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Broad classifications of milling cutters:

MILLING OPERATION
Milling is a process of generating machined surfaces by progressively
removing a predetermined amount of material or stock from the workpiece
which is advanced at a relatively slow rate of movement or feed to a milling
cutter rotating at a comparatively high speed. The characteristic feature of
the milling process is that each milling cutter tooth removes its share of the
stock in the form of small individual chips.
TYPES OF MILLING CUTTERS:
The variety of milling cutters available for all types of milling machines helps
make milling a very versatile machining process. Cutters are made in a large
range of sizes and of several different cutting tool materials. Milling cutters are
made from High Speed Steel (HSS), others are carbide tipped and many are
replaceable or indexable inserts. The three basic milling operations are shown
in Figure below.

MILLING

FACE MILLING

Milling cutters are broadly classified as,

a) Profile sharpened cutters where the geometry of the machined
surfaces are not related with the tool shape, viz;
i. Slab or plain milling cutter :

straight or helical fluted

ii. side milling cutters single side or both sided type

iii. slotting cutter
iv. slitting or parting tools
v. end milling cutters with straight or taper shank
vi. face milling cutters
b) Form relieved cutters where the job profile becomes the replica of the
tool-form, e.g., viz.;
i. Form cutters

ii. gear (teeth) milling cutters

iii. spline shaft cutters

iv. tool form cutters

v. T-slot cutters

vi. Thread milling cutter

END MILLING

Various uses of different milling cutters and milling machines

Use of profile sharpened cutters:
The profile sharpened cutters are inherently used for making flat surfaces
or surface bounded by a number of flat surfaces only.
Slab or Plain milling cutters :Plain milling cutters are hollow straight HSS cylinder of 40 to 80 mm outer
diameter having 4 to 16 straight or helical equi-spaced flutes or cutting edges
and are used in horizontal arbour to machine flat surface as shown in figure
below.

Side and slot milling cutters:

These arbour mounted disc type cutters have a large
number of cutting teeth at equal spacing on the
periphery. Each tooth has a peripheral cutting edge
and another cutting edge on one face in case of
single side cutter and two more cutting edges on
both the faces leading to double sided cutter.
One sided cutters are used to produce one flat
surface or steps comprising two flat surfaces at right
angle as shown in figure.

Parallel facing by two

side (single) cutter

Both sided cutters are used for making rectangular

slots bounded by three flat surfaces.
Slotting is also done by another similar cutter having
only one straight peripheral cutting on each tooth.
These cutters may be made from a single piece of
HSS or its teeth maybe of carbide blades brazed on
the periphery or clamped type uncoated or coated
carbide inserts for high production machining.
Slotting by side (double sided)
milling cutter

End milling cutters or End mills:

The shape and the common applications of
end milling cutters (profile sharpened type)
are shown in figures.

Slitting saw or parting tool:

These milling cutters are very similar
to the slotting cutters having only one
peripheral cutting edge on each tooth.

The common features and characteristics of

such cutters are :

However,
-the slitting saws are
diameter and much thin

-mostly made of HSS

larger

in

-possess large number of cutting

teeth but of small size
-used only for slitting or parting

-4 to 12 straight or helical teeth on the

periphery and face
Parting by slitting saw

-diameter ranges from about 1 mm to 40

mm

Angular Milling

Slotting

-very versatile and widely used in vertical

spindle type milling machines
-end milling cutters requiring larger
diameter are made as a separate cutter
body which is fitted in the spindle through a
taper shank arbour as shown in figure.
Shell Milling

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Face milling cutters:

The shape, geometry and typical use of
face milling cutters are shown in figure.
The main features are :
usually large in diameter (80 to 800 mm)
and heavy
used only for machining flat surfaces in
different orientations
mounted directly in the vertical and / or
horizontal spindles
coated or uncoated carbide inserts are
clamped at the outer edge of the carbon
steel body as shown

generally used for high production

machining of large jobs.

