History Of Machining

The most used manufacturing process is machining and grinding. In the 18th century, Great Britain’s industrial era became the beginning of modern machining. Henry Maudslay invented the modern lathe in 1797. This machine had great precision for cutting threads. A method for producing a true plane surface in steel was invented by an apprentice of Maudslay. This apprentice also produced a machine in 1859 that was capable of measurements to one two-millionth of an inch. The machining and cutting of metals for manufacturing became an important role during the Industrial Revolution. In 1818, Eli Whitney invented the milling machine and also the cotton gin.

EDM machining techniques were discovered by an English scientist in the 1770s. It was not fully used until 1943, with the discovery of how the erosive effects could be controlled. In the 1970s, EDM Machining began to be a technique that helped the metalworking industry. These techniques were transferred to machine tools in the mid 1980s. Exact precision cutting today can be accomplished for the work done with harder materials and metal with Wire EDM.

The Japanese invented the first computer controlled EDM in 1980. These CNC machines can create complicated parts with ease. These CNCs are found working with lathes, milling machines, laser cutters, abrasive jet cutters, punch presses, press brakes and other industrial tools. These machines take electrical instruction from a tape reader. Today, machining has had significant advancement and is now capable of 5-axis applications. Many of these systems will run on PC based APT programming. These 5-axis machines are viewed as very important by the U.S. Department of Defense. These manufacturers are required to own a license in order to export them to foreign countries.