MILLING

Introduction
Milling is a machine tool in which metal is removed by means of revolving multipoint cutter.
The work is fed to the cutter longitudinally, transversely or vertically. The depth of cut is set by
raising the table to the certain height and metal is removed by sliding the table which is holding
the work. It is suitable for the tool room work due to its variety of operation with better surface
finish and accuracy. They are available on vertical and horizontal types. Several complex milling
can be done by using jigs and fixtures.

Types of milling machine

The classification of milling machine according to the general design is:
1. Column and knee type

b. Duplex milling machine

a. Hand milling machine

c. Triplex milling machine

b. Plain milling machine

3. Planer type

c. Universal milling machine

3. Special type

d. Omniversal milling machine

a. Rotary table milling machine

e. Vertical milling machine

b. Drum milling machine

2. Manufacturing or fixed bed type

a. Simplex milling machine
D. Pantograph milling machine

c. Planetary milling machine

Principal Parts
1.

Base:
It is the foundation of the machine upon which all other parts are mounted. It is made up of
grey iron to absorb socks and vibration.

2. Column
It is the main supporting frame mounted vertically on one side of the base. Motor and other
driving mechanism are content in it. It supports and guides the knee and vertical trammel.
3. K
n
ee
:
It

projects from column and slides up and down on its face. It supports the saddle and table. Its
height can be adjusted by elevating screw. It carries feet control mechanism and controls feed
in longitudinal cross, vertical by hand power or machine power.
4. Saddle

It supports and carries table and is adjustable transversely and use to cut off metal after
positioning.
5. Table:
Table rest on the wedge on the saddle and support the work piece, fixtures etc
6. Over arm:
It is mounted and guided by the top of the column. It carries arbor that holds the cutter
7. Arbor
It is the extension of spindle on which all the various cutters are mounted it is tapered at one
end to fit spindle nose and has slots to fit the key of cutter.

Milling Cutters:
The milling cutters are revolving to tool having one or several cutting edges of identical form
equally spaced on the circumference of the cutter. Milling cutters are classified as:
Milling cutters:
They are revolving tools having one or several cutting edges of identical form, equally spaced on
the circumference of the cutter. The cutter elements are called teeth which intermittently engage
the work piece and remove material by relative movement of the work piece.
Milling cutters are classified as:
1)

According to the constructional features of the cutter

i.

Solid cutter

ii.

Tipped solid cutter

iii.

Inserted teeth cutter

2)

According to the relief characteristics of the cutter teeth

i.

Profile relieved cutter

ii.

Form relieved cutter

3)

According to the methods of mounting the cutter

i.

Arbor type cutter

ii.

Shank type cutter

iii.

Facing type cutter

4)

According to the direction of the rotation of the cutter

i.

Right hand rotational cutter

ii.

Left hand rotational cutter

5)

According to the direction of helix of the cutter teeth

i.

Parallel or straight teeth cutter

iii.

Left hand helical cutter

ii.

Right hand helical cutter

iv.

Alternate helical teeth cutter

ii.

Special milling cutter

6)

According to the purpose or use of the cutter

i.

Standard milling cutter

7)

T slot milling cutter

8)

Woodruff key slot milling cutter

9)

Fly cutter

10)

Formed cutter

i.

Convex milling cutter

ii.

Concave milling cutter

iii.

Corner rounding milling cutter

iv.

Gear cutter

v.

thread milling cutter

vi.

Tap and reamer cutter

Milling Operations
1. Plane or Slab milling
This operation is the production of flat or horizontal surface parallel to the axis of cutter.
2. Face Milling
It is also the production of flat surface which is at right angle to the axis of rotation of the
face of the milling cutter.
3. Angular Milling
It is the production of flat surface which is at angle to the cutter.
4. Side Milling
It is the production of vertical flat surface on the side face of the job by using side milling
cutter.
5. Form Milling
It is the production of irregular contours by using the cutters of same profile corresponding to
the surface generated.
6. Gang Milling
It is the production of many surfaces of jobs simultaneously by feeding the table against the
number of required cutters.

7. End Milling
It is the production of both peripheral and face milling operation simultaneously. It generates
vertical, horizontal, angular surfaces by using end milling cutter.
8. Milling T-slots
It is performed in two steps. First end miller is used to make slot, and then T-slot cutter is
used to make T-slots.
9. Milling Keyways and Grooves
Recesses in shafts of various shapes and sizes are produced by using either plain milling
cutter, saw milling cutter or side milling cutter.
10. Gear Milling Operation
First gear blank is held in between universal dividing head and tail stock of machine table.
Form relieved cutter, having the same profile as that of desired teeth is used to produce the
desired teeth profile of the gear.

