subject: What Is Precision Machining? [print this page] Many people may have chanced upon the expression precision machining but have no idea what it is. Prototyping is one activity that happens in a machining shop. A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from. Prototypes consist of stuff such as industrial machines, state-of-the-art equipment and other items used in the industry. Fabrication is one other thing that happens in machining shops. A customer may instead of choosing a prototype, bring a design or plan of his choice and the shop will then make a product like it and present it to the customer. One more thing that precision machining shops can do is cutting tool blanking which is an important activity, which someone in the shop really has to have the capacity to do. Shops do cutting tool blanks by molding or shaping raw materials by basing the work on specifications given for the product.
Precision machining shops and companies are the ones that keep businesses alive. Industries depend on them for the supply of machines. The machines are highly technical such as the CNC lathes, mills and drills. This precision-machining machinery is able to produce one of the designs as well as large batch deliveries for the larger jobs. Experts operate the machines through a number of different programs such as CAM or CAD. An eye for detail is essential with great reliance being placed on the precision being perfect to ensure they are safe and will not cause any accidental injury.
Precision Machining companies these days provide on-site manufacturing support to refine customer-designed products. They attempt to have a positive influence on the end-product value and the manufacturability. From prototyping and R&D, to full production runs, they take the design concept from start to end. They have extensive knowledge and application expertise on different plastics, non-ferrous metals and their alloys apart from their expertise in machining ferrous metals. (For beginners, Non-ferrous metals mean metals apart from iron). Computers have had a positive impact on this industry too. Machinists now find CAD/CAM and MATLAB programs indispensable to their jobs.
