What is Metal CNC Machining?
Metal CNC machining refers to the process of machining metal materials using CNC machines (Computer Numerical Control machines). CNC is a technology that controls machines and tools through pre-programmed computer instructions, enabling high-precision and high-efficiency metal machining.
How Does Metal CNC Machining Work?
Metal CNC machining typically includes processes such as milling, turning, drilling, and cutting. By controlling the movement paths and machining parameters of the tools on the metal workpiece through programmed instructions on the CNC machine, it allows for the precise machining and production of complex parts.
How to Choose the Right Metal CNC Machining Method?
1.Material Type：Different materials are suitable for different CNC machining methods. For example, aluminum is soft, suitable for high-speed processing, and efficient milling is recommended. Stainless steel and titanium are hard and wear resistant, requiring the selection of highly rigid tools and stable machining methods, such as turning or milling at low speeds and high torque.
2.Workpiece dimensions：The size of the workpiece determines the choice of equipment, large-size workpiece is recommended to use a large-stroke CNC machine tool, small-size precision parts can choose a more refined CNC turning and milling machine or Swiss machine.
3.Complexity of the workpiece: If the workpiece shape is relatively simple, conventional 3 or 4 axis CNC machining is enough, if involving complex surfaces, multi-axis machining, you need five or more axis CNC machine.
4.Tolerance Requirements: High tolerance requirements require the selection of high-precision CNC equipment, such as Swiss-type lathes, which are suitable for the machining of tiny parts. This type of equipment can control tolerances at the micron level to meet the requirements of precision machining.
5.Surface finish: The surface treatment method after different metal processing is usually different, because the adaptability of different metals and their surface characteristics to the treatment method is different. For example, aluminum is more suitable for anodizing, electroplating, etc., to increase corrosion resistance, stainless steel is usually polished, widely used in food, medical equipment and so on. When choosing a surface treatment method, the following factors need to be considered:
Environment of use: Whether it is exposed to corrosive environments, such as Marine environments or chemicals.
Functional requirements: Whether it is necessary to enhance wear resistance, corrosion resistance or improve appearance.
Cost: Different surface treatment methods vary in cost and need to balance performance requirements and budget.
6.Production Volume: For precious metal processing, a highly automated CNC machining center can significantly improve production efficiency, while cheap metals can be used with standard CNC lathes, milling machines or automated machine tools, and production efficiency is usually higher because these metals are easier to work.
7.Cost Efficiency: Cost effectiveness is evaluated comprehensively from equipment investment, processing time, material utilization and process complexity, high-end CNC machine tools are higher in price, but can shorten processing time and improve accuracy, suitable for high value-added parts production. Through detailed costing and demand analysis, the most suitable processing method can be selected, thus achieving the best cost effectiveness.
What Metals Can Be Effectively Machined with CNC?
| MATERIAL | |
|---|---|
| Aluminum | Aluminum 6061,6061-T6 Aluminum 2024, Aluminum 5052Aluminum 5083, Aluminum 6063, Aluminum 6082, Aluminum 7075,7075-T6, Aluminum ADC12 (A380) |
| Copper | Copper C101(T2), Copper C103(T1), Copper C103(TU2), Copper C110(TU0), Beryllium Copper |
| Brass | Brass C27400, Brass C28000, Brass C36000 |
| Bronze | Tin Bronze |
| Steel | Steel1018,1020,1025,1045,1215,4130,4140,4340,5140,A36, Die steel, Alloy steel, Chisel tool steel, Spring steel, High speed steel, Bearing steel, Cold rolled steel, SPCC |
| Stainless Steel | Stainless SteelSUS201, Stainless SteelSUS303, Stainless SteelSUS 304, Stainless SteelSuS316, Stainless SteelSUS420, Stainless SteelSUS430, Stainless SteelSuS431, StainlessSteelSUS440C, Stainless SteelSUS630/17-4PH, Stainless SteelAlS1304, Stainless SteelSUS316L |
| Magnesium | Magnesium Alloy AZ31B, Magnesium Alloy AZ91D |
| Titanium | Titanium Aloy TA1, Titanium Alloy TC4/Ti-6A14V, Titanium Alloy TA2 |
Why Is CNC Machining Preferred for Metal Fabrication?
- CNC machining has stability, can achieve high precision, and has advantages in the processing of complex parts and precision parts.
- CNC milling is compatible with a variety of material choices, and is suitable for processing high-strength, high-hardness materials, such as titanium alloy, tool steel, etc., traditional processing methods are difficult to achieve efficient cutting.
- It is suitable for processing complex geometric shapes and is widely used in aerospace and automobile industries.
