Milling

Milling is a machining process that removes metal as the work is fed against a rotating
multipoint cutting tool. The milling cutter rotates and removes metal with the help of
multiple cutting edges. Different shape of cutters can be mounted on the arbor (cutter
holding bar) of milling machine.

There are two distinct ways to cut materials when milling. One is up milling and the other is
down milling. The difference between these two techniques is the direction of feed. In up
milling, the cutter rotates against the direction of the feed while during down milling; the
cutter rotates with the feed.

(a) Up milling

In up milling,
● Chip thickness starts from zero and increases at the end.
• Tool rubs more at the beginning of the cut causing more friction and faster tool wear
and
reduces tool life.
• Chips are carried upward by the tooth of the cutter (tool) and fall all over the place.
• Upwards forces tend to lift the work piece. Therefore, a strong work holding device is
needed.

(b) Down milling

In downward milling,
 ● Width of chip starts at maximum and decreases to zero.
● The tooth meets work piece at top of cut and chips fall behind cutter.
● Less friction and wear - increases tool life
● Improved surface finish
● Less power required.
● Downward milling exerts a downward force on work piece. Therefore, fixing is
simple and less costly.

Milling machines

Mainly there are two types of milling machines.

● Horizontal milling machine

● Vertical milling machine

(a) Horizontal milling machine rotates the cutter mounted on the arbor (holding device)
of the machine in a horizontal axis. The work piece is fitted on to the table and can
be moved with the work piece in three directions against the milling cutter as shown
in the diagram above.

(b) Vertical milling machine rotates the cutter in a vertical axis against the work piece in
the required directions as shown above.

Different milling operations and related milling cutters:

Different milling operations can be performed on horizontal and vertical milling machines. To
perform these operations, large ranges of milling cutters are required. They are generally
made from high speed steel which can cut through metals such as mild steel and aluminum.
Cutters with tungsten carbide tips and inserts are available to cut harder materials.

⮚ Common milling operations that can be done on horizontal milling machine are
given below.

(a) Slab milling: It is a method of producing a plain, flat, horizontal surface parallel to
the axis of rotation of the cutter fitted to the arbor of a horizontal milling
machine. For this purpose, a cylindrical milling cutter is used
(b) Slot milling (Slotting): It is a method of producing a groove (slot) on the surface of
a work piece. The figure (b) above shows a side and face cutter fitted to a
horizontal milling machine. This cutter has cutting edges on peripheral and also
on the sides. (See figure below)
 Side and face milling cutter

(c) Side milling is producing a flat vertical surface on a work piece. It is done by a
‘side and face’ cutter fitted to a horizontal milling machine.

(d) Straddle milling: When two parallel vertical surfaces are machined by a single
cutting operation, it is called straddle milling. Straddle milling is accomplished by
mounting two side and face milling cutters on the same arbor set apart by
accurate spacing.

(e) Form milling cutter is made to the exact shape and size of the job profile (shape)
to be made.

(f) Gang milling:

Gang milling is an operation in which number of different milling cutters (same

diameter or different diameters) are mounted on the same arbor and used to get
different cutting surfaces. All cutters may perform the same type of operation or
each cutter may perform a different types of operations.

⮚ Common milling operations that can be done on Vertical milling machine using an
End mill are given below.
 End milling cutter

End milling cutter fixed to a vertical milling machine can perform slot milling, side milling
and it can drill holes. It can also be used to get a flat surface on a metal similar to slab
milling.

Drilling a hole using an end mill (left) and cutting a slot (right)

Side milling
An end mill is a type of milling cutter used in vertical milling machines .It is different from
the drill bit in its application, geometry, and manufacture. While a drill bit can only cut a hole
in the axial direction, an end mill can generally cut in all directions.

Indexing or dividing head of milling machine:

Indexing is an operation of dividing a cylindrical work piece into equal number of divisions by
the help of a mechanism called indexing/dividing head. Common jobs for a dividing head
include cutting teeth of a gear wheel and milling slots.

Simple indexing

By turning the hand crank of the indexing head, the work piece can be rotated. The dividing
head operate at a 40:1 ratio; that is 40 turns of the hand crank turns one full revolution of
the work piece.

The indexing plates shown above have different circles with different number of holes. The
required indexing plate has to be selected according to the number of slots or number of
teeth to be cut on a shaft (cylindrical work piece). The selected plate has to be fixed to the
indexing head of the milling machine to start the work.

Example 1.
Cutting 7 slots on a shaft (cylindrical metal piece)
To turn one full revolution of the work piece, crank has to be turned 40 revolutions.
Therefore to turn 1/7 of a revolution of the work piece, it is required to turn the crank by
40/7. That is, 5 full turns and 5/7 of a turn.

Therefore, the options are to turn 5 full rounds of the crank and then
● Turn 5 holes on a 7 hole indexing plate
● or 10 holes on a 14 hole indexing plate
● or 15 holes on a 21 hole plate, etc ……….

Example 2.
Cutting a gear wheel of 42 teeth
To turn one full revolution of the work piece, crank has to be turned 40 revolutions.
Therefore to turn 1/42 of a revolution of the work piece, it is required to turn the crank by
40/42 (20/21). Therefore, select the 40th hole on a 42 holes indexing plate or 20th hole on a
21 hole indexing plate