If you are new to the world of machining and tooling it can feel completely overwhelming, with so many machining tools that you must learn and remember. This is not even counting the massive amount of hand tools and fittings that each machine tool comes with.

There are six machine tools that are used within the industry, turning tools, milling tools, grinding tools, cutting tools, and drilling tools. It is important to remember that more specialised shops will have different machine tools, usually custom made for their purpose.

To understand why there are so many machine tools commonly used within the industry we are going to look at each one. Focusing on where they would commonly be used and how they improve the overall flow and quality of the work done in your shop.

What Are Turning Machine Tools?

Generally, turning machines are lathes of any variety, these can be old-school manual lathes or CNC lathes that requires programming. Typically lathes and turning machines are used to create precise parts, often mass manufacturing pieces or creating custom parts used on other tools. A lathe holds material in a chuck, which can come in various sizes and types, turning the material at a high speed.

The cutting tool does not turn on a lathe, instead working on the material from the side while the chuck turns the material, allowing for precise cutting around the centre. Wood lathes are not the same as metal lathes, as the two types of machine tools require different levels of speeds, feeds, and strengths.

Many metal lathe machines are able to be fitted to work on wood, whereas the inverse is not true, as wood lathes are not strong enough to turn harder metals. We recommend starting any machine shop or workshop with a lathe, even a small one, as they can help you stay ahead on the types of tools you need. The basics needed to work on a lathe can be transferred to other machine tools, creating a good basis for your skills.

What Are Milling Machine Tools?

Traditionally milling machines and milling cutting refers to a cutting process to remove material from the surface of a work piece. Within machining this refers to a milling machine that has a moving tool that spins at high speeds that moves up and down, cutting to precise measurements, and a bed that moves in two to three axes.

A milling machine is one of the easiest machines to recognize in any workshop as they are distinct in shape and use. Milling machines are often used to make precise cuts and to resurface work pieces, cut exact shapes, and create complex shapes that are not round.

We recommend having a milling machine alongside a lathe as you will need to cut specific parts and create complex parts that are exact in measurement. Further, the tools needed for many other tools in a workshop can be made and refined with a milling machine, whether CNC or manual.

What Are Grinding Machine Tools?

Grinding machine tools can be anything from belt sanders, sanding discs, hand grinders, or surface grinders. There are many types of grinding machine tools, and each can help you create more precise parts and tools, often grinding machine tools are used to refine and clean up already machined parts.

Most machine workshops start out with a simple hand grinder with different fitments, that can cut, grind, and even polish. However, hand grinders quickly become expensive to use and can be dangerous when used for long periods, as well as expensive to maintain. Further, hand grinders do not offer the same level of precision that dedicated grinders do.

Belt and pedestal grinders are used for grinding by hand, allowing for quick work to be done, or mass-producing parts. Universal, Cylindrical and Surface grinders offers precision grinding in small increments to ensure consistency and high accuracy.

What Are Cutting Machine Tools?

While cutting tools are used on lathes and milling machines, there is a subset of machining tools that refers to cutting machines. These are bandsaws, wire cutters, plasma cutters, waterjets, laser cutters, and even specific parts of grinding machines that are used for cutting.

Cutting machines are often machines that specifically cut, sometimes cutting pieces into specific lengths whereas more complex machines like laser cutters can cut complex shapes. These tools work well in conjunction with other machine tools, allowing you to create multiple pieces in the exact same size and shape.

We have seen several machine shops that try to cut parts using milling machines or by hand, causing work to be delayed and slowed down. However, just using a specialized cutting machine tool can shorten the amount of time wasted on cutting similar parts repeatedly with the wrong tool.

What Are Drilling Machine Tools?

Your hand drill, a drill press, or even milling machines are all drilling machine tools, that can use a drill or specialised bit to create a circular hole. Specialised bits can create different hole shapes when needed, allowing you to create the same sized hole repeatedly.

Most workshops start out with a simple drill press, allowing for easy and repeated holes to be drilled in pieces. Often machine shops will buy older drill presses from other machining shops that are upgrading or simply no longer needs the drill press.

We recommend that you look at something smaller to start with, using a simple drill press to create your pieces or to refine your parts. Upgrading to a larger drill press when creating more complex parts or even buying a small milling machine to create parts that have several different requirements.

Conclusion

To know what all the common machine tools are is important to knowing what you need to buy first for your workshop. Learning what to buy to upgrade or which machines can improve the quality of your work is an important part to running a successful workshop that can provide everything needed.

Always remember that there is a tool or machine tool for every part and shape that you may need to cut.

08/30/2023 12:36:19