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A CNC milling machine can vary in size, depending on the material that needs to be cut. The size of the motor dictates the speed at which material can be cut as well. Wood and plastic are the easiest to cut and steel is one of the most difficult. Rigidity also plays a role in a mill's performance, The more rigid a mill is, the more accurately it cuts and drills. CNC mills, on average, have stronger engines and higher rigidity than their manual counterparts.
The rigidity and speed of cut make a mill a better choice than any manual operation. Mills make parts faster and their increased rigidity results in less waste and fewer rejected parts.
Speed and rigidity play a major part in a mills' superiority, but the accuracy that you have with a computer numerically controlled machine is far superior to that of a manual machine. If used in production, all the parts will be made exactly the same. The only possibility of fault lies in the operator, because a mill can cut with absolute precision as close as .0001 of an inch. -
Many mills have beds that move at angles so they can cut at different angles.. This makes any angled cut or drilling operation available, which is a strong advantage over manual mills.
CNC mills also have automated cooling systems that continually spray or blast the hot metal and tooling with specially formulated coolant as heat can damage tools and raw material. They also have chip storage and conveyor belts for easy scrap removal, neither of which are on standard manual milling equipment.
