BD TECHNOLOGIES
What is machining?
Machining is a set of manufacturing processes that use material removal to produce parts of various shapes and sizes in different materials.
This material removal takes the form of chip removal, and is carried out using machine tools.
These can be conventional – setting up is done manually – or numerically controlled (NC) – a computer program is developed and manufacturing is carried out almost automatically, under the supervision of an operator.
NC machines enable us to achieve extremely precise results.
If the parts are obtained from blocks of raw metal, they are referred to as “cut from solid”, and if they come from pre-formed alumimium profiles, they are referred to as “finished”.
Machining uses a number of techniques, the main ones being :
cutting
The saws cut the basic materials to the desired lengths.
drilling
The hole can either go right through the part (through-hole) or not (non-through-hole).
tapping
Operation consisting in machining a thread inside a bore. A tapped hole is the complementary shape of a screw or threaded rod.
the shoot
Produces cylindrical parts. Unlike milling, it's the workpiece that turns, while the cutting tool removes the material and gives the desired shape.
milling
A manufacturing process in which the removal of material in the form of chips results from the combination of two movements: the rotation of the cutting tool (the milling cutter), on the one hand, and the advance of the workpiece, on the other.
the bore
The process of carefully machining the inner surface of a cylinder or other hollow part.
Punching
Perforation by shearing using a punch and die. The sheet metal is placed between the punch and the die. The punch descends into the die, piercing the sheet by compression. Unlike drilling, where only round shapes are obtained, punching can be used to make complex-shaped holes, depending on the shape of punch chosen.
deburring
A thin layer of material always remains after cutting and machining, known as "burrs". Deburring is therefore the action of removing these residual quantities, either manually or by means of a machine using micro-abrasives (deburring machine).