Indexing and dividing heads:

The indexing is the operation of dividing the periphery of a piece of work into any number of
equal parts. In cutting spur gear, equal spacing of teeth on the gear blank is performed by
indexing. The indexing operations can also be adapted for producing hexagonal and square
headed bolts, cutting splines on shafts, fluting drills, taps and reamers and many other similar
jobs, all requiting the periphery of the work piece to be divided equally and accurately.
Indexing is accomplished by using a special attachment known as dividing head or index
head.

Universal Dividing Head

Direct Indexing
Suppose it is desired to mill a project with 8
equally spaced teeth. Since 40 turns of
index crank will turn the spindle one full
turn, 1/8th of 40 of 5 turns of the cranks
after each cut will space the gear for 8
teeth. If it is desired to space the gear for 10
teeth 1/10th of the 40 or 4 turns will produce
the correct spacing.

Figure: Universal Dividing Head

Differential Indexing
Sometimes a number of division is required which cannot be obtained by simple
indexing with the index plate regularly supplied. To obtain these divisions, differential
indexing is used.

Gear cutting:
Out of many processes of manufacturing gears, the most common and accurate method of
production of gears is by machining. Amongst the different methods of producing gears by
machining operations, formed cutter method is one. The formed cutter method of production
of gear uses a single point cutting tool or a milling cutter having the same form of cutting
edge as the space between the teeth being cut. The form cutting method is only used where a
very small number of gears are to be manufactured and where too much of accuracy is not
demanded.

Spur gear proportions:

The first step in machining a spur gear is to determine the important gear tooth dimensions.
The tip or outside diameter should be known to prepare the gear blank diameter. The tooth

depth is necessary to calculate for setting the depth of cut of the cutter. From the module and
the number of teeth on the gear, the pitch circle diameter can be calculated and from the
choral thickness, the size of the gear tooth can be checked.

Milling Cutter Materials

Milling cutters may be made of high speed steels, super high speed steels, non ferrous cast
alloys or cemented carbide. The HSS cutters are most widely used cutter in general shop
works. The cutters are successfully used for plain milling or slotting operation where chip
thickness is small. The cast alloy of cemented carbide tips are used as inserted blades or the
tips are blazed on the tool steel sanks. These are used for wherever the high rate production
desired.

Fundamental of Milling Process

The various milling processes performed by the different milling cutters may be grouped
under two separate headings.
i. Peripheral Milling
It is the operation performed by a milling cutter to produce a machine surface parallel
to the axis of rotation of the cutter. In this, cutting force is not uniform throughout the
length of cut by each tooth. According to the relative movement between the tool and
the work the peripheral milling is classified under two headings.

Up milling
The milling which is also called conventional milling is the process of removing
metal by a cutter. This is rotated against the direction of travel of the work piece.
The thickness of the chip in this is minimum at the beginning of the cut and it
reaches to the maximum. When the cut terminates the cutting force varies from
zero to maximum and surface finish is better. The fluid power is different due to
typical nature of cut. There is tendency to lift the job so more clamping faces are
needed to fix the job in table. It is practicable.

Down milling
It also known as climbing milling and is the process of removing metal by a cutter
which is rotated in the same direction of travel of work piece. The thickness of the
chip is maximum when the tooth begins its cut and reduces to minimum when it
terminates. Cutting forces vary form maximum to zero. Surface finish is better; it
is free form backlash error. Coolants can be powered directly at the cutting zone
where the cutting force is maximum. Forces are sufficient to press downward. So
clamping is not so much, it is impractical.

Job Description:
Addendum circle = 51.75 mm
Pitch Circle = 47.25 mm
Root Circle = 42 mm
Module = 2.25 mm
No of teeth = pitch circle diameter / module = 21
For indexing plate no of rotation = 40/ 21 = 1 19/21
Thus the indexing plate should be set in 21 hole and it should be given 1complete and 19 hole
rotation to cut each tooth.

Precautions during Milling

i.

Make sure that the cutter and arbor are secure

ii.

See that the cutter and arbor support

iii.

Dont tighten or to take off arbor nut by applying power to machine.

iv.

Never rich over a revolving cutter.

v.

Dont strike over the milling cutter.