The Difference Between CNC Milling and CNC Turning
They are milling and turning. Both are CNC machining methods .
CNC refers to computer numerical control, meaning that CNC milling and CNC turning use computer systems to guide the cutting machinery.
What is the Difference Between CNC Milling & Turning?
The short answer is this – CNC milling uses a rotating tool, while CNC turning uses a rotating part for cutting.
So the two use different techniques to create a part. While milling machines create complex parts from blocks of metal by carving away the excess material, turning is commonly used for cylindrical parts like shafts.
CNC Turning
Items processed by a lathe will be cylindrical and must be on-centre. Turned parts can range from simple rings to complex curved components. CNC turning is the most efficient way to mass-produce these kinds of parts.
Various cutting tools can be installed within the lathe tooling head (pictured below) to perform different cutting operations sequentially, to produce parts in a one-pass process. Straight cuts, tapers and contours can all be created by varying the angle and depth of the cut.
CNC Milling
Milled parts are not necessarily cylindrical. Milling machines use multi-point cutting tools; and there can be more than one tool working on the piece at a time. Milling may be the preferred choice if the part needs anything which is off-centre or angled (such as holes or cuts), or for secondary features such as indentations or grooves.
Conclusion
While these two are often packaged under the same term – CNC machining – they are not the same. Still, they can complement each other beautifully to produce parts with high precision.
For example, turning a shaft may later need adding features with a CNC mill.
As both find wide use in the manufacturing industry, it is wise to differentiate the two.