Use of form relieved cutters (milling)

The distinguishing characteristics of such cutters, in contrast to profile
sharpened cutters, are ;
form of the tool is exactly replica of the job-profile to be made
clearance or flank surfaces of the teeth are of archemedian
spiral shaped instead of flat
teeth are sharpened by grinding the rake surface only
used for making 2-D and 3-D contour surfaces
Form cutters
Such disc type HSS cutters are generally used
for making grooves or slots of various profiles
as indicated in figures.

Gear teeth milling cutters

Gear milling cutters are made of
HSS and available mostly in disc
form like slot milling cutters and also
in the form of end mill for producing
teeth of large module gears. The
form of these tools conform to the
shape of the gear tooth-gaps
bounded by two involutes as shown
in figure. Such form relieved cutters
can be used for producing teeth of
straight and helical toothed external
spur gears and worm wheels as well
as straight toothed bevel gears.

Form cutters may be also end mill type like T-slot cutter as
shown in figure

Spline shaft cutters

These disc type HSS form relieved cutters are used
for cutting the slots of external spline shafts having 4
to 8 straight axial teeth as shown in figure.

Thread milling cutter

Such shank type solid HSS or
carbide cutters having thread like
annular grooves with equi-spaced
gushings are used in automatic
single purpose milling machines for
cutting the threads in large lot
production of screws, bolts etc.
Both internal and external threads
are cut by the tool as shown in
figure.

Tool form cutters

Form milling type cutters are also used
widely for cutting slots or flutes of different
cross section e.g. the flutes of twist drills
(as shown in figure), milling cutters,
reamers etc., and gushing of hobs, taps,
short thread milling cutters etc.

Short thread milling

The milling cutter and its use in long

thread milling (e.g. lead screws,
power screws, worms etc.) are
shown in figure.

Long thread milling

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Classification of milling machines

Milling machines can be broadly classified;

(a) According to nature of purposes of use:
general purpose most versatile commonly used mainly for
piece or small lot production
staggered-tooth
cutter

Side milling cutter

plain milling
cutter

single-angle
milling cutter

single purpose e.g., thread milling machines, cam milling

machines and slitting machine which are generally used for
batch or lot production.

Special purpose these are used for lot or mass production,

e.g., duplicating mills, die sinkers, short thread milling etc.

convex milling
cutter

double angle
milling cutter

concave milling
cutter

Corner rounded
milling cutter

(b) According to configuration and motion of the work-holding table / bed

Knee type :typically shown in figure. In
such small and medium duty
machines the table with the job/work
travels over the bed (guides) in
horizontal (X) and transverse (Y)
directions and the bed with the table
and job on it moves vertically (Z) up
and down.

Bed type:

Planer type:

Usually of larger size and capacity;

the vertical feed is given to the
milling head instead of the knee
type bed

These heavy duty large machines,

called plano-miller, look like planing
machine where the single point tools
are replaced by one or a number of
milling heads; generally used for
machining a number of longitudinal flat
surfaces simultaneously, viz., lathe
beds, table and bed of planning
machine etc.

Machine parts :
1. Column

2. bed

3. cross slide

4. work table

5. Ram

6. ram support

7. arbour support
Table feed motions :
a. longitudinal feed

b. cross feed

c. vertical feed

(c) According to the orientation of the spindle(s)

Rotary table type :

Plain horizontal knee type

Such open or closed ended high

production
milling
machines
possess one large rotary worktable and one or two vertical
spindles as typically shown in
figure; the positions of the job(s)
and the milling head are adjusted
according to the size and shape
of the job.

