Why More And More Manufacturers Tend To Use CNC Five-axis Equipment To Meet The Processing Of High-quality Molds And Products

Why more and more manufacturers tend to use CNC five-axis equipment to meet the processing of high-quality molds and products

Lao Zhang, the owner of the mold factory, has been doing some reckoning recently. Last year, he accepted a batch of new energy auto parts orders and used a three-axis machine tool to implement 13 processes. However, the scrap rate exceeded 15%. This year, he replaced it with a five-axis equipment, which requires only two processes for the same job, and the scrap rate has dropped to 3%. After completing the calculation of this account, he directly linked the three old three-axis machines in the workshop to the second-hand trading platform.

Five-axis is not about showing off skills but about survival.

At present, the speed of mobile phone replacement is as fast as flipping through a book, and the mold delivery cycle has been compressed to half of the original time; in 2025, a mold factory in Shenzhen received an order for a mobile phone middle frame. According to the traditional process, 5 sets of molds had to be opened, and the schedule was 45 days. Why are more and more manufacturers tending to use CNC five-axis equipment to meet the processing of high-quality molds and products, but the customer only gives 20 In the end, all the curved surfaces were finished in one clamping operation using five axes, and the order was won.

Labor costs are rising faster than housing prices. Dongguan survey data shows that by 2025, it will be difficult to recruit skilled three-axis machine operators with a monthly salary of RMB 12,000. However, with the combination of five-axis equipment and automated production lines, one master can take care of three machines, thus directly reducing the labor cost of a single piece by 60%.

The one that is about to be cornered by the five-axis is electric discharge machining. In the past, when making deep-cavity molds, discharge had to be performed. One electrode was used for a long time, and there was still a white layer on the surface. Now the five-axis has been replaced with a tool with an aspect ratio of 3:1. Deep cavities can be milled directly, and the surface roughness can reach Ra0.4. The discharge workshop has directly transformed into a warehouse.

The twists are rolled using a three-axis process. According to relevant statistics from Zhejiang Taizhou Mold City, in 2025, the unit price of ordinary three-axis machining will drop to 20 yuan per hour, a decrease of 40% compared to five years ago. The unit price of five-axis machining is stable at more than 150 yuan per hour, and the work has been scheduled for three months.

What exactly does the five-axis have?

The five-axis is based on the three-axis X, Y, and Z, and adds two additional rotation axes. The more common ones are the A-axis rotating around the X-axis, and the C-axis rotating around the Z-axis. The key point is that these two rotating axes can be linked with the linear axis, so that even if the tool tip points to a complex curved surface, it can still continue to move forward. Tests conducted by a machine tool factory in Germany showed that when machining impellers, the efficiency of using a five-axis linkage method is three times faster than that of a three-axis plus rotary table.

Nowadays, the C-axis structure is becoming more and more solid. A Japanese brand has launched a new five-axis turntable with a bearing diameter of 400 mm and a braking torque of 2,000 Nm. The rigidity test showed that it can directly pass through the stainless steel side wall when milling, and the tool tip swing during heavy cutting is reduced by 40% compared to the old model.

The accuracy is calculated

The five-axis fixture transforms mysterious things into practical science. When previously using three axes to process the valve body, four different fixtures needed to be replaced four times for four different surfaces, resulting in a cumulative error of 0.05 mm. However, with the five-axis equipped with a zero-point positioning system, one clamping operation can complete the processing of six surfaces, and its repeatable positioning accuracy is only 0.002 mm. As a result, there is no need for a fitter to do repair work during assembly.

When a medical device factory in Suzhou processes orthopedic implants, merging the processes is the most worry-free. Originally, turning, milling, drilling, and grinding were performed separately, but this separation required three days for turnaround. Now it uses five-axis turning and milling combined with one-time clamping. The finished product can be rolled off the production line in three hours, and its surface roughness directly reaches the importance of mirror-level five-axis machining simulation . It also eliminates the need for polishing.

The coordinate system only performs one search, which is the dimensionality reduction attack. In the past, when three-axis processing complex workpieces, each surface had to be drawn separately. Due to differences in the master's techniques, the scrap rate would also be different. The five-axis automatically calculates with the help of the workpiece zero point. When programming is properly set, the machine tool converts and converts the coordinates on its own. As long as the operator masters the clamping skills, even a novice can achieve the accuracy of a master master.

