When CNC machines were first used to produce exact parts and products from raw material, they originally cut and produced the parts on three axes: X, Y, and Z. As CNC machinery has become more advanced and industries require more exact specifications for critical parts and products, cutting on more axes is possible and practical today, including that of 4 axis CNC machining. Learn what this type of machining is below.
What Is Involved With 4 Axis CNC Machining?
The process of 4 axis CNC machining involves a 4 axis CNC machine that is capable of adding another rotary axis to the traditional CNC machine that can cut on the three aforementioned axes. A traditional CNC machine’s spindle can cut up and down, back and forth, and side to side. The 4 axis machine adds another axis along the X-axis, creating what is known as the A-axis.
How Is This Type of Machining Used?
This type of machining is used to help produce greater precision and versatility when it comes to producing complex parts for various industries, such as the medical, electronics, and aerospace fields. These industries all require complex products with intricate, exact parts that need to be produced en masse in order for all of the critical tasks to be accomplished within a reasonable time period.
Surgeons and their staffs must perform complicated surgeries regularly, often requiring specialized equipment. Smartphones, computers, and TVs would not work as intended without thousands of elaborate parts produced regularly to enable them to function. Aircraft and spacecraft would not reliably fly across Earth and into space without the continuous production of specific parts that enable these vehicles to reliably fly great distances and at great speeds.
