CNC machining intelligence for the shop floor
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All posts tagged “reference”
37
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Aerospace machining explained — why flight-critical parts are different: the hard-to-cut alloys, the tight tolerances on thin flexible structure, and the traceability and quality system that make documentation as important as the part itself.
Automation readiness explained — the self-check a machine shop runs before buying any pallet system or robot, the seven readiness domains from process stability to monitoring, and the order in which to fix the gaps the audit reveals.
Automotive and EV parts machining explained — the high-volume discipline that defines the industry, and what the shift from combustion engines to electric drivetrains changes: aluminium housings, tighter precision for efficiency and NVH, casting-plus-finish workflows, and the quality system at volume.
How CAM software turns a model into a machinable program — what CAM actually does, the seven-stage workflow from model to machine-ready G-code, and the discipline that decides whether a program cuts right: every CAM setting is a promise about the physical setup.
How to understand China's machine tool industry — its scale, its two-tier structure, the import-substitution push that is reshaping it, the regional map of who builds what, and what it all means when you buy machines from China.
CNC automation options explained — the spectrum from quick-change workholding to full flexible cells, pallet changers and pools versus robot and cobot tending, and the decision logic that matches an automation approach to what a shop actually machines.
What CNC axes actually are and how the axis count changes what a machine can do — linear and rotary axes, 3-axis to 5-axis, the trunnion-versus-swivel-head choice, and 3+2 versus simultaneous five-axis, decided by your part's geometry.
A plain-language, shop-floor glossary of CNC and machining terms — machines, axes, G-code, cutting tools, parameters, workholding, metrology, automation and safety — grouped by topic and deep-linkable term by term.
The honest answer to "how much does a CNC machine cost" is a set of drivers, not a number. This guide maps what you're actually paying for — the machine, the options, and the total cost of ownership around it.
CNC machine types explained by the geometry they make — the milling family for prismatic parts, the turning family for round parts, and grinding and EDM for the work cutting tools can't do — with a decision path from your part to the right machine.
How to set CNC machining parameters — cutting speed, spindle RPM, feed rate, chip load and depth of cut — with the formulas, the starting points, a repeatable tuning method, and the recipe each operation actually needs.
CNC measurement and inspection explained — the metrology toolkit from calipers and micrometers to the coordinate measuring machine, how to choose the right instrument for the tolerance, and the discipline of calibration, technique and measurement-system analysis that makes a measurement trustworthy.