- Low material loss, CNC machining can accurately control the processing path and cutting amount, high material utilization rate, reduce costs, is conducive to the processing of expensive metal materials. And because of the high precision of CNC machining, the scrap rate is low, the material consumption is also lower.
The Role of CNC Machining in Metal Fabrication
CNC machining plays a vital role in the field of metal machining. With high precision, high efficiency and automatic processing methods, it meets the needs of modern industry for high-quality, complex geometric shapes and a variety of materials processing. Through CNC machining, it not only improves production efficiency and product quality, but also significantly reduces labor costs and material waste, so it has become an indispensable technical means in metal processing.
Advantages of CNC Machining in Metal Fabrication
- CNC machining is more accurate, more stable, and can maintain high consistency in mass production, which is difficult to achieve with traditional machining methods.
- CNC machining is particularly good at dealing with complex geometric shapes, especially multi-axis CNC machines (such as 5-axis ) can cut in multiple directions, so as to achieve precision machining of complex parts. In contrast, traditional machining methods are often difficult to complete the processing of complex workpieces.
- Manual processing or traditional machine tool processing usually requires a lot of human intervention, easy to lead to errors and instability, and processing time is long, low efficiency. In contrast, CNC machining has a high degree of automation, and the CNC machine can automatically complete the entire machining process without manual intervention, which significantly improves production efficiency.
- CNC machine tools can process a variety of metal materials such as steel, aluminum, copper, titanium, and stainless steel simply by adjusting the processing parameters. They excel in handling high-hardness metal materials, while some traditional processing methods may struggle with high-hardness materials or difficult-to-machine alloys.
Our CNC Machines Have Every Characteristic You Would Need
Our company equipped with over 150 manufacturing devices, including precision CNC turning, multi-task turn-mill centers, CNC milling machines(3-axis,4-axis and 5-axis), Swiss turning machines(3-axis,5-axis and 8-axis), these devices play a crucial role in our production process, as they can accurately process various parts and ensure the quality of our products. We provide CNC Machining Services, CNC Milling Services, CNC Turning Services, Multi-Task Turn-Mill Services, Swiss Turning Services.
What are the different technologies used for Metal CNC Machining?
- CNC Turning: The workpiece rotates while the tool cuts the material along a specific path.
- CNC Milling: The milling cutter rotates while the workpiece is fixed, and the cutter can be rotated in multiple directions, suitable for machining complex geometric shapes.
- CNC Drilling: Mainly used for machining holes on workpieces by drilling with a rotating drill bit.
- CNC Grinding: It is mainly used for precision surface treatment and shape processing of workpieces, and is removed by high-speed rotating grinding wheel.
- CNC Wire EDM: The technical principle is to use the electrode line to cut the metal along the set trajectory on the workpiece.
- CNC Laser Cutting: Cutting and processing by laser beam has been widely used in machinery manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, electronics and other industries.
- CNC Plasma Cutting: Combined with the numerical control system, a high-temperature plasma arc is formed. The heat of the arc causes the metal at the workpiece incision to locally melt (and evaporate), and the molten metal is removed by the power of the high-speed plasma airflow to form the incision. But the cutting precision is relatively low.
- CNC Waterjet Cutting: Water cutting uses high pressure water jet to cut metal, adding abrasive particles can cut various metal materials.
How to Choose a Metal CNC Machining Provider?
Have excellent technical ability and complete processing equipment,rich experience in the field of CNC machining, perfect and strict quality control system and quality inspection process, with high-precision quality inspection equipment. Have a good reputation, good customer service consciousness…
What materials Cannot be CNC machined?
Rubber or silicone, foam and other materials are too soft to CNC machining, if the hardness of the material exceeds the hardness of the lathe tool, it can not be processed. Thermal sensitive materials, such as polypropylene, may be softened and deformed during processing.
Why is CNC milling so expensive?
The equipment cost is higher, the 4-axis or 5-axis milling machine is expensive, and the regular maintenance cost is also higher. Milling requires more staff. Engineering requires professional skills, and labor costs are higher. The high cost of CNC milling is mainly derived from equipment investment, technical requirements, precision control, tool consumption, material cost, and subsequent processing and inspection.
Is CNC machined metal strong?
The robustness of CNC machined metal parts is affected by a variety of factors, such as the choice of materials, the quality of processing technology, the choice of tools…In the design stage through reasonable geometric shape and structure optimization, improve the strength of parts, in the selection of tools to combine the tool parameter control,I it is also necessary to carry out adequate and strict quality testing, so that the parts produced in this way will be strong.
