Computer Numerical Control, or CNC machines, are metal processing tools of high accuracy that base their operation on commands given by their main computer unit. CNCs can be various types of processing machines such as turning and milling centers, drilling machines, lathes and multitasking turning centers. Some more modern implementations include automated plasma and water jet cutters too.
The commands that are stored into a CNC and get successively performed correspond to the head or the workpiece table movement along an axis, essentially replacing the manual hand wheels and levers. Modern CNCs can also read 3D models derived from CAD files and generate the proper series of commands needed to realize the model automatically.
Main Advantages
Using CNC machines generates a series of benefits that are very important for the efficient running of any modern workshop business. The increasing demands in the metalworking sector call for fast production combined with precise workpiece geometry, something that can only be achieved through the use of CNC machines.
1. CNCs relieve workshop owners from employing an adequate number of machinists to fulfill the production needs. Only a minimum number of employees is required to monitor the operation of those automated machines.
2. No extensive training is needed for the workshop employees to cope with their day to day duties, as opposed to the years of vigorous practice that was required by lathe and mill machinists in the past.
3. Automated CNCs can produce many items of the same design featuring high-fidelity and repeatability.
4. Automated tools such as CNC machines can run all day and all night long, all year round with only occasional stops for maintenance purposes. Human operators, on the other hand, need frequent breaks for their work to remain accurate and can only work for certain periods of time.
5. Items that require extensive measuring and accurate dimensioning take a lot of manufacturing time for a machinist no matter how many of those were produced in the past. CNCs, however, can quickly produce the same item countless times and without any geometrical deviations among the produced pieces.
6. CNCs that feature "live" tools can materialize items that pose a challenge to even the most experienced machinists out there.
7. Another possible benefit is the streamlining of workpieces manufacturing using multi-tasking CNCs. This is due to the fact that multi-tasking machines can combine various milling and cutting processes that would otherwise require the mounting of the workpiece on various different machines.
Potential Issues
Nothing comes without drawbacks, though, and CNC machines are no exception to this rule either. Here are some hindering factors for consideration:
1. First and foremost, there is the cost. A modern CNC machine can cost a lot depending on its technical features and capabilities. This cost of acquisition is constantly dropping as open source software to control CNCs is made available and production of CNC parts increases, but it still remains on the high side.
2. Secondly, there is the lack of engineering and calculative skills in a workshop. As the need for those is eliminated by the CNC machine's automated nature, workshops may slowly become incapacitated in regards to the technical abilities of the personnel.
3. There is a chance that a CNC is badly calibrated or the workpiece bed gets somehow misaligned. This can lead to countless of defective items before someone notices.
The commands that are stored into a CNC and get successively performed correspond to the head or the workpiece table movement along an axis, essentially replacing the manual hand wheels and levers. Modern CNCs can also read 3D models derived from CAD files and generate the proper series of commands needed to realize the model automatically.
Main Advantages
Using CNC machines generates a series of benefits that are very important for the efficient running of any modern workshop business. The increasing demands in the metalworking sector call for fast production combined with precise workpiece geometry, something that can only be achieved through the use of CNC machines.
1. CNCs relieve workshop owners from employing an adequate number of machinists to fulfill the production needs. Only a minimum number of employees is required to monitor the operation of those automated machines.
2. No extensive training is needed for the workshop employees to cope with their day to day duties, as opposed to the years of vigorous practice that was required by lathe and mill machinists in the past.
3. Automated CNCs can produce many items of the same design featuring high-fidelity and repeatability.
4. Automated tools such as CNC machines can run all day and all night long, all year round with only occasional stops for maintenance purposes. Human operators, on the other hand, need frequent breaks for their work to remain accurate and can only work for certain periods of time.
5. Items that require extensive measuring and accurate dimensioning take a lot of manufacturing time for a machinist no matter how many of those were produced in the past. CNCs, however, can quickly produce the same item countless times and without any geometrical deviations among the produced pieces.
6. CNCs that feature "live" tools can materialize items that pose a challenge to even the most experienced machinists out there.
7. Another possible benefit is the streamlining of workpieces manufacturing using multi-tasking CNCs. This is due to the fact that multi-tasking machines can combine various milling and cutting processes that would otherwise require the mounting of the workpiece on various different machines.
Potential Issues
Nothing comes without drawbacks, though, and CNC machines are no exception to this rule either. Here are some hindering factors for consideration:
1. First and foremost, there is the cost. A modern CNC machine can cost a lot depending on its technical features and capabilities. This cost of acquisition is constantly dropping as open source software to control CNCs is made available and production of CNC parts increases, but it still remains on the high side.
2. Secondly, there is the lack of engineering and calculative skills in a workshop. As the need for those is eliminated by the CNC machine's automated nature, workshops may slowly become incapacitated in regards to the technical abilities of the personnel.
3. There is a chance that a CNC is badly calibrated or the workpiece bed gets somehow misaligned. This can lead to countless of defective items before someone notices.
About the Author:
Absolute Machine Tools, Inc. offers a wide range of CNC machines. Learn more on their website about their machine tools for sale, including lathes, deep hole drilling machines, boring machines and more!
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