Stuff You Should Know Before Deciding What Machine Tools to Buy

Dec 22
09:21

2011

Adam Worth

Adam Worth

  • Share this article on Facebook
  • Share this article on Twitter
  • Share this article on Linkedin

Here is some important information that can aid you when deciding on the perfect milling machine for your business. Major differences between vertical and horizontal milling machines.

mediaimage


The most important particularity of a machine tool is that its function is to make manufactured parts,Stuff You Should Know Before Deciding What Machine Tools to Buy   Articles through a variety of preset steps. Normally, power tools are used for the deformation of metal, but could be used for any type of material. The starting point of power tools can be traced to the 18th century, when the requirement for increased production led to the invention of the steam powered industrial appliances. The commercialization of machine tools started in the first part of the 19th century and evolved to a degree where almost all large or small manufacturer has a series of different appliances.

Even though human or animal muscle is sometimes (but highly uncommon) used, normally machine tools work on one of the three principles: electrical, hydraulic or pneumatic. The large escalation in required parts has also changed the way in which industrial tools are controlled. Until the Second World War, most large scale manufacturing was based on levers and gears, but a couple of decades later, numerical controls (and later computer numerical controls) have greatly influenced the production rate of these appliances. However, the latest development regarding industrial appliances is the machining center, which includes the elements and specifications of individual power tools into one singular machine. Most recent models are capable of total or partial self-replication, therefore greatly increasing the production rate and giving the human worker a maintenance part (which is without any doubt much easier that traditional manual labor).

Some examples of modern machine tools are the drill press, the screw machine, saws, grinding machines etc, but the most common and highly used (from before the 1840s) is, of course, the milling machine. 

There are a few different types of milling machines, but generally they are found in one of two alternatives: vertical and horizontal (though they vary in size from a small workbench to a full sized industrial machine) and their main functions are cutting, planning, drilling etc. 

The main difference between the vertical milling machine and its horizontal alternative is the position of the spindle axis. The  vertical appliance can be raised or brought down according to need, therefore being usually used for precise industrial producers. However, the choice between the two resides only on the individual needs of the buyer. Without considering the form of the final work-piece, it can be hard to give an unbiased advice. It is also best to know that before the existence of numerical control, the horizontal machine was a lot more popular and useful, but nowadays, the vertical milling machine is the choice for most manufacturers.