as it moves.
Learning to tram (or "square") a vise is one of those basic skills every machinist must learn early
on.
Vise Parallels and Jaw Steps
Having the vise properly installed and trammed, the next question is proper use. Most of the time
we'll want to sit the work piece fairly high in the jaws. This is done both to provide access to the
work piece and because it provides more repeatability the less of the workpiece is gripped--
there's just less area for a trip or other irregularity to influence what's going on.
We set the work piece high in the jaws typically either by using a set of Vise Parallels or because
we have jaws installed in the vise that have a step machined fairly high on the jaw. We may
either machine the step ourselves (in the case of soft jaws) or purchase jaws with a step already
machined.
Clamping Outside the Jaws and Other Jaw Tricks
There are a lot of Vise Jaw tricks but one of the first to be aware of is that you can mount the
jaws either inside or outside the normal jaw mounting locations. Mounting outside allows larger
plates to be gripped in the vise easily:
15
ETME 403
By mounting the jaws in the outside position, quite a large workpiece can be
accommodated
Increasing rigidity is always important. For this operation, two 2-4-6 blocks are used as a
vise jaw extension to help support the plate on end better
16
ETME 403
Using Multiple Vises, Jaws that Span Vises, and Grinding Matching Vises
There's an old saying that if you want to make full use of your machine you need to use every
square inch on the table. Most machine tables can accommodate multiple vises, and it is very
common to install multiple vises on a mill table. Our photo above of side by side vises shows
one such setup. It's not uncommon to see four or even six vises on a larger milling machine. The
more the merrier so long as travels will accommodate it because the more vises you have, the
more parts you can machine before the machining has to stop so the operator can load new work
pieces.
When you have multiple vises on a machine, it is convenient if they match in all the key
dimensions to within a decent tolerance. That way if you are duplicating a setup and get the vises
in a different order, all will be well. Most vise manufacturers will match vises for you or it's a
fairly simple operation with a surface grinder to match a pair of vises.
Another trick that's possible with two vises is to use jaws that span both vises for handling really
long parts:
Spanning two vises with a single set of jaws
Double MillingVise
Having spread three or four vises across your mill table, you've pretty well taken advantage of
the X-Axis. But, there's an opportunity to take better advantage of the Y-Axis by using Double
Vises:
17
ETME 403
A typical double station vise is like 2 vises in one
A typical double station vise is like 2 vises in one: you can put two work pieces instead of one.
With judicious use of double vises you can really multiply the number of parts that can be
worked at the same time on your mill's table.
Vises to Hold Other Work holding Solutions
Between using multiple vises, double station vises, moving the jaws around, and even using jaws
that span multiple vises, quite a lot is possible using just vises. In fact, you can even use the vises
to hold other Work holding gadgets. It's a very common trick to drop a sine vise into a milling
vise to get jaws working the other direction:
Use a sine vise to hold a part at 90 degrees from where the milling vise jaws run
You can also create small plate fixtures that are designed to sit in a vise, creating what is often
called a "vise pallet" since the individual plate fixtures can be swapped out of the vises much like
pallets.
18
ETME 403
Vise Pallets are just small plate fixtures designed to be held in the jaws of a milling vise
In general, solutions like Vise Pallets are created to enable vises to be left on the machine in
shops where the flexibility and simplicity of vise work holding is ideal for most of their jobs.
Soft Jaws and Custom Hard Jaws Multiply the Vise's Work holding Flexibility. Soft Jaws on
milling vises are a very popular form of work holding. The idea is to create aluminum vise jaws
(since aluminum is softer than ferrous materials that's where the name comes from) that are
customized for particular jobs. Sometimes a more durable material is advantageous, in which
case we have Hard Jaws.
Here are some examples:
 Use soft jaws to locate and hold a larger round part. A "V" is often seen, but it won't
support the part as well as the soft jaws
19
ETME 403
 As mentioned above, we don't want to grip the whole height of the part in the jaws. A
particularly thin grip can be had with dovetail jaws. The little red circle points to the
dovetail which locks the workpiece in from slipping upward under heavy machining.
These are Carvesmart quick change jaws.
 Here's a common setup. The part is machined from a block on the left (those are the same
Carvesmart dovetail jaws). Then the part is flipped in a set of custom soft jaws on the
right that are the mirror image of the part. A Face mill then takes off the little bit of flat
stock left from the original material (that's already happened in this photo).
20
ETME 403
 Lang Innovations makes these neat jaws that make it easy to set the workpiece in the vise
at a precise angle when needed. The pins can be individually pushed in to create angles
and other holding patterns too
Quick Change Jaws
I hope you're getting the idea that Milling Vises with Custom Jaws can be a powerful
workholding solution. So powerful, in fact, that a lot of work is done solely with this style of
Workholding. Shops spend a lot of time creating Custom Jaws and often box them up in storage
to use for other jobs or in case a customer reorders a part. Even though the vises spend most of
their time on the table, we still have a Setup Time bottleneck in the time it takes to change vise
jaws. Maybe you saw this coming, but there are a variety of Quick Change Vise Jaws available
too. The Carvesmart jaws we pictured are one variety, but there are many more. Judicious use of
an air ratchet and socket head cap screws can also speed the job of changing jaws.
Plates, Plate Fixtures, and Clamps
As useful as vises are, they have a sweet spot for part size. They have a difficult time with really
large plate work, though as mentioned you can move the jaws to the outside positions for
medium-sized plates. And, they can also be less than optimal for very small parts. Sure, you can
fit multiple parts in a set of Soft Jaws, but the space between adjacent vises and the space
required for the vise mechanism makes it hard to fully fill the table with as many small parts as
you might otherwise be able to.
21
ETME 403
It's hard to achieve this dense packing of smaller parts with a vise, but a plate fixture makes it
easy. This one uses Mitee Bite Pit Bull clamps. The effect is not unlike tiny milling vises
designed to fit each part just right.
When its time to machine large plates or a great many small parts, it's usually time to pull the
vises off the table and use a workholding solution based on clamps.
Step Clamps
The most common type of clamps are called step clamps because they have little steps machined
on them. They're commonly used with T-Slots, although you can also use bolt them into a
Tooling Plate. Here are some typical Step Clamps:
Step Clamp holding down plate, step block supporting end of clamp, and bolt goes through
T-Slot Nut
22
ETME 403
A typical Step Clamp Set
Pictured is a typical Step Clamp Set. It can be handy to stock up on a an extra set so you've got
more clamping parts to work with. By stacking the Step Blocks and using longer bolts, you can
clamp workpieces that are quite tall. When using step clamps, keep the bolt close to the
workpiece rather than the step block. Also, it can be helpful to angle the clamp down on the part
by raising it up a step or two from level. You may also want to put a shim of soft material
between the clamp and the workpiece if you want to avoid marring the workpiece. Soda can
