Machining Equipment History
Sep 14, 2015The development of machining equipment is the story of the various stages of milling strategies and processes, which in the beginning were directed toward the removing of material from solid objects of various sorts by the use of drills and cutters.
Though early milling machining equipment focused on the mounting of a “quill” to a machine structure, to which a spindle was attached, and which was either oriented horizontally or vertically to the work table, over the course of time developments brought about a wide range of milling machines with abilities to control table movement in a linear direction, the X axis for example, or a planar fashion, the customary Cartesian X and Y axis directions. Improvements in motion systems, such as racks or screws, and guide ways, provided for greater accuracy as well as the ability to resist the work forces exerted during material removal.
Milling machining equipment’s next step was supported by the introduction and integration to it of numerically controlled axes, by which precise movement distances could be obtained in a continuous manner, giving way to the modern terminology of CNC, continuous numerical control, also called Computer Numerical Control.
This next generation of machining equipment has been called “Machining Centers” having had their origin in milling machines. All machining centers are truly milling machines; though it is not true that all milling machines are machining centers, considering the highly advanced capabilities of the machining center.