What is machining and what are its characteristics

Machining in a broad sense refers to all processing using machines; machining in a narrow sense refers to the use of a variety of machine tools for cutting and processing of metals and plastics. General daily mention of machining is mostly in the narrow sense, so it means almost the same as reduction manufacturing, but in the industrial field, we are generally accustomed to call machining.

Among the various machining methods, milling, turning and grinding are three of the most used machining methods.

Milling
Milling is used for a wide variety of parts, from the machining of automotive engine parts to the machining of molds, smartphones and electronic parts. In milling, the material or workpiece is fixed on the machining platform and the tool is programmed to travel and cut the material or workpiece to obtain the set geometry, which is suitable for square parts.

Turning
Turning is also a very widely used machining method and can be used to machine a variety of parts such as automotive shafts and precision parts for smartphones. When turning, the material or workpiece is fixed on the spindle and rotates at high speed, and the tool touches the material or workpiece along the set path to achieve the cut, which is more suitable for machining cylindrical parts.

Grinding
It is a machining method widely used for finishing precision parts such as automotive crankshafts and bearings. Metal surfaces with an accuracy of 1 micron (1/1000 mm) can be achieved. Grinding is a processing method in which a high-speed rotating grinding wheel is pressed against the workpiece bit by bit, causing relative motion between the two, removing the workpiece as chips and finishing it to a predetermined shape and size, and generally taking longer processing time than milling and turning.

In addition, hard-to-cut materials such as cemented carbide and special materials such as semiconductor wafers and ceramics can be easily processed with hard grinding wheels. Precision grinding also allows mirror polishing of metal surfaces with 0.1 micron precision.