makes a great shim for this purpose if you slice out some strips with your snips.
Toe Clamps
Step Clamps grip the top of the workpiece, which is sometimes inconvenient because you might
need to machine the area being gripped. Toe Clamps grip the side of the workpiece to give you
full access to the top of the workpiece. There are a wide variety of different styles available:
This toe clamp moves the clamp down a ramp when tightened to press against the workpiece
23
ETME 403
These Mitee Bite Edge Clamps have an eccentric bolt head that forces the hex against the
workpiece as you tighten it
Tab Supports: Workholding Via CAM Software
What if your CAM software could solve some major workholding problems for you, wouldn't
that be neat?
Turns out some CAM software can help out with workholding quite a lot by automatically
creating tabs. Here's a video of MeshCAM's facility for creating tab supports to help machine a
part that has to be machined on 2 sides and is awkward to hold otherwise:
Using MeshCAM to add tab supports so you can machine a part on 2 sides...
We offer MeshCAM at CNCCookbook because it's one of the easiest to use CAM packages
there is.
Double Sided Tape, Glue, Wax, and Low Melting Point Alloys
Some workpieces can be very difficult to hold because they're too thin or because their shaped so
there's just no way to clamp on. Some solutions for these situations are in the form of Double
Sided Tape, Glue, Wax, and Low Melting Point Alloys.
The Glue needs to be something that will release when needed. For example, Super Glue releases
at a particular temperature just like LocTite. The fumes from it are toxic, so take care to release
with plenty of ventilation. Double sided tape can work great, especially for really thin materials.
24
ETME 403
Wax and Low Melting Point Alloys (typically Bismuth alloys) can be used to embed the
workpiece and create grippable area. When the machining is done, one can melt the wax or alloy
away and save for reuse.
Vacuum Fixtures
Need to apply uniform pressure to hold a part down? Maybe a vacuum fixture is the answer. Sea
level air pressure is 14.7 lbs per square inch. A vacuum fixture pumps a vacuum under the part
so that air is pressing down on every square inch of the top with 14.7 lbs of pressure. That can
create considerable holding force if there is enough surface area regardless of the shape of the
top or how thin the material may be. We have a nice article on how to create your own vacuum
fixtures that's very popular. For more in-depth information on vacuum workholding visit our
Vacuum Table Page and our DIY Vacuum Table Page.
Perhaps the biggest disadvantage of vacuum fixtures is their hold-down force is limited by
surface area--that means small parts can pop off relatively easily. When cutting forces exceed the
hold-down force a vacuum table can pull, the part pops off and is generally ruined. This is a
common problem for vacuum table users, especially for smaller parts that don't have much
surface area. Until now, fixing the problem has been hit or miss, but our G-Wizard Calculator
software now has the ability to limit cutting forces to what your vacuum table can handle. For
more information, check out our article on this special feature.
Chucks and Collets: For Round Parts
While we typically think of machining round parts on lathes, there are many times when you
may need to mill them as well. If you've got a Mill-Turn machine, it may not be necessary to put
them on a mill, but if you don't, or if you just need to work on some round parts on the mill, you
can use the same workholding solutions Lathes use. Just bolt or clamp them down to your mill
table. For example, use a 3 jaw chuck or a bank of collet chucks.
Lathe Chucks are particularly common on 4th Axes because we often start from round stock.
Every now and then we put round parts on the mill because it's just downright faster. Consider
this setup for machining round parts::
25
ETME 403
Expanding Mandrels, Arbors, and Studs
Toe Clamps are one solution to keeping the workholding away from the milling, but we can do
even better using expanding mandrels, arbors, or studs. The idea is to put an expanding cylinder
in a hole on the underside of the workpiece and expand it to lock the workpiece in place. Once
that's done, you can access the workpiece from every direction except the bottom without
encountering the workholding (do remember where the mandrels are though so you don't have
one in the middle of a pocket waiting to be hit!).
Here is a fixture using expanding studs:
26
ETME 403
Turn the bolt opens the expanding stud so it can clamp the workpiece...
There are a wide variety of these kinds of gizmos available for your workholding needs. They're
particularly common for lathes, but as we mentioned, you can use lathe workholding all day long
provided you find a way to mount it to your table.
5-Axis Workholding
5-Axis workholding, like most things 5-axis, is a whole other world. I won't go into any detail
here other than to say you need different kinds of workholding when you can access a part from
virtually any direction. It becomes more challenging in this kind of workholding that the
workholder not get in the way of milling the part.
27
ETME 403
Rotary table
A rotary table is a precision work positioning device used in metalworking. It enables the
operator to drill or cut work at exact intervals around a fixed (usually horizontal or vertical) axis.
Some rotary tables allow the use of index plates for indexing operations, and some can also be
fitted with dividing plates that enable regular work positioning at divisions for which indexing
plates are not available. A rotary fixture used in this fashion is more appropriately called a
dividing head (indexing head).
The table shown is a manually operated type. Powered tables under the control of CNC machines
are now available, and provide a fourth axis to CNC milling machines. Rotary tables are made
with a solid base, which has provision for clamping onto another table or fixture. The actual table
is a precision-machined disc to which the work piece is clamped (T slots are generally provided
for this purpose). This disc can rotate freely, for indexing, or under the control of a worm
(handwheel), with the worm wheel portion being made part of the actual table. High precision
tables are driven by backlash compensating duplex worms.
The ratio between worm and table is generally 40:1, 72:1 or 90:1 but may be any ratio that can
be easily divided exactly into 360°. This is for ease of use when indexing plates are available. A
graduated dial and, often, a vernier scale enable the operator to position the table, and thus the
work affixed to it with great accuracy.
A through hole is usually machined into the table. Most commonly, this hole is machined to
admit a Morse taper center or fixture.
Use
Rotary tables are most commonly mounted "flat", with the table rotating around a vertical axis,
in the same plane as the cutter of a vertical milling machine. An alternate setup is to mount the
rotary table on its end (or mount it "flat" on a 90° angle plate), so that it rotates about a
horizontal axis. In this configuration a tailstock can also be used, thus holding the workpiece
"between centers."
With the table mounted on a secondary table, the workpiece is accurately centered on the rotary
table's axis, which in turn is centered on the cutting tool's axis. All three axes are thus coaxial.
From this point, the secondary table can be offset in either the X or Y direction to set the cutter
the desired distance from the workpiece's center. This allows concentric machining operations on
28
ETME 403
the workpiece. Placing the workpiece eccentrically a set distance from the center permits more
complex curves to be cut. As with other setups on a vertical mill, the milling operation can be
either drilling a series of concentric, and possibly equidistant holes, or face or end milling either
circular or semicircular shapes and contours.
A rotary table can be used:
 To machine spanner flats on a bolt

