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What is the CNC Machining Toronto Industry About?

July 27, 2016

CNC Machining in Toronto is an industry fueled by innovation and competition. Machine shops incorporate the latest trends in design and technology to keep up. Much of modern day machining is carried out by computer numerical control (CNC), in which computers are used to control the movement and operation of the mills, lathes, and other cutting machines. This means a computer converts the design produced by Computer Aided Design software (CAD), into numbers. The numbers work like coordinates on a graph and they control the movement of the cutter. In this way the computer controls the cutting and shaping of the material.

The first NC machines were built in the 1940s and 1950s, based on existing tools that were modified with motors that moved the controls to follow points fed into the system on punched tape. These early servomechanisms were rapidly augmented with analog and digital computers, creating the modern CNC machine tools that have revolutionized the machining process.

Most Numeric Controls today are computer (or computerized) numerical control (CNC), in which computers play an integral part of the control. The series of steps needed to produce any part is highly automated and produces a part that closely matches the original CAD design. This greatly streamlines the machining process and eliminates errors, with the savings passed on to the customer. Today, CNC machining in Toronto is a thriving industry due to the consistency of the work produced.

Some of the benefits of CNC include:

  • high accuracy in manufacturing
  • short production time
  • greater manufacturing flexibility
  • simpler fixturing
  • reduced human error

The CNC machine is programmed with a detailed set of commands to be followed by the machine tool. Each command specifies a position in the Cartesian coordinate system (x, y, z) or motion (work piece travel or cutting tool travel), machining parameters, and on/off function. CNC machining in Toronto and across Canada is an industry that depends on skilled operators who are well versed in machining processes, machine tools, effects of process variables, and limitations of CNC controls.