CNC Milling Services

CNC mills are automated cutting machines using a rotating spindle-head to cut away unwanted material. CNC milling machines come in a variety of sizes and different axis configurations. They are mainly utilized to cut harder metals but can work with workpiece materials ranging from plastic and aluminum to stainless steel and titanium.

CNC mills excel at profile cutting harder materials. Like all CNC machines, a CNC mill is controlled with G-Code created through CAM software. The Gg-Code instructs the machine where to move the tool head, how fast to spin the tool, how deep to cut, how to move the workpiece, and other factors relating to speed, feed rate, and coordination. The G-Code complexity depends on how many axes the milling machine has.

Mills can still be used for profile cutting of softer materials, but are not as cost-effective for that use as CNC routers. The main difference between these machines is that with a CNC router the workpiece remains stationary while the router cutting head is directed around the piece, while a CNC mill may move both tool head and workpiece. CNC mills are mainly used in industrial manufacturing, while CNC routing is more common for lower output manufacturing like woodworking.

3-Axis: The most widely used type of CNC milling machine. The full use of the X, Y, and Z directions makes a 3 Axis CNC mill useful for a wide variety of work.

4-Axis: This type of router allows the machine to rotate on a vertical axis, moving the workpiece to introduce more continuous machining.

5-Axis: These machines have three traditional axes as well as two additional rotary axes. A 5-axis CNC router is, therefore, able to machine 5 sides of a workpiece at in one machine without having to remove the workpiece and reset. The workpiece rotates, and the spindle head is able to also move around the piece. These are larger and more expensive.

CNC milling machines are built for precise manufacturing and repeatability which makes them perfect for rapid prototyping and low-to-high volume production runs. CNC mills can also work with a variety of materials from basic aluminum and plastics to more exotic ones like titanium — making them the ideal machine for almost any job.

CNC mills are the workhorses of the manufacturing world. Because of their tight tolerances and the variety of materials they are suited to, CNC milling is a crucial process in many industries. Some of the major industries that benefit from CNC mills are aerospace & defense, automotive, consumer products, energy, industrial machinery, medical, robotics, and R&D. CNC machines are also vital to many other manufacturing processes.

Xometry integrates seamlessly with over 2,400 qualified U.S.-manufacturing partners, including ITAR qualified facilities. That massive network means that whatever your part, we have a shop and a machine that can make it. We support 3-axis, 4-axis, 5-axis, as well as right angle milling capabilities to rapidly create designs from simple straight lines to complex geometric shapes. Xometry gives you instant pricing, on-demand lead times, and DFM on materials and manufacturing processes for your custom CNC parts, no matter your industry.