What is the CNC Machine?
Now that we have seen what the NC machine is and its various
parts, it is easier to understand what the
CNC machine is. CNC is the short form for Computer Numerical control. We have
seen that the NC machine works as per the program of instructions fed into the
controller unit of the machine. The CNC machine comprises of the mini computer
or the microcomputer that acts as the controller unit of the machine. While in
the NC machine the program is fed into the punch cards, in CNC
machines the program of instructions is fed directly into the computer via a small
board similar to the traditional keyboard.
In CNC machine the program is
stored in the memory of the computer. The programmer can easily write the
codes, and edit the programs as per the requirements. These programs can be
used for different parts, and they don’t have to be repeated again
and again.
Compared to the NC machine,
the CNC machine offers greater additional flexibility and computational capability.
New systems can be incorporated into the CNC controller simply by
reprogramming the unit. Because of its capacity and the flexibility, the
CNC machines are called as “soft-wired" NC.
The CNC machine comprises of the
computer in which the program is fed for cutting of the metal of the
job as per the requirements. All the cutting processes that are to be
carried out and all the final dimensions are fed into the computer via the
program. The computer thus knows what exactly is to be done and
carries out all the cutting processes. CNC machine works like the Robot, which
has to be fed with the program and it follows all your instructions.
Some of the common machine tools that
can run on the CNC are: Lathe, Milling machines, Drilling Machine
etc. The main purpose of these machines is to remove some of the metal so
as to give it proper shape such as round, rectangular, etc. In the
traditional methods these machines are operated by the operators who are
experts in the operation of these machines. Most of the jobs need to be
machined accurately, and the operator should be expert enough to make the
precision jobs. In the CNC machines the role of the operators is
minimized. The operator has to merely feed the program of instructions in the
computer, load the required tools in the machine, and rest of the work is
done by the computer automatically. The computer directs the machine tool
to perform various machining operations as per the program of instructions fed
by the operator.
You don’t have to worry about
the accuracy of the job; all the CNC machines are designed to meet very close
accuracies. In fact, these days for most of the precision jobs CNC machine is
compulsory. When your job is finished, you don’t even have to remove
it, the machine does that for you and it picks up the next job on its own. This
way your machine can keep on doing the fabrication works all the 24 hours of
the day without the need of much monitoring, of course you will have
to feed it with the program initially and supply the required raw material.
Most of the manufacturing companies are
now equipped with the CNC machines as the markets have got very competitive;
however, getting the expert labours for operating these machines is
becoming quite difficult. Even the machine operators of these days prefer to
operate the machine by programming instead of operating it manually. In most of
the machine tools training institutes the new operators are taught
manual machining as well as CNC machining and programming.
