While they may not like those flashy machines boasting plenty of bells and whistles, boring mills are highly valuable pieces of machinery that are very demanded across the industries in today’s manufacturing world. Every large segment of the industry will sooner or later require one of these powerful machines. They are very capable machines that are intricate, precise and offer great versatility. Boring mills are used for finishing or roughing an internal surface using a single-point cutting tool. Their tolerances usually range from ±0.002″ to ±0.0005″.
So, why is there a need to bore? The use of a boring mill offers two major advantages than using other machines. Generally, they have a large configurable envelope to machine very huge parts easily. So, when a part with dimensions more than 60” envelope has to be machined, it’s usually sent toward a boring mill. A traditional machining center is typically not built for larger envelopes which what boring mills offer. Another beauty with a boring machine is the fact that it features a spindle that enables the operator to reach even small cavities. The live spindle provides a great chance to fix the tooling into the right point and helps reduce tool deflection.
Since the first invention of boring mills 100 years ago, the biggest change happened to them is their controls, particularly the CNC controls. They were first applied during the mid-1950s when they started as a piece of gear-driven, mechanical machinery. These earlier machines need an operator who would have to crank huge wheels to move an axis and to throw levels to change feed rates. All these had changed now with the adoption of CNC-controlled systems which make the operation of boring mills much easier and faster. The operator will just have to download the software program and sets the workpiece in place, then he can work on something else.
Today, boring mills are being developed continuously to provide much higher efficiency and improved the productivity of every company across industries.