This non-automatic general purpose milling

machine of small to medium size possesses a
single horizontal axis milling arbour; the work-table
can be linearly fed along three axes (X,Y, Z) only;
these milling machines are most widely used for
piece or batch production of jobs of relatively
simpler configuration and geometry
Plain horizontal knee type
milling machine
Horizontal axis (spindle) and swivelling bed type
These are very similar to the plain horizontal arbour knee
type machines but possess one additional swivelling
motion of the work-table
Vertical spindle type
In this machine, typically shown in figure, the only spindle
is vertical and works using end mill type and face milling
cutters; the table may or may not have swivelling features
Vertical spindle type milling machine

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The standard milling machine arbor has a tapered, cylindrical shaft

with a standard milling taper on the driving end and a threaded
portion on the opposite end to receive the arbor nut. One or more
milling cutters may be placed on the straight cylindrical portion of
the arbor and held in position by sleeves and the arbor nut. The
standard milling machine arbor is usually splined and keys are used
to lock each cutter to the arbor shaft. These arbors are supplied in
three styles, various lengths and, standard diameters.
The most common way to fasten the arbor in the milling machine
spindle is to use a draw bar. The bar threads into the taper shank of
the arbor to draw the taper into the spindle and hold it in place.
Arbors secured in this manner are removed by backing out the draw
bar and tapping the end of the bar to loosen the taper.

Surface Generation Methods.

There are two methods of milling
flat surfaces with plain milling
cutters depending upon the relative
direction of feed of the worktable
and the rotation of the cutter:
1. Conventional (Up) Milling.
Here, the direction of feed of the Up Milling or
Down Milling or
worktable is opposite to the Conventional Milling
Climb Milling
direction of rotation o f the cutter.
2. Climb (Down) Milling.
Here, the direction of the worktable feed and the rotation of the cutter is the same.
Shape of chip:
In either case, the individual chips cut in the milling process are of variable
thickness, having across section resembling a comma.
In conventional milling, the thickness gradually increases during the cut.
In climb milling, the cutter tooth takes a chip of maximum thickness at the beginning
of cut and of zero thickness at the end.

The end of the arbor opposite the taper is supported by the arbor
supports of the milling machine. One or more supports reused
depending on the length of the arbor and the degree of rigidity
required. The end may be supported by a lathe center bearing against
the arbor nut or by a bearing surface of the arbor fitting inside a
bushing of the arbor support.

The
advantages
of
conventional milling are that
the load on each cutter tooth
is gradually increased and the
teeth start cutting under the
Down Milling or
metal skin of the workpiece. Up Milling or
Conventional Milling
Climb Milling
The initial tooth contact
usually occurs in clean metal and ends by lifting or peeling off the
rough surface scale. Due to this reason, this method of milling is
preferred for machining sand castings, forgings and metals that have a
rough or hard abrasive surface scale. The disadvantages are that the
cutter tends to lift the workpiece from the worktable and as the teeth
tend to dull, each tooth slides across the workpiece surface a minute
distance before it begins to cut, producing a characteristic wavy surface.

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There is tendency of
lifting the work table
also, along with lifting
the job from the table or
fixture (since the cutting
forces
are
directed
upwards).

Up Milling or
Conventional Milling

This increases the clearance between the table and bed or saddle
ways. In making heavy cuts, such clearances lead to vibrations which
impair the surface finish produced on the job. Again, chips
accumulate ahead of the cutting zone where they can be picked up
by the teeth and carried around to impair the finish.

Up Milling or
Conventional Milling

Up Milling or
Conventional Milling

Down Milling or
Climb Milling

Also, it is difficult to machine thin sheets and workpieces where

clamping is inadequate. Since, the table is to be fed against the
cutting force, the feed motor and main motor powers consumed are
comparitively more. The favourable conditions for conventional
milling are that the work must be rigidly held to offset the tendency
of the cutting forces to lift or pull the work out of the vise or fixture.

Down Milling or
Climb Milling

The advantages of climb milling are : job is forced against the table
and the table against the ways. This eliminates excess clearance in
jointing surfaces and the resulting vibrations. Also, the chips are
deposited behind the cutter and out of its way. These factors give a
better surface finish than in conventional milling. Again, less power
is required in climb milling, because, less power is consumed in the
feed motion. Increased cutting speeds and feeds are possible.

