Precision Engineering 44 (2016) 81–86

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Precision Engineering
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/precision

Microcutting using a micro turn-milling machine

Kai Egashira ∗ , Takuya Furukawa, Keishi Yamaguchi, Minoru Ota
Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, Kyoto Institute of Technology, Goshokaido-cho, Matsugasaki, Sakyo Ward, Kyoto 606-8585, Japan

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: A turn-milling machine, which is a device having two spindles that rotate a tool and workpiece, can
Received 3 August 2015 be used to fabricate various shapes by cutting. However, little progress has been made in microcutting
Received in revised form using a turn-milling machine. Therefore, a micro turn-milling machine designed especially for microtools
28 September 2015
was developed and used to fabricate micropins with various cross sections. Cemented tungsten carbide
Accepted 14 October 2015
microtools, which are useful both as a milling cutter and as a turning tool, were processed by electrical
Available online 26 October 2015
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,
Keywords:
Microcutting
and cross shapes. These noncylindrical micropins have the smallest reported cross-section dimensions
Turn-milling for pins fabricated by cutting to the best of our knowledge. Furthermore, cutting characteristics such as
Turning the machined shape and surface quality were investigated, which showed that better micropin shapes
Milling were obtained by up-cut turn-milling than by down-cut turn-milling or by turning. In contrast, turning
Microtool was superior to turn-milling in terms of the surface quality.
Micropin © 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.

1. Introduction cylindrical ones cannot be fabricated by micro turning. Therefore,

Turn-milling has many advantages over turning [1–3]. Cutting
can be conducted at a high cutting speed with both the tool and
workpiece rotated simultaneously. Intermittent cutting limits the
increase in the cutting temperature, leading to a longer tool life
and a smaller heat-affected zone, and it forms easily disposable,
shorter cutting chips. Furthermore, a turn-milling machine can also
perform milling and drilling without workpiece rotation, enabling
the fabrication of various pins other than solid cylindrical ones.
However, little progress has been made in microcutting using a
turn-milling machine, with no study yet reported.
Thus far, the authors’ group has conducted micro turning
using ultrasmall-diameter tools processed by electrical discharge
machining (EDM), successfully turning pins with a diameter down
to 3 ␮m [4]. The boring of a microhole of less than 100 ␮m diam-
eter was also successfully performed [5]. A micro turning machine
designed especially for microtools was employed in that study.
Although the turning of micropins does not necessarily require
microtools, the use of a large lathe that employs millimeter-size
tools makes it difficult to minimize the thermal deformation and
vibration of the lathe, and thus to realize high-precision spin-
dle and carriage motion. However, micropin shapes other than
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +81 75 724 7354; fax: +81 75 724 7300.
E-mail address: egasihira@kit.ac.jp (K. Egashira).
in the present study we attempted the microcutting of pins using a
newly developed micro turn-milling machine designed for micro-
tools, with the aim of realizing a new microcutting method.
Another useful method for fabricating various micropins is
wire electrodischarge grinding (WEDG), which is one of the EDM
methods [6]. A wire tool electrode is used in WEDG, similar to
that in wire electrical discharge machining (WEDM). However,
a wire guide supports the electrode at the machining point to
reduce wire vibration in WEDG, unlike in WEDM, leading to high
dimensional accuracy. Although WEDG is also employed in the
present study to process microtools, cutting using a turn-milling
machine improves the material removal rate and enables the
processing of nonconductive materials. Furthermore, a machined
shape with an ultrasmall inside corner radius can be obtained
because the cutting-edge corner radius of a microtool is much
smaller than the radius of the wire tool electrode usually used for
WEDG.
2. Micro turn-milling machine
Fig. 1 shows the main parts of the micro turn-milling machine,
which has been derived from the micro turning machine employed
in previous studies [4,5]. Originally designed for micro-ultrasonic
machining, the machine (ASWU-1, Creative Technology Corp.) has
three axes, each driven with a step feed of 0.05 ␮m [7]. The origi-
nal micro turning machine had only one spindle for a workpiece. To

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.precisioneng.2015.10.005
0141-6359/© 2016 Published by Elsevier Inc.
82 K. Egashira et al. / Precision Engineering 44 (2016) 81–86

Fig. 1. Photograph and schematic diagram of main parts of micro turn-milling machine.