 To drill equidistant holes on a circular flange
 To cut a round piece with a protruding tang
 To create large-diameter holes, via milling in a circular toolpath, on small milling
machines that don't have the power to drive large twist drills (>0.500"/>13 mm)
 To mill helixes
 To cut complex curves (with proper setup)
 To cut straight lines at any angle
 To cut arcs
 With the addition of a compound table on top of the rotary table, the user can move the
center of rotation to anywhere on the part being cut. This enables an arc to be cut at any
place on the part.
 To cut circular pieces
Additionally, if converted to stepper motor operation, with a CNC milling machine and a
tailstock, a rotary table allows many parts to be made on a mill that otherwise would require a
lathe.
29
ETME 403
Turning Tools and Boring Bars contain various numbers and letters within their part numbers,
however believe it or not, these actually mean something. So technically, if you scrub up on your
ISO coding knowledge you will never need to check for part numbers again, and that’s exactly
what we want you to learn in this blog post. In this blog we will look at the Turning Tool ISO
code system, and then in a later article we will analyse the Boring Bar codes.
Below is an example of a turning tool code and this will be referenced throughout.
1. Clamping Method of Insert
There are 5 different clamping methods on turning tools, these can all vary depending on what
insert is clamped, the shape of the tool and also have different levels of rigidity/clamping force.
See the legend chart below for what types are available and how they clamp:
2. Insert Shape
This part of the holder code always matches the first letter of the insert that is suited to it. There
are slight indicators as to what letter is for what shape, but these are only loosely based on the
more popular shapes so shouldn’t be adhered to all the time, such as S= Square Insert, T=
Triangle Insert and R= Round Insert, but that’s about as far as it goes in simple terms, please see
below the legend chart for all Insert Shapes and the angles of them:
30
ETME 403
3. Holder Style
The 3rd part of the code is used to determine the style of turning tool. There are many different
types which are all primarily based on the approach angle of the tool. These can be found below:
4. Clearance Angle of Insert
The 4th letter of the holder code, which defines the clearance angle of the insert also matches the
2nd letter of the insert that is suited to it. There are various clearancve angles that are available,
these can all be seen below:
31
ETME 403
5. Hand of Tool Holder
One of the most important aspects to your tool holder is the orientation – whether it is left hand,
right hand or a neutral (centred) type. Having these options can allow you to cut in mutliple
directions. Please see below a visual representation of turning tool hand types.
6. Height of Shank
Turning tools have 4 sided shanks (as oppose to boring bars which are round) so the height of
these can be determined on the 6thpart of the code. In the example at the beginning of the article,
it states the number 25, which means the height of the shank is 25mm.
7. Width of Shank
32
ETME 403
Following on from point 6, the width of the shank can be determined by part 7 o the ISO code.
So in the example at the top of the article again, the width is 25mm as the code has the number
25 there.
8. Length of Holder
This part of the code signifies the length of the holder. Each letter has a different length and it
can be one of the most important things to know when you’re chosen length isnt available. So
knowing this can provide alternatives and can help you get your tooling quicker if you hit any
problems with availability if taking a different length is suitable.
9. Length of Insert Cutting Edge
33
ETME 403
This final part of the code recognises the length of the inserts cutting edge that is being used in
the tool. So using the example at the top of the article, it has 12 at the end which signifies a
12mm cutting edge length. These numbers will also match the first two digits that are used in an
insert. So with the example at the top of the article we now know using points 2, 4 and 9 we can
find the insert to suit that holder, In this case it would be SN**12 inserts. So knowing the codes
doesn’t just help you with the tool holders themselves but it also helps you find the inserts to
suit. Below is a chart showing the different cutting edges each insert has and what the lengths are
based on:
34

