The lower cutting forces and higher productivity associated with today s new breed of machining centers are increasing the number of pockets milled with thin walls. Aircraft builders are finding machining hardware and airframe components from billets of aluminum is more cost efficient than fabricating them from composite materials or sheet metal.
Machined billets are often lighter and more precise than formed and riveted sheet metal.
Continuous contact scanning probes can reduce measurement time by tracing free-form contours while applying low forces against the piece throughout the measurement routine. Carl Zeiss IMT Corp. Despite these advantages, milling thin walls in pockets presents a challenge to machinists. As the cutting tool dulls with use and encounters hard spots, the wall can deflect away from the tool and spring back after the tool has passed. Deflection increases as the tool becomes duller, resulting in an uneven wall that is thicker in the middle and at the top, away from adjacent walls. Making the walls straight, parallel, and uniform in thickness can be tricky.