Microcutting using a micro turn-milling machine

• A micro turn-milling machine designed especially for microtools was developed.
• Cemented tungsten carbide microtools were processed by electrical discharge machining and employed for microcutting using the developed machine.
• Various micropins were successfully fabricated, including not only cylindrical pins but also those with cross sections having square, triangle, and cross shapes.
• An investigation into cutting characteristics showed that better micropin shapes were obtained by up-cut turn-milling than by down-cut turn-milling or by turning.

A turn-milling machine, which is a device having two spindles that rotate a tool and workpiece, can be used to fabricate various shapes by cutting. However, little progress has been made in microcutting using a turn-milling machine. Therefore, a micro turn-milling machine designed especially for microtools was developed and used to fabricate micropins with various cross sections. Cemented tungsten carbide microtools, which are useful both as a milling cutter and as a turning tool, were processed by electrical discharge machining and employed for microcutting. As a result, various micropins were successfully fabricated, including not only cylindrical pins but also those with cross sections having square, triangle, and cross shapes. These noncylindrical micropins have the smallest reported cross-section dimensions for pins fabricated by cutting to the best of our knowledge. Furthermore, cutting characteristics such as the machined shape and surface quality were investigated, which showed that better micropin shapes were obtained by up-cut turn-milling than by down-cut turn-milling or by turning. In contrast, turning was superior to turn-milling in terms of the surface quality.