hold and rotate both the tool and workpiece, the micro turn-milling
machine was equipped with two spindles that were fabricated for
a micro EDM machine (MG-ED72, Panasonic Corp.). The spindles
include a V-shaped sliding bearing and a mandrel made of stain-
less steel. A ceramic capillary inserted in the mandrel tip guides
a tool blank or a workpiece. A DC motor rotates the mandrel at
a rotation speed of up to 50 s−1 using a rubber belt. The rotation
runout of the mandrel is determined principally by the circular-
ity of the cross sections of its parts in contact with the bearing
surfaces. The mandrel has been fabricated such that this circu-
larity is approximately 0.2 ␮m, enabling high-precision tool and
workpiece rotation. The machine is classified as an orthogonal
turn-milling machine because the axes of the tool and workpiece
intersect at right angles. Contact between the tool and workpiece
is detected by electrical conduction. The two spindles are not syn-
chronized.
The microtool geometry is shown in Fig. 2(a). Many parts of
the tool have been given two names because its semicylindri-
cal shape makes it useful both as a milling cutter and a turning
tool. For example, the peripheral cutting edge of the milling cutter
becomes the side cutting edge when the tool is used for turning.
The outside diameter and the length of cut are approximately
50 ␮m and 60 ␮m, respectively, unless specified otherwise. The
rake angle is 0◦ , and the peripheral relief angle (side clearance
angle) and end relief angle (end clearance angle) are approximately
20◦ . Making the relief (clearance) angles higher than 0◦ helps to
prolong the tool life [8]. Cemented tungsten carbide of 0.6 ␮m
grain size (FM10K, A.L.M.T. Corp.) was used as the tool material.
Its HRA hardness, fracture toughness, and bending strength (TRS)
are 91.2, 9.7 MPa m1/2 , and 3.24 GPa, respectively. As mentioned
before, tools were processed using WEDG on the aforementioned
micro EDM machine. After tool processing, the mandrel holding
the tool was mounted on the V-shaped bearing on the micro turn-
milling machine. The advantages of using the same spindles on both
machines are that high-precision rotation of the mandrel can be
maintained and that an operator can avoid directly handling a tool,
which is a difficult task when the tool has a small diameter. The
EDM machine was equipped with a relaxation-type pulse gener-
ator. The open-circuit voltage was set at 100 V; the electrostatic
capacitance of the circuit was 3300 pF in rough machining and only
stray capacitance in finishing. A processed tool is shown in Fig. 2(b).
Under such electrical conditions, the radius of the corner between
the end cutting edge and the peripheral cutting edge (side cutting
edge) becomes approximately 1 ␮m.
As the workpieces, cylindrical pins of approximately 40–50 ␮m
diameter were employed, unless specified otherwise. Their mate-
rial was brass with 60% Cu and 40% Zn. Dry cutting was carried out
without cutting fluid.

Fig. 2. (a) Microtool geometry and (b) processed tool.

