The fifth movement is even trickier. When a plane lands, imagine the nose tilting upward but not increasing in altitude. This is the fifth movement and it is your fifth axis. The 5 axis CNC machining equipment can modify an object in the same manner that the plane moves around space.
Terminology
The angles A, B, C designate rotations about the X, Y, and Z axes, respectively. Note that all standards define the positive direction (i.e., increasing angle) as CCW rotation of the cutting tool. This direction is easily found by holding your right hand with your thumb points in the positive direction of the linear axis and then your curled fingers show the positive rotary direction. For dual rotaries the name of the second axis is based on its orientation when the first axis is at zero. Note that the direction of any axis is defined as the direction of the tool (regardless whether the tool or the table moves), therefore the direction of rotary tables is reversed - so use your left hand instead.
Head Rotation - Axes & Directions Four different five-axis machining center designs:
The result is a more repeatable process. More axes of positioning would only compound the opportunities for positioning error to affect the move. Another strength of this machine design relates to workpiece size. The fewer rotary axes move the workpiece (as opposed to the tool), the better the machine can accommodate large parts. This machine does rotate the work-piece in B, so the part's swing is limited in this axis. However, because this is the only workpiece pivot, the machine handles tall workpieces effectively. Five-axis machines placing both pivots at the table generally are limited to workpieces that are small relative to the linear travels. But the design of this five-axis machining center leaves the workpiece more fixed, allowing the machine to take on very tall cylindrical parts.
"It can be hard to picture," he says. "You move in B, but then the pivot point for A moves as well." Allowing for the workpiece to move through compound angles in the course of the machining cycle introduces variations in the positions of various features that can be time-consuming just for the programmer to think his way through. "Give me a five-axis machine with at least one pivot in the spindle head," Mr. Schaefer jokes. "I may have to insist on qualified tools, but at least I can picture what's happening to the workpiece." But he knows some jobs simply demand a fixed spindle head. A five-axis job requiring heavy cuts is an example of this. No five-axis machine can take a deeper cut than what the rotary axes are able to support, and the bearings for a rotary table are typically much larger than the bearings for a pivot at the spindle head. Many machining center builders have succeeded in making their spindle head pivots far more rigid than the smaller bearing size would suggest. Nevertheless, Mr. Kramer feels safer assigning the heavy cutting five-axis jobs to a machine like this one, where the spindle has no freedom to tilt whatsoever.
spindle results in a small and accessible five-axis machine which nevertheless can take relatively deep cuts. General Tool bought this machine primarily because it was small. All of its other five-axis machines are much larger, and therefore prohibitively expensive to run for smaller, more inexpensive parts. By contrast, the rotary table/trunnion machine can't accept large workpieces, but makes five-axis machining of smaller parts much more economical. Plus the vertical design makes the machine easy for operators to load and unload, allowing the shop to machine a run of work-pieces in a way that none of General Tool's other five-axis machines makes practical. The shop also considers this its most precise five-axis machine. In practice, pivoting spindle head designs lose accuracy through uncertainly in the tool offsets. Similarly, a double rotary table machine has uncertainty in where the A axis has been positioned with respect to the pivot in B. That's why General Tool tends to assign parts requiring continuous five-axis machining to this machine, whenever size permits. Often, size does not permit. Five-axis jobs are usually big jobs. However, that may be because five-axis machines have historically been big, built-to-order machines. Today, more builders are offering five-axis machines that depart from that tradition. The variety of low-cost, standard five-axis machining centers now available may allow shops to apply five-axis machining to classes of partssmall, low-cost componentsfalling outside of five-axis machining's traditional niche. If so, then more shops will be turning to five-axis machining to let them work more productively, and more shops will find themselves evaluating competing five-axis designs in much the same way that General Tool has.
The advantage of rotary tables is that they can easily be installed when needed. Note that rotary table B is usually used on horizontal machines, mainly for cutting heavy parts from different sides.
Rotary table A is usually used with vertical machines to cut cams and roller dies. Dual rotary tables are usually AB for horizontal machine and AC for vertical machine, but other configurations are used as well.
For vertical machines the head can be tilted by B-axis, which turns about the Y-axis. The tilted head reduces the rigidity less than any other head. Automatic tool changer can be used same as with 3-axis machines. Adding 5th axis A enables tilting the tool about the X-axis. This BA head is less intuitive to move manually than a CA head.
CA Head
CA and CB heads are same heads with a different setup. When C=0, CA is set so that the 5th axis turns about X-axis and CB is set so that the 5th axis turns about Y-axis.
CA Head Geometry
A CA head is mostly used for vertical and gantry machines while CB head is used for horizontal machines. The head with rotary axes provides tilt and swivel for the cutting tool. The difference between CA and CB heads is how the zero position is set.
CA Head Coordinates
y y y y y y
Reduced feedrate. Hard to implement automatic tool changer. For compact heads - no taper, collets are used. Singularity (see below). Total accuracy depends heavily on the rotary axes accuracy and setup. Accuracy depends on accurate tool length data.
Pivot length
The perfect orientation mechanism will change the tool orientation without changing its location. In such a case changing orientation doesn't require any linear move. This is impossible to achieve because of mechanical constrains. For A or B tilt there is a certain distance between the center of rotation (pivot) and the tool tip. This is called pivot length. In some machines it is reduced to a small distance by a clever design. However, tool length changes this length and therefore tool length setting must be accurate. Note that for 3-axis milling incorrect tool length setting is compensated by the home setting and at worst it will change the depth of the cut. With rotary head incorrect tool length changes the shape as well. Just imagine a sphere cut with a CA head - its radius accuracy depends upon an accurate setting of the tool length. For CA head X and Y each may also have a pivot length, either by design or because of misalignment (offset). For BA head, B may have X offset and A has some distance from B-pivot. The total Z-pivot length is therefore affected by both tool length and A-axis orientation.
Longer Pivot Length causes: y y y y y Reduced rigidity Reduced accuracy Reduced cutting feed Reduced working envelop Changing orientation requires bigger changes in position
CNC Milling Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Milling is the most common form of CNC. CNC mills can perform the functions of drilling and often turning. CNC Mills are classified according to the number of axes that they possess. Axes are labeled as x and y for horizontal movement, and z for vertical movement, as shown in this view of a manual mill table. A standard manual light-duty mill (such as a Bridgeport ) is typically assumed to have four axes: 1. 2. 3. 4. Table x. Table y. Table z. Milling Head z.
The number of axes of a milling machine is a common subject of casual "shop talk" and is often interpreted in varying ways. We present here what we have seen typically presented by manufacturers. A five-axis CNC milling machine has an extra axis in the form of a horizontal pivot for the milling head, as shown below. This allows extra flexibility for machining with the end mill at an angle with respect to the table. A six-axis CNC milling machine would have another horizontal pivot for the milling head, this time perpendicular to the fifth axis. CNC milling machines are traditionally programmed using a set of commands known as G-codes. G-codes represent specific CNC functions in alphanumeric format.