Moving to higher levels of machining technology, in the context of this presentation, is 5-axis machining. Most of you are probably aware of the advantages of 5-axis machining, but we’ll go over them quickly.

First, you can begin reducing setups because you can reach up to five sides of the part in a single setup. One can also reduce stack-up errors because you’re reducing handling and operations. If you can minimize or eliminate moving a part from one fixture to another, there are gains to be made in accuracy.

Second, improved tool life comes with the ability to use shorter, more rigid tools. This is true for a number of applications though people often think of die/mold due to the corners and cavities. Being able to angle the workpiece or spindle allows you to shorten up the tool and also use more aggressive feedrates if the tooling and material allow for it. This also allows for higher rigidity and productivity, which reduces cycle times.

A customer once stated his ability to simplify fixtures for low-volume work: Being able to reach 5-sides can simplify your need for fixturing to get to other sides of parts and reduce lead-times for your consumers.

With 5-axis, you can also machine complex parts from solid rather than cast for low-volume or prototype work. We see this more and more—everything from aluminum to steel to iron castings, even titanium—where a complex part can be produced straight from a solid because of the investment required when manufacturing a cast part. With full 5-axis capability, you can do some of that work much more effectively.

We’re often told by customers who acquire 5-axis capability that they are able to take on jobs that could not have been considered previously. Continuous contour parts are now an option, and on a 4-axis machine, you don’t have this option.

An example of some of those applications is that these more traditional 5-axis works with complex shapes, like the hip joint you see here. This is a mold with undercuts, which would be impossible without 5-axis capability in this case. The bottom picture came from a solid block to the contoured, complex shapes you see. And on the top is a blisk, with a full 5-axis contoured part in titanium.

These parts are 3+2 parts. As we talk about 5-axis parts, we have to mention 2+3, or 3+2 machining, which uses the additional axis to position the part for machining, but you’re not using the continuous contouring capability. The 5-axis setup allows you to angle the part to machine complex parts in fewer operations but without losing accuracy by having all 5 axes move at the same time.

It also provides the benefit of eliminating stack-up error from multiple setups. Using 5-axis can improve your ability to machine parts more efficiently, as you can see.