Vertical boring mills remain to be vital in the recession-proof industries. Although the vertical boring mills do not really boast many bells unlike flashier machines, they actually perform a lot of basic machining operations which remain to be in demand across the board in the global manufacturing market of today.
Every big industry in the market uses machineries which require a vertical boring mill as observed by the vice president of marketing and sales at the United Precision Services, Bob Conners. The boring machines are deemed to be precise, intricate as well as capable and reliable machines which offer a lot of versatility according to the president of job shop CNC Industries Inc, Greg Morgan.
Boring actually refers to the machining process in which a hole that has been previously drilled is enlarged with the use of a single-point cutting tool in an internal turning operation. Boring is used for finishing and in roughing internal surfaces.
Why is there a need to bore?
There are actually two main advantages when a vertical boring mill is used rather than other machining tools. Generally, they have larger configurable envelope. Large parts can be easily machined with the use of a boring mill. As Conners have placed it, vertical boring mills are somewhat synonymous with large envelope work. This is why if you have a work piece that needs to be machined and has a dimension that go beyond 60” envelope, this is typically routed toward the boring machines. If you use traditional horizontal machining centers to complete the job, it is impossible to accomplish since they are not built for large envelopes.
Another advantage of the boring mill is that it features a spindle which advances from its headstock and allows the end user to reach inside smaller cavities. With the use of a live spindle, the user has the opportunity to keep the tooling short from the cutter point and to the place where it fixes to the spindle and minimize tool deflection.
Options with Boring
There are actually two types of boring mills which are vertical and horizontal. The horizontal boring machine has its spindle mounted horizontally while the vertical boring mill has its spindle vertically. The major difference between these two is that the work piece in the horizontal boring mill is stationary while that in the vertical mill, the work piece turns and the tool is still kept stationary. The shape of the raw material will determine if you should use the vertical or horizontal boring machine.
Should you opt to use the horizontal boring machine, you tend to have more versatility since it will not limit your part size. You can surely work on three feet by three feet but you can also put a 10” part on the table. On the other hand, the vertical machine will only allow you to place at most a three foot part on the working table. Despite these considerable differences, both vertical and horizontal mills still generate equal amounts of use in various industries.