Milling and drilling of composites can occur on conventional CNC machine tools when the proper cutting conditions are met. Adding new materials to a machine's mix can be far more advantageous to small or agile manufacturing firms when compared to the cost of a dedicated machine tool. Flexibility is the key in today's lean world where you are asked to produce only what is required on any given day, week or month. Today's' CNC machines can be retrofitted with the necessary environmental controls to allow manufacturers to run a mix of metals, composites, plastics and other materials past their machine spindle. Machine tool users can invite in a 3rd party to install all of the necessary environmental controls on their existing equipment to collect, store and package for disposal, all airborne particles collected during the machining process. These same solutions can also be retrofitted directly by the end users. Contaminate collection systems may not be able to keep particles out of the fluid collection process when switching between liquid coolants and dry processes. Following a detailed rinsing procedure and micron filtering of collected contaminants, a machine tool can be safely converted to liquid cooled machining after cutting composites. Dedicating a machine tool to cutting materials that do not require liquid coolant can eliminate the downtime associated with switching between wet and dry cutting processes. When your cutting tools material selection includes ceramic and diamond tools as well as high speed steel and carbide, you can easily switch between aluminum, plastics, composites and metal alloys, all of which can be cut dry. Continuous development of cutting tool technology is constantly providing new pathways and opportunities for machine tool users. While these new tool materials continue to push the level of dry cutting, they also increase the need for operating at the recommended speeds and feeds.
展开▼
