What are Machine Tools?

A powered mechanical devise that uses a power source other than human power for the purpose of driving grinding wheels or cutting tools is often referred to as a machine tool. Machine tools should not be confused with the tool itself that removes the material as they are two different things, but they are used in unison. To obtain a better idea of what a machine tool is, one needs to first look at a number of different styles of machine tools and their evolution from manual machines to today's Computer Numerically Controlled (CNC) machines.

It is best to begin with a look at some of the different types of cutting tools and how over the years machine tools have been designed specifically to be able to best use these types of tools. Two very broad groups of tools are

Cutting

Grinding

Working very similar to a knife, cutting tools have the ability to cut into the material and remove material much like peeling an apple. Cutting tools come in many different forms, but the most often used are Drills, End Mills,

Grinding Wheels Abrasive Cutoff Wheels Honing stones Deburring tools Sanders Etc.

Very generally speaking, the (3) major types of cutting style machine tools are drilling/milling/tapping machines, boring mills, and lathes. With the advent of computing power, many of these machine types within these broad classifications have been designed to operate as CNC machines.

For a very large portion of the work to be performed, CNC machines vary from their manual machine counterparts by the fact that once they are programmed, they will run independently with minimal human intervention. There also is a wide diversity within the different types of grinding machines (many of these styles have also been designed to operate as CNC machines).

Major types of grinding machines are Surface Grinders OD (outer-diameter) Grinders ID (internal-diameter) Grinders Thread Grinders Blanchard Grinders Honing Machines Jig Grinders

Designed to abrade materials in small amounts, these types of machines are used to produce very accurate close tolerance parts for final component assembly or to maintain highly accurate location positioning through ground surfaces. Cutting machine tools, although very capable of making finished parts all on their own, are considered to be "rough machining" vehicles. In the process of making finished parts, grinders are predominately considered to be "finish machining" equipment.

The advent of CNC machines that control the machining processes through computer control, these machine tools have further enhanced the quality and exactness of the parts being produced. Capable of machining almost any material found in a solid form, these pieces of equipment are driving the global development of industry throughout the world.