Cutting machines are used in industry to cut tough materials such as metal and leather. They employ various technologies including thermal, plasma, gas, water jet, and ultrasound. CNC training is required to operate these machines, and robotic systems are becoming more common. Laser cutting is a popular choice for cutting metals.
A cutting machine is a device, usually powered by hydraulics, electric motors, or more advanced methods, that is used in industry to cut a variety of materials. Typically, the purpose of cutting machine tools is to fabricate metal that cannot be easily cut or shaped with hand tools. There are literally hundreds of different types of cutting machine tool designs, making them categorized by the type of cut they make. Common classifications include lathes designed to do rotary cutting about a horizontal axis, boring machines and drills for cutting holes or slots in surfaces, and knurls and flangers that cut protruding beads and ridges in surfaces.
Because cutting machine tool specifications are often built around tough materials such as metals or leather, 21st century technology has moved beyond using typical rotary bits and saws to shape materials. Different types of machine tools now employ thermal, plasma and gas cutting systems and some also use high power lasers. A high-temperature cutting machine such as a plasma cutter generates an arc of ionized plasma gas at approximately 20,000° Fahrenheit (11,000° Celsius), which is over three times hotter than a typical oxyacetylene torch. Most of these expensive tools are controlled by computer numerical control (CNC) programs to ensure a highly precise and efficient cutting process.
Other technologies employed in the design of cutting machine tools include water jet and oil jet cutting and the use of ultrasound. Water jet cutters are powerful enough to cut through granite and can achieve an accuracy level of 0.005 inch (0.013 millimeter). They work by pumping a thin stream of water that contains an abrasive substance across an area, from 40,000 pounds per square inch (PSI) (276 mega-pascals) to 100,000 PSI (689 MPa). Ultrasonic cutters work by setting high frequency vibrations in the material to be cut and are used in both textile and metal cutting.
The use of cutting machine tools requires more and more training as they become more sophisticated, customized and expensive systems. Computer numerical control (CNC) training to run most of these tools is now offered through courses at a wide variety of colleges and technical schools around the world. Often, the purchase of a cutting machine leads the multinational manufacturer to offer certified on-site training for the employees who will be using it.
Automated cutting machine tool equipment is also starting to take a dominant place in the factory. Robotic systems are often used for this purpose, as fast, high power cutting of metals can be a dangerous process. This arena often turns to laser cutting designs for the cutting machine, with estimates that, as of 2008, over $2 billion US dollars (USD) in laser cutting systems have been sold. In the same year, an estimated 45% of all sheet cutting in Asia, 37% in European nations, and 17% in North American countries such as the United States and Canada, was done entirely by some form of laser cutting machine tools.
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