Unit 2 Part 2

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Unit 2 Part 2

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Mr.

Anupam Thakur Computer Integrated Manufacturing

CNC Milling: Introduction to cutting tools

Cutting tools come in a range of sizes, materials, and geometry types.

Single Flute - Allows for larger chiploads in softer materials

Double Flute - Allows for better part finish in harder materials

Examples of applications using end mills:

Carbide Drill bits to drill PCB.

Carbide PCB Engraving V Bits

Diamond dental Bits to engrave PCB

Work Holding Devices

- The actual work holding device, such as a milling vise.

Positioning for Work holding Devices

Truing the Slots

Keyed Vises and Fixtures

Fixture Sub-Plates, Tooling Plates, and Modular Fixturing

A typical Tooling Plate

Ball Locks and Other Quick Change Tooling Plate Solutions

Ball Locks are a Quick Release system for Tooling Plates

4th Axis, Trunion Fixtures, Tombstones, and Tool Columns

Work holding Solutions

A pair of milling vises sits side by side on a machine table

What Makes a Good Milling Vise?

Vise Parallels and Jaw Steps

Clamping Outside the Jaws and Other Jaw Tricks

Spanning two vises with a single set of jaws

A typical double station vise is like 2 vises in one

Vises to Hold Other Work holding Solutions

Here are some examples:

Quick Change Jaws

Plates, Plate Fixtures, and Clamps

A typical Step Clamp Set

Tab Supports: Workholding Via CAM Software

Chucks and Collets: For Round Parts

Expanding Mandrels, Arbors, and Studs

Here is a fixture using expanding studs:

A rotary table can be used:

 To machine spanner flats on a bolt

1. Clamping Method of Insert

4. Clearance Angle of Insert

5. Hand of Tool Holder

9. Length of Insert Cutting Edge

You might also like