Definitioni

Milling is a process performed with a machine in which the cutters rotate to remove the material
from the work piece present in the direction of the angle with the tool axis. With the help of the
milling machines one can perform many operations and functions starting from small objects to large
ones.
Milling machining is one of the very common manufacturing processes used in machinery shops
and industries to manufacture high precision products and parts in different shapes and sizes.

Milling Machine
The milling machines are also known as the multi-tasking machines (MTMs) which are multi-
purpose machines capable of milling and turning the materials as well. The milling machine has got
the cutter installed up on it which helps in removing the material from the surface of the work piece.
When the material gets cooled down then it is removed from the milling machine.

Milling Machine: Parts and Workingii

Milling is a mechanical machine which is used to machined unsymmetrical job. It is widely used in
tool and die making industries. It is a versatile machine. It can perform all operations like turning,
facing, drilling, shaping, grooving, etc.

Milling Machine Parts:

There are mostly two types of milling machine used in mechanical industries. First one is
horizontal milling machine and other one is vertical milling machine. The basic parts of these machine
described as follow.

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 Base:
It is the foundation part of a milling machine. All other parts are jointed on it. It carries the entire load so
it should have high compressive strength so it is made by cast iron. It also works as reservoir of cutting
fluid.

Column:
Column is another foundation part of milling machine. It is mountain vertically on the base. It supports
the knee, table etc. Work as housing for the all the other driving member.it is a hollow member which
contains driving gears and sometimes motor for spindle and the table.

Knee:
Knee is the first moving part of milling machine. If is mounted on the column and moves along
the slideways situated over the column. It is made by cast iron and moves vertically on slideways It
moves up and down on sideways which change the distance between tool and workpiece It is driven by
mechanically or hydraulically.

Saddle:
It is placed between table and the knee and work as intermediate part between them. It can moves
transversally to the column face. It slides over the guide ways provided situated on the knee which is
perpendicular to the column face. The main function of it is to provide motion in horizontal direction to
work piece. It is also made by cast iron.

Table:
Table is situated over the knee. It is the part of machine which holds the work piece while machining. It
is made by cast iron and have T slot cut over it. The work piece clamp over it by using clamping bolts.
The one end of clamping bolt fix into this slot and other is fix to work piece which hold the work piece. It
can provide three degree of freedom to work piece.

 It provides vertical motion by moving the knee up and down.

 It provides horizontal motion by the feed screw.
 It provides horizontal (transverse) motion by moving the saddle.

Overhanging arm:
It is situated over the column on horizontal milling machine. It is overhang over the column surface and
other end supports the arbor. It is made by cast iron.

Spindle:
Spindle is the main part of the machine which hold tool at right place in vertical milling machine and hold
arbor in horizontal milling machine. It is a moving part which is in rotary motion. It is motor driven and
drives the tool. It has a slot on the front end of it. The cutting tool fix in that slot.

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Milling head:
It is upper section of vertical milling machine. It consist spindle, driving motor and other controlling
mechanism.

Ram:
Ram is work as overhanging arm in vertical milling machine. One end of the arm is attached to the
column and other end to the milling head.

Working of Milling Machine:

A milling is a versatile machine which is used to form different shapes by metal cutting. The
working of milling machine is as follow.

1. First the cutting tool is set at the arbor which is connected to the spindle.
2. The knee is moved downward.
3. Now the work piece is clamped on the table by using clamping screw.
4. All the controlling points are set to zero like knee position, saddle position etc.
5. Now the spindle starts to rotate which further rotates the cutting tool.
6. As the tool is moving, we move the work piece as required by moving the knee, saddle and
table.
7. The controlling axis move the work piece and cut the desire shape on it. The tool remains
stationary and only in rotary motion.

Milling Process
The milling machine involves the following processes or phases of cutting:

Milling Cutters
There are a lot of cutting tools used in the milling process. The milling cutters named end mills have
special cutting surfaces on their end surfaces so that they can be placed onto the work piece by
drilling. These also have extended cutting surfaces on each side for the purpose of peripheral milling.
The milling cutters have small cutters at the end corners. The cutters are made from highly resistant
materials that are durable and produce less friction.

Surface Finish
Any material put through the cutting area of the milling machine gets regular intervals. The side
cutters have got regular ridges on them. The distance between the ridges depends on the feed rate, the

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diameter of the cutter and the quantity of cutting surfaces. These can be the significant variations in
the height of the surfaces.

Gang Milling
This means that more than two milling cutters are involved in a setup like the horizontal milling. All
the cutters perform a uniform operation or it may also be possible that the cutter may perform distinct
operations. This is an important operation for producing duplicate parts.

Types of Milling Machines iii

The two main configurations of the milling machining operations are the types of milling machines.
These are the vertical mill and the horizontal mill. They are further discussed below:

Vertical Milling Machines

The vertical mill has a vertically arranged spindle axis and rotate by staying at the same axis. The
spindle can also be extended and performing functions such as drilling and cutting. Vertical mill has
got two further categories as well: turret mill and bed mill.
The turret mill has got a table that moves perpendicularly and parallel to the spindle axis in order to
cut the material. The spindle is, however, stationary. Two cutting methods can be performed with this
by moving the knee and by lowering or raising the quill.
The other is the bed mill in which the table moves perpendicular to the axis of the spindle and the
spindle moves parallel to its axis.

Horizontal Milling Machines

The horizontal mill is also the similar cutter but their cutters are placed on a horizontal arbor. A lot of
horizontal mills have got rotary tables that help in milling in various angles. These tables are called
the universal tables. Apart from this all the tools that are used in a vertical mill can also be used in
the horizontal mill.

References:

i
http://www.engineeringarticles.org/milling-machine-definition-process-types/
ii
https://www.mech4study.com/2016/05/milling-machine-parts-and-working.html
iii
http://www.engineeringarticles.org/milling-machine-definition-process-types/

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