Down Milling or
Climb Milling

Up Milling or
Conventional Milling

Down Milling or
Climb Milling

Also, thin sheets can be easily machined. The favourable conditions

for climb milling are : the workpiece has no hard skin, the milling
machine is in good condition and there is no excessive backlash in
the table screw and nut, since any looseness will allow the cutter to
draw the workpiece ahead and take bites that ire too large. The
method is usually used for milling operations on slender and
intricate parts.

STRADDLE MILLING
When two or more parallel vertical
surfaces are machined at a single cut,
the operation is called straddle milling.
Straddle milling is accomplished by
mounting two side milling cutters on
the same arbor, set apart at an exact
spacing. Two sides of the workpiece are
machined simultaneously and final
width
dimensions
are
exactly
controlled.

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GANG MILLING
Gang milling is the term
applied to an operation in
which two or more milling
cutters are mounted on the
same arbor and used when
cutting horizontal surfaces.
All cutters may perform the
same type of operation or
each cutter may perform a
different type of operation.
For example, several workplaces need a slot, a flat surface, and an
angular groove. The best method to cut these would be gang
milling as shown in Figure. All the completed workpieces would
be the same.

The shaft to be splined is set up between centers in the indexing

fixture.
Two side milling cutters are mounted to an arbor with a spacer and
shims inserted between them. The spacer and shims are chosen to
make space between the inner teeth of the cutters equal to the width of
the spline to be cut The arbor and cutters are mounted to the milling
machine spindle. and the milling machine is adjusted so that the
cutters are centered over the shaft.
The splines are cut by straddle milling each spline to the required
depth and using the index head of the indexing fixture to rotate the
workpiece the correct distance between each spline position.
After the splines are milled to the correct depth, mount a narrow plain
milling cutter in the arbor and mill the spaces between the splines to
the proper depth. It will be necessary to make several passes to cut the
groove uniformly so that the spline fitting will not interfere with the
grooves. A formed spline milling cutter, if available, can be used for
this operation.

(d) According to mechanisation / automation and production rate

Universal head milling machine
These versatile milling machines, typically shown
in figure, not only possess both horizontal milling
arbour and the vertical axis spindle, the latter
spindle can be further tilted about one (X) or both
the horizontal axes (X and Y) enabling machining
jobs of complex shape.

Milling machines are mostly general purpose and used

for piece or small lot production. But like other machine
tools, some milling machines are also incorporated with
certain type and degree of automation or mechanization
to enhance production rate and consistency of product
quality. In this respect milling machines can be further
classified as follows :
Hand mill (milling machine) -this is the simplest form of
milling machine where even the table feed is also given
manually as can be seen in figure.
Planer and rotary table type vertical axis milling
machines are not that automated but provide relatively
higher production rate
Tracer controlled copy milling machine, typically
shown in figure, are mechanically or hydraulically
operated semi-automatic milling machines used for lot
production of cams, dies etc by copying the master piece
Milling machines for short thread milling may be considered single purpose
and automatic machine being used for mass production of small bolts and
screws.

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Computer Numerical Controlled (CNC) milling machine

Replacement of hard or rigid automation by
Flexible automation by developing and using
CNC has made a great break through since
mid seventies in the field of machine tools
control. The advantageous characteristics of
CNC machine tools over conventional ones
are :
flexibility in automation
change-over (product) time, effort and cost
are much less
less or no jigs and fixtures are needed
complex geometry can be easily machined
high product quality and its consistency
optimum working condition is possible
lesser breakdown and maintenance requirement
Figure typically shows a CNC milling machine. The versatility of CNC milling
machine has been further enhanced by developing what is called Machining Centre.

Kinematic diagram of a milling machine