The Benifits of 5 Axis Machining

There are obvious and considerable advantages to five-axis machining; primarily the conservation of time and money. It is however imperative to understand the construct of a five-axis machine and it’s functionality. Similar to your average three linear axes CNC machine, in addition; a five-axis machine has two additional rotary axes that can take one of two basic forms. One type uses a rotary tables while the other type incorporates the rotary axes into the machine’s headstock and spindle. Research shows that five-axis machining increases productivity and reduces the occurrence of human error. How? Firstly; it’s capability to machine intricate shapes in a single setup, which saves time and most importantly reduces labour costs. Secondly; your are much less likely to encounter human error whilst offline programming in front of a PC in a controlled environment than at the machine face in what might be a noisy machine shop. Even if you are not privileged enough to be using an offline programming facility; the reduced physical setup time alone is benefit enough in avoiding human error with multiple setups. Given that five-axis machining allows us to lower the head towards the job and orientate the cutter towards the surface; it enables us to utilise shorter cutting tools meaning we can run spindles at a grater RPM achieving reduced tool vibration. Another benefit of Five-axis machining is that it allows you to machine exceptionally intricate parts from solid that would ordinarily need to be cast. Furthermore; this style of machining (Five-axis) can conserve a tremendous amount of time when it is necessary to drill a succession of angled holes as the orientation of the part can be adjusted to along the correct axis in a matter of seconds prove immensely useful as the machine need not stop for the part to be reset for a second operation. Finally; angular surfaces that would otherwise prove problematic using a three axis machine can be programmed and executed with ease even manually at the machine face.