Different Cutters and Operations of Milling Machine

Types of milling cutters

·         Endmill

·         Face mill

·         Involute gear cutter

·         Woodruff cutter

·         Roughing end mill

·         Hollow mill

·         Fly Mill Cutter

·         Side-and-face cutter

·         Slab mill

·         Dovetail cutter

·         Ball cutter

·         Shell mill

What is the difference between face milling and end milling?

These are two of the most prevailing milling operations, each using different types of cutters –the face mill and the end mill. The variance between face milling and end milling is that an end mill used both the end and the sides of the cutter, whereas face milling is used for horizontal cutting.

1. Endmill

These tools used have a flat bottom but not always. Round and radiuses cutters are also available. End mills are similar to drills in the intellect that they can cut axially. But the favorable of milling lies in the possibility of lateral cutting.   

2. Face mill

The face mills cutter cannot cut axially. Instead, the cutting edges are always situated on the sides of the cutting head. The cutting teeth are refundable carbide inserts.

This makes the life of a tool longer while maintaining a good cutting quality.

3. Ball cutter

Ball cutters, also known as ball mills, have hemispherical cutting tips. The objective is to maintain a corner radius for vertical faces.   

4. Woodruff cutter

Woodruff or keyset/keyway cutters are used to cut key slots into parts, for example, shafts. The cutting tools have teeth upright to the exterior diameter to generate suitable slots for Woodruff keys

5. Roughing end mill

As the name says, these are moderately many end mills with a slight dissimilarity. The roughing end mill has notched teeth. These make the cutting progress faster than with a regular end mill.

The cut bits of metal are littler than ordinary and therefore easier to clear. Multiple teeth come into the junction with the workpiece at the same time. This restores chatter and vibration, which could otherwise be larger because of the serrated teeth.   

6. Involute gear cutter

There is a special cutting tool for milling roller gears. There are separate cutters available to generate gears within a certain number of teeth.

7. Fly cutter

These tools have the same performance as face mills. They comprise a central body that holds either one or two tool bits (double-end fly cutters).

Face mills cutter are better for high-quality cutting. The fly cutters are just cheaper and the cutting bits are often made at the shop by a machinist rather than buying from stores.

8. Hollow mill

Hollow mills are fundamentally against face mills. Here, the workpiece is fed into the internal parts of the mill to generate a cylindrical outcome.   

9. Slab Mill

This kind of cutter is used when you have to remove more amount of material from the workpiece. By using roughing end mills, we obtain a rough surface Roughing finishing end mills are also famous as “ripped” cutters. They are more helpful commercially and are used in various industrial applications.  

10. Woodruff cutter

Woodruff or keyset/keyway cutters are used to cut key slots into parts, for example, shafts. The cutting tools have teeth upright to the exterior diameter to generate suitable slots for Woodruff keys.

11. Thread mill

The name of this tool says everything you need to know about its aim. Thread mills are used for showing tapped holes.

Threading operations are usually carried out on drilling apparatus. Using a thread mill, though, is more fixed and has few limits regarding the environment.

Milling Machine Operation

The different milling machine operation is:

·         Side Milling

·         Plain Milling

·         Face Milling

·         Straddle Milling

·         Gang Milling

·         Angular Milling

·         Profile Milling:

·         Saw Milling

·         End Milling

·         Form Milling

·         Gear Milling

·         Cam Milling

·         Thread Milling

·         Helical Milling

·         Milling Key Ways, Grooves, and Slots

1. Side Milling

It is the machining process that generates a flat vertical surface at the sides of a workpiece. This operation is completed by using a side milling cutter.

2. Plain Milling

It is a Progress of milling plane surfaces keeping the axis of the cutter parallel to the surface being milled. It is also called slab milling or surface milling. A plain milling cutter is used for the plain milling.     

3. Face Milling

This operation makes plane surfaces on the face of the workpiece. This machining operation is done on surfaces that are perpendicular to the axis of the cutter. The operation is achieved by the face milling cutter fixed on the stub arbor of the machine.   

4. Straddle Milling

it is an operation in which two side milling cutters are used to machine two adverse sides of a workpiece simultaneously. The straddle milling process is shown in the figure given below.

5. Angular Milling

It is an operation of milling flat surfaces which are neither Parallel nor upright to the axis of the milling cutter. It is also called angular milling. A single-angle milling cutter is used to perform this process.

6. Gang Milling

It is a machining operation in which two or more milling cutters are used together to perform different milling processes simultaneously. In gang milling, the cutters are fixed on the arbor.

7. Form Milling

It is the operation of machining a special contour (outline) composed of straight lines, curves, or entirely of curves, at a single cut. Formed milling cutters shaped to the contour to be cut are used to complete this operation. This operation is completed by using convex, concave, and corner circular milling cutters.

8. Profile Milling:

This milling process is used to cut a profile on the workpiece.

9. End Milling

It is the operation of generating flat surfaces which may be vertical, horizontal, and at any angle taking the worktable as a reference. End milling cutters are used to complete this process.     

10. Saw Milling

It is a machining operation that is used to generate narrow grooves or slots on the workpiece.

It is also used for dividing the workpiece into two equal or unequal parts.

This milling process is performed by using a saw milling cutter.

The width of the cutter is very less as compared with the width of the workpiece.

11. Milling Key Ways, Grooves, and Slots

This milling process is used to generate key ways, grooves, and slots on the workpiece.

12. Gear Milling

It is the milling process that is used to cut gears on the workpiece. This operation is done by using conceived milling cutters called involute gear cutters.

13. Helical Milling

This milling operation is done to generate objects having a helical design such as helical gears, twisted drills, etc. it is done on the outside of the cylindrical workpiece.

14. Cam Milling

It is a machining operation that is used to make cams. The cams are used to open and close the valves in the I.C. Engines (internal combustion engines).

15. Thread Milling

It is the operation of milling used to cut threads on the cylindrical workpiece.