 K. Egashira et al. / Precision Engineering 44 (2016) 81–86
Fig. 3. (a) Microcutting by down-cut turn-milling and (b) fabricated micropin.
3. Examples of fabricated micropins
3.1. Cylindrical micropins
Microcutting was attempted using the newly developed micro
turn-milling machine. The turn-milling of a micropin was carried
out in the first experiment. Down-cut turn-milling, which is shown
in Fig. 3(a), was conducted at a tool rotation speed Nt of 10 s−1 and
a workpiece rotation speed Nw of 50 s−1 . In down-cut turn-milling,
the tool and workpiece move in the same direction at the cutting
point. The nominal depth of cut in the workpiece radial direction
a and the tool feed speed F were 5 ␮m and 2.5 ␮m/s, respectively.
The turn-milling was repeated three times. As indicated in Fig. 3(a),
the finished surface is glossy and no long continuous chips are
observed. Fig. 3(b) shows a turn-milled micropin 25 ␮m in diameter
and 100 ␮m in length. This result demonstrates that microcutting
by turn-milling can be conducted using the developed machine.
For comparison, turning without tool rotation was conducted
and observed with Nw of 50 s−1 and a of 5 ␮m, as shown in Fig. 4.
Fig. 4. Observation of turning.
83
The tool is showing its rake face. In contrast to that in Fig. 3(a), long
continuous chips were generated and then attached to the tool. The
finished surface is glossy.
3.2. Noncylindrical micropins
The fabrication of noncylindrical micropins was attempted by
milling without workpiece rotation. Such micropin shapes are dif-
ficult to achieve by cutting with machines other than a micro
turn-milling machine. All the milling experiments in this section
were conducted at Nt of 50 s−1 and F of 2.5 ␮m/s. Before milling,
workpieces were finished into pins of 20–30 ␮m diameter by tur-
ning. Both the milling and turning were performed using a single
tool.
Fig. 5(a) shows a fabricated square micropin with a cross-section
side of 18 ␮m and a length of 65 ␮m. Each surface was milled with
a of 3 ␮m and subsequently with a of 2 ␮m. The workpiece was
indexed by 90◦ after the completion of one surface. Furthermore,
milling with a smaller a was attempted to prevent workpiece break-
age while fabricating a micropin with a higher aspect ratio. Each
surface was milled three times with a of 1.5 ␮m. The result is shown
in Fig. 5(b). A square micropin with a cross-section side of 20 ␮m
and a length of 135 ␮m was fabricated. Its aspect ratio was close to
7, which is higher than that of the pin in Fig. 5(a).
In the next experiment, the fabrication of a triangular micropin
was attempted. Each surface was milled with a of 3 ␮m and subse-
quently three times with a of 2 ␮m. Fig. 6(a) shows a fabricated pin
with a cross-section side of approximately 20 ␮m, indicating that
noncylindrical micropins other than square ones can be achieved
by the present method.
A stepped square micropin was also fabricated. The milling was
conducted after a workpiece was turned into a stepped cylindri-
cal pin. Each surface of the first step was milled with a of 2 ␮m
and subsequently twice with a of 1.5 ␮m. The second-step surfaces
were milled with a of 3 ␮m and subsequently three times with a of
1.5 ␮m. Fig. 6(b) shows a fabricated micropin with cross-section
sides of 11 and 22 ␮m. The first step has the smallest reported
cross-section side for a pin fabricated by cutting to the best of our
knowledge.
Furthermore, the fabrication of a micropin with a cross-shaped
cross section was attempted. Four microslots were milled on a
cylindrical workpiece. Each slot was milled with a of 5.5 ␮m and
subsequently four times with a of 2 ␮m. The result is shown in
Fig. 6(c). Such a shape is difficult to achieve by WEDG because the
inside corner radius of the slots is much smaller than the radius of
the wire tool electrode.
3.3. Drilled micropin
The micro turn-milling machine can also perform microdrilling
on cylindrical workpieces, increasing the variety of machinable
shapes. In drilling, only the tool is rotated and fed in its axial
direction into the workpiece. Drilling was conducted using a 23-
␮m-diameter tool on the flat surface of a semicylindrical micropin
50 ␮m in diameter, with Nt of 50 s−1 and F of 1 ␮m/s. The result is
shown in Fig. 7. A through hole 24 ␮m in diameter was successfully
drilled in the micropin. Fig. 7(b) is a close-up view of the drilled
microhole. Cutting marks with a pitch of approximately 4 ␮m were
observed inside the hole, which is much larger than the tool feed
per revolution of 0.02 ␮m. These cutting marks were probably gen-
erated when the tool was being retracted with a much higher F after
the drilling had finished.
4. Cutting characteristics
The characteristics of cutting using a micro turn-milling
machine have not yet been clarified. The machined shape and
84 K. Egashira et al. / Precision Engineering 44 (2016) 81–86

Fig. 5. Fabricated square micropins with (a) cross-section side of 18 ␮m and length of 65 ␮m and (b) cross-section side of 20 ␮m and length of 135 ␮m.

Fig. 6. Micropins with (a) triangular, (b) square (stepped), and (c) cross-shaped cross sections.

surface quality, which are important cutting characteristics, were
therefore investigated.
4.1. Machined shape
The effect of the cutting conditions on the machined shape was
investigated. The workpiece diameter was approximately 50 ␮m,
which was almost equal to the tool diameter.
In the first experiment, micropin cutting was conducted by up-
cut turn-milling at a tool rotation speed Nt of 30 s−1 . In up-cut turn-
milling, the tool and workpiece move in opposite directions at the
cutting point. Fig. 8 shows the shapes of fabricated micropins. The
micropins in Fig. 8(a)–(c) were respectively fabricated at a nominal
depth of cut in the workpiece radial direction a of 5 ␮m, a tool feed
speed F of 2.5 ␮m/s, and a workpiece rotation speed Nw of 10 s−1 ;
a of 15 ␮m, F of 15 ␮m/s, and Nw of 33 s−1 ; and a of 15 ␮m, F of
25 ␮m/s, and Nw of 33 s−1 . The micropins in Fig. 8(a) and (b) were
straight-cut with a real depth of cut almost equal to a, while the
one in Fig. 8(c) was not. This is likely because a large cutting force
was exerted on the tool and workpiece with a large F, causing them
to deflect and thus preventing cutting with a real depth of cut equal
to a.
Micropin fabrication was also attempted by down-cut turn-
milling with Nt of 50 s−1 and Nw of 10 s−1 . The micropin shapes
are shown in Fig. 9. The micropins in Fig. 9(a) and (b) were respec-
tively fabricated with a of 5 ␮m and F of 2.5 ␮m/s, and with a of
15 ␮m and F of 15 ␮m/s. The micropin in Fig. 9(a) was straight-cut
with a real depth of cut almost equal to a. In the fabrication of the
micropin in Fig. 9(b), however, the tool and workpiece were con-
siderably deflected, reducing the real depth of cut from 15 ␮m to

