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Metal Milling Services: CNC Milling and What the Price Depends On
Milling is the making of parts with flat faces, slots, pockets and complex contours: plates, housings, flanges, die blocks. We carry out milling on CNC machines to the customer’s drawing. Below we explain what milling includes, what the price depends on and what to send for a quote.
Contents
What metal milling is
In milling the cutting tool, the cutter, rotates while the workpiece is clamped on the table and moves slowly beneath it. Each tooth of the cutter takes off a thin chip, and the part of the required shape gradually emerges from a plate or a forging. Unlike turning, where the workpiece rotates, milling suits parts with flat faces, slots and an uneven contour.
CNC milling is done by the machine to a program prepared from the drawing in a CAM system. The program sets the cutter path precisely, so identical parts in a batch repeat and complex contours come out without manual adjustment.
What operations milling includes
Milling of metal covers several main operations:
- face milling: a flat surface of the part with the required roughness;
- slot and groove milling: keyway, T-slot, rectangular;
- pocketing and shouldering in a plate or housing;
- contour milling: cutting a part out along a complex contour;
- drilling, boring and thread cutting in holes;
- 3D milling of shaped surfaces.
How many operations a part needs and in how many setups it can be machined is set by the drawing, and the time and cost depend on that.
What parts are milled
Milling makes plates and flanges with holes, housings, brackets, inserts, templates, punches and matrices, and die blocks: we machine a block measuring up to 1000 × 650 mm in the horizontal plane. More on tooling is on the page machining and tooling.
If a part has a body of revolution (a shaft, a bushing), it is mostly turned, and milling adds slots and flats. How to choose between the two is covered in the article turning or milling; turning on its own is in metal turning services.
What the price of milling depends on
We price milling from the drawing. The table shows what affects it.
| Factor | How it affects the cost |
|---|---|
| Size and mass of the blank | A larger part takes longer to machine and needs a larger machine |
| Material and grade | Hardened and tool steels machine more slowly than structural steels |
| Contour complexity and number of operations | Pockets, slots and shaped surfaces add machining time |
| Number of setups | Each re-clamping of the part adds setup and inspection |
| Accuracy and roughness | Tighter requirements mean finish machining and extra inspection |
| Number of parts | On a batch the machine setup and the program are spread across more parts |
| Heat treatment and coating | Hardening, nitriding, galvanising or painting are priced separately |
The site gives no indicative amounts per hour or per part: the cost depends on the drawing.
What to send for a quote
Send a drawing, and ideally a 3D model if you have one, or a sketch with dimensions. State the material and grade, the number of parts, the accuracy and roughness requirements, the heat treatment or coating needed and the date you want. Leave blank what you do not know: we will clarify it when we calculate.
The lead time depends on how complex the parts are and how busy the workshop is; we state it after reviewing the drawings. After milling you can order heat treatment for critical parts and hot-dip galvanising or powder coating for structures.
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Frequently asked questions about milling
What is metal milling?
It is the removal of metal by a rotating cutter from a workpiece held still, to produce flat faces, slots, pockets or a complex contour.
Do you do CNC milling?
Yes, we carry out milling on CNC machines to the customer’s drawing, and we prepare the programs in CAM systems.
What is the maximum part size for milling?
We machine a die block measuring up to 1000 × 650 mm in the horizontal plane. The size of other parts is confirmed from the drawing.
What does the price of milling depend on?
On the size of the blank, the material, the complexity of the contour, the number of operations and setups, the accuracy requirements, the number of parts and any additional operations. We price from the drawing.
What should I send to get a quote for milling?
A drawing or sketch, and a 3D model if you have one, the material, the number of parts, the accuracy, heat treatment and coating requirements and the date you need.
Related products: Machining and tooling · Plasma and laser cutting of sheet metal · Custom steel fabrication
More on this topic: Metal Turning Services: CNC Turning and What the Price Depends On · Turning or Milling Metal: What the Difference Is and How to Choose
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