Engineering and fabrication
Machining centers, CNC lathes, rotary tables, mini mills, super mini mills. What r these?
I am applying for a job that sells these. It is just an administrative position, but I am trying to learn something about the company.
Public Comments
- Lathes: Cut in in the horizontal plane
Milling Machine: Cuts in the vertical plane
CNC lathe: This is a lathe controlled by a computer. Generally someone, usually a designer will "program" a design to cut. This "program" is created in a special piece of software that is compatible with the machine and is essentially just a set of coordinates in a format the machine can understand. Then this program is fed to the machine by the operator. The CNC late will then proceed to cut the design by following the "program" by itself. At this point the only reason the operator would get involved is to stop the machine if there is a problem of some kind.
There is also a CNC Mill (often called a CNC machine) that is similar except that it cuts from the vertical plane rather than horizontal like a lathe. It also had a huge bed which allows the machine to cut the full length of the object automatically.
Rotary table: This is used with a milling machine (looks like a drill press on steroids). It allows the object being cut to be rotated 360 deg on the vertical (z) axis so that all sides are accessible without having to remove it, rotate, and reset each time. That is...if this is the kind I'm thinking of.
Mini mills and super mini mills: Smaller versions of a standard milling machine and are capable of cutting smaller objects with greater precision.
Pictures are worth 1000 words, so here's some links with photos of the different machines
Machining center: http://www.vertical-machining-center-1.com/
CNC Lathe: http://www.cnc-lathe-1.com/cnc-lathe.htm
Rotary Table: http://rotary-table.taiwanbelts.com/
Mini Mill/Super Mini: http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_mill/Main/mini-mill.htm