The rigidity of a short tool is unquestionable. When processing deep-cavity molds, a longer tool must be used in the case of three-axis. However, the tool tip will shake randomly during cutting. In the case of five-axis, the workpiece can be tilted. By using the shortest tool to process the deepest position, actual measurements found that when using the same parameters to mill quenched steel, the life of the five-axis tool can be extended to three times, and the surface roughness can be reduced from Ra1.6 to Ra0.8.

Surface quality hides real skill

It's not just accuracy, there's something else the dagger brings to the table. An aerospace parts factory conducted a comparative test. When processing titanium alloy impellers, the five-axis ball cutter with an overhang length of 25 mm was used, while the three-axis ball cutter was used with a 75 mm overhang length. The cutting vibration was reduced by 70% compared with the five-axis ball cutter with an overhang length of 25 mm. The surface waviness directly passed the aviation standard test.

There are no more discharge lines, and even the polishing process can be omitted. In the past, after the mold cavity was discharged, there was a hardened layer on the surface, and the polishing master had to spend a lot of time polishing it. Five-axis machining directly produces a mirror effect. Measurement data shows that the surface residual stress is only one-fifth that of electric discharge machining. In this way, the mold life can be extended by 100,000 molds.

Side edge cutting is a hidden skill. The traditional three-axis ball cutter can only make single-point contact. Its slow cutting speed will also leave the tool pattern. Five-axis machining simulation simulation is important . The five-axis is set at an angle, and then the side edge of the ball cutter is involved in cutting, making the contact line longer. Then the feed can be increased from 1000 mm per minute to 3000 mm per minute, while the surface roughness is reduced by one level.

Doubling efficiency is not bragging

When an automobile mold factory processes door molds, a 30 mm short tool is used in the five-axis mode, and the cutting parameters are set to S12000 and F5000. Compared with the use of long tools in the three-axis mode, the efficiency in this case is doubled. Among them, the mold core processing time was reduced from the original 8 hours to 3.5 hours, and the electricity bill was also saved by half, which fully demonstrates that the feed speed is an extremely critical factor for economic benefits.

Saving can save on discharge technology. In the past, it took 6 hours to make a spark machine electrode, and another 4 hours to process. Five-axis linkage can directly mill out the clear corners, and all electrode costs are saved. According to statistics from a Guangdong home appliance mold factory, after comprehensively replacing discharge, the electrode procurement cost has been saved by 800,000 yuan a year.

Tools with multiple blades are thus cost-effective. In the case of five-axis side edge milling of deep cavities, corn mills with four or even six blades can be used. The feed rate of each blade is 0.15 mm. In this way, when processed along a circle, the depth of cut can be equivalent to the effect of cutting three blades with a ball cutter. According to actual measurements, when processing No. 45 steel, the material removal rate can reach 300 cubic centimeters per minute, causing the three-axis machining to shake its head at the sight.

The five-axis is a trend, not a myth

In the span of fifty years, the transformation from hand-cranked operation to CNC control has been achieved, and in the course of thirty years, the leap from three-axis to five-axis has been achieved. In 2025, the number of domestic five-axis machine tools will successfully exceed 100,000 units, and the lower price limit has dropped to the 600,000 range. However, the group of masters who can master five-axis programming skills is still a scarce resource today. Even if the headhunter offers an attractive price of up to 400,000 annual salary, it is still difficult to find suitable candidates.

Aero-engine blades must be processed with five axes, which is a necessity. However, ordinary mechanical parts factories have also realized that five axes are used to dry complex parts. After calculation, it is found to be cheaper than three-axis machining plus outsourcing. The key is to regard it as a processing method rather than as a useless display. Those bosses who used the purchased machines as four axes, because of the importance of five-axis machining simulation , eventually sold the machine tools at a discount.

Is there a kind of part in your current workshop that has to be clamped repeatedly for many times and cannot meet the accuracy requirements no matter how it is debugged? Post the relevant drawings in the comment area, and let's calculate together how many processes can be saved and how much money can be saved if five-axis processing is used. If you think this article has practical value, be sure to give it a like and forward it so that more brothers working in the mechanical field can see it.