Fig. 7. (a) Overview and (b) close-up view of drilled microhole.

 K. Egashira et al. / Precision Engineering 44 (2016) 81–86 85

Fig. 8. Micropin shapes in up-cut turn-milling (Nt = 30 s−1 ).

Fig. 9. Micropin shapes in down-cut turn-milling (Nt = 50 s−1 and Nw = 10 s−1 ).

Fig. 10. Micropin shapes in turning.

Fig. 11. Magnified surfaces finished by (a) up-cut turn-milling (Fig. 8(a)), (b) down-cut turn-milling (Fig. 9(a)), and (c) turning (Fig. 9(a)).

approximately 5 ␮m. The micropin in Fig. 8(b) was fabricated with
a real depth of cut equal to a, with a and F being the same as those
for Fig. 9(b). The difference in these machined shapes is likely due
to the high cutting force generated by a low cutting speed in down-
cut turn-milling. Because the diameters of the tool and workpiece
are almost the same, the cutting speed is proportional to the dif-
ference between Nt and Nw in down-cut turn-milling, whereas it
is proportional to their sum in up-cut turn-milling, suggesting that
the maximum cutting speed in down-cut turn-milling cannot be
higher than that in up-cut turn-milling.
Furthermore, micropin fabrication was performed by turning.
The turned micropins shown in Fig. 10(a) and (b) were respec-
tively fabricated with a of 5 ␮m, F of 2.5 ␮m/s, and Nw of 10 s−1 ,
and with a of 15 ␮m, F of 15 ␮m/s, and Nw of 33 s−1 . The micropin
in Fig. 10(a) was straight-cut with a real depth of cut almost equal
to a; however, in the turning of the micropin in Fig. 10(b), the tool
and workpiece were deflected similar to that in the fabrication of
the micropin in Fig. 9(b), reducing the real depth of cut to almost
zero.
The above results indicate that, with regard to the machined
shape, up-cut turn-milling is more useful than down-cut turn-
milling or turning when a micropin with an ultrasmall diameter
is fabricated because cutting can be performed at a high cutting
speed.
4.2. Surface quality
The finished surfaces were observed. Fig. 11 shows magnified
surfaces of the micropins in Figs. 8(a), 9(a), and 10(a), which were
fabricated with the same a, F, and Nw.
86 K. Egashira et al. / Precision Engineering 44 (2016) 81–86
The surface finished by up-cut turn-milling (Fig. 11(a)) has
tears and cutting marks with pitches of approximately 2 and
25 ␮m. Although the marks with a pitch of 2 ␮m were gener-
ated by the tool feeding motion, the pitch is much larger than the
tool feed per workpiece revolution of 0.25 ␮m. This is probably
because the cutting edge tends to slip in up-cut cutting, mak-
ing it difficult to cut into the workpiece with such a small feed
per revolution. The marks with a pitch of 25 ␮m were approxi-
mately 45◦ to the workpiece axis. They were likely generated by
interference between the finished surface and the rotating cutting
edge, although the generation mechanism is unclear at the present
stage.
In contrast, the surface finished by down-cut turn-milling
(Fig. 11(b)) shows no tears, and cutting marks were observed at
45◦ to the workpiece axis, with a pitch of approximately 1 ␮m. The
direction of the cutting marks is opposite to that in up-cut turn-
milling because of the reverse direction of workpiece rotation. No
cutting marks were observed perpendicular to the workpiece axis.
Fig. 11(c) shows the surface finished by turning, which has no
tears and cutting marks, with a pitch of 0.25 ␮m. The pitch is equal
to the feed per revolution, indicating that the turning was carried
out without the cutting edge slipping. These results suggest that
the surface quality is better in turning than in turn-milling for a
small a and F.
5. Conclusions
A micro turn-milling machine was newly developed. Micro-
cutting experiments were conducted using the machine and
microtools processed by EDM. The