17 March 2021

Difference Between Turning and Milling

Turning rotates the workpiece against a cutting tool. It uses primarily round bar stock for machining components while the milling spins the cutting tool against a stationary workpiece. It uses primarily square or it is rectangular bar stock to produce components. So here this article gives the difference between turning and milling to better understand this topic.

What is Milling?

Milling is a machining process in which a machine, normally a milling machine, uses a rotating cutting tool to extract material from a stationary workpiece.

What is Turning?

Turning is a machining process in which a machine, normally a lathe, uses a cutting tool to extract materials from a rotating workpiece. When you turn the workpiece, the cutting tool stays stationary as the workpiece shifts.

Difference between turning and Milling:

  • Turning is performed to generate a cylindrical or there is conical surface, while milling is performed to generate a flat surface.
  • The turning of the workpiece is rotated at fixed revolution per minute(RPM). This rotation provides the necessary cutting velocity, while the Milling is the cutter is rotated at fixed revolution per minute(RPM). The rotating cutter provides the necessary cutting velocity.
  • The turning machine tool is used for turning operation is called lathe, while the milling is carried out in the milling machine.
  • In turn, the cutting tool continuously remains in contact with the workpiece during the operation, while the milling tooth continuously engages and disengages during the operation.
  • The turning process utilizes a single-point cutting tool, called SPTT, while the Milling process utilizes a multipoint cutting tool, called a milling cutter.
  • In turning feed motion is derived by moving the cutting tool, while the milling, feed motion is derived by moving the workpiece.
  • Turning can produce fragmented, discontinuous, or continuous chips while milling inherently produces discontinuous chips.
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