Milling and 5-axis machining
The program describes the part, not the machine: the same program runs on a 3-axis and a 5-axis machine. Machining progress is visible on screen, not on the blank.
What usually goes wrong
A machining program is usually written for a specific machine and its controller. Moving a part to another machine means a new program and a new check on metal.
What the engineer gets
- Part program: toolpath and tool orientation — from the part.
- A run on the model of your machine: current line, toolpath, axis motion.
- A program is rejected only when it is physically impossible, and with the reason named.
- Milling, 5-axis and turning — on one platform; machine axis commissioning — in the browser.
Which modules
A part from drawing to machine
- BlankThe first program line: size and material. The blank appears in 3D on the right.
- OperationsFacing, pockets, holes, threads, edge — each subtracts volume; an operation refusal comes as a line with the reason.
- Tool by slotA reference to a slot in your machine’s tool table: diameter, profile, stick-out and number come from there.
- Simulation and checksMaterial removal in 3D, then pre-start checks with margins in millimetres and rpm.
- MachineSetup and zero by touch, a run without motion, then cutting.
A plate with a pocket, holes and a chamfer — five lines
| Line | What is set | Why in this order |
|---|---|---|
| Blank | 200 × 100 × 50 mm, aluminium | After that — only subtraction |
| Facing | Remove 0.4 mm from the top | Base — a flat top, a real Z zero |
| Rectangle, depth 12 mm, slot T9 | Volume — before holes | |
| Drilling | Two points, depth 14 mm, slot T4 | Identical holes — one step and one tool change |
| Chamfer | 1 mm, slot T6 | The top edge — last |
Dimensions can be expressed as parameters and through each other — the part stays parametric, the program recalculates on every change.
Several faces in one setup
The rotary table sets to a pose and stays: from then on coordinates count from the face looking up. The pose is given in right angles — 0, ±90, 180 — and goes into the header of the following cutting steps.
The machine makes the rotation block itself: it retracts the cutter, turns the table and pauses between faces. The rotation creates no step of its own — it changes the setup, it does not remove material.
Table or head
A machine with a tilting rotary table and a machine with a tilting head share the same example program; the difference shows in the test bench’s answer.
Positioning, not 5 axes at once
Continuous five-axis machining of complex surfaces is outside the scope of the scenario.
Thread by table rotation
With a real rotary axis a thread can be cut by rotating the table; on a three-axis mill this strategy is unavailable.
The part changes machine — the program stays
Zero belongs to the setup
Where the blank sits is known by the setup and the machine work offset. Moving the blank or transferring to another machine does not change the code by a single byte.
A flip resets the zero
After a flip the part zero is invalid: before the next cut of the same part, probing the blank by touch on the same machine is mandatory.
Robot at the machine
A robot loads, unloads and flips the part with a motion program. Machine tending →
Stick-out is checked before cutting
Touch by torque
The cutter stick-out in the holder is verified by touch via drive torque: slot, expected stick-out and tolerance are set. The check does not cut and does not create a step; it works only on servo.
An empty table stays empty
The platform does not substitute a “typical set of cutters with zero stick-out”: the program would find an invented cutter for any slot.
The cutter physically cannot — the step is locked
A thread of the wrong profile, a fillet without a ball cutter, depth greater than stick-out — a refusal before start.
Operations, materials and module boundaries in detail — “CNC machines”.
How the implementation goes in this scenario
- Area surveyEquipment composition, cycle, target figures — into the specification.
- Model on screenYour area in the browser, runs of programs and the cycle.
- Experimental work-outStart-up on your equipment with target figures.
- Protocol and reportR&D report and test protocol; decision on the next stage.
Questions about the scenario
Does the program need rewriting for another machine?
No. The program describes the part from the blank corner; the part position, the zero and the tool stick-out live in the machine twin. The same part gives the same text on any machine able to cut.
Is there continuous five-axis machining?
The scenario is 3+2 machining: the table or head sets to a pose and stays, cutting goes with three axes. There are no toolpaths over an arbitrary surface; the closest are the terraced pocket and the sloped wall finish.
Who chooses the cutter and cutting data?
The process engineer names the cutter. The platform filters the catalogue by operation and material and calculates speed and feed if they were not named; values named explicitly are not overridden.
Which materials?
Aluminium, steel, stainless steel, brass, bronze and copper, titanium, wood and plywood, plastics, composites — from the material catalogue when the program is created.
What about turning?
A lathe with X and Z axes is at an experimental level and runs in simulation; the path on your drives is worked out in the implementation.
How to be sure of the program before cutting?
Three levels: material removal simulation in 3D, pre-start checks with margins in millimetres and rpm, a run on the machine without drive motion.
The main points for this scenario
- Machines, robots and the line in one window— milling, 5-axis and turning, welding, machine tending, palletizing.
- Drive commissioning in the browser— bus device search, parameters, plots, diagnostics.
Discuss an implementation
We publish implementation results as a case with your consent. How a case study works →
Implementation under an R&D contract
Line virtual commissioning implementation: price per line cell, minimum 3 cells; payment in stages by acts.
- Model and cell layoutYour line’s cells in the twin: mechanisms from the library or from your STEP, layout on the site.
- SFC logic and cycle timeThe cells’ SFC program is run on virtual axes; the line cycle time comes from the run.
- Report and run videoA report on conflicts and reachability and a video of the line run.
A cell is a line unit (an ISA-88 unit). Scope — mechanisms from our library or the customer’s STEP, no modelling from scratch.
Implementation price and terms →Let’s discuss your area
Tell us which equipment and which cycle — we will reply with the stage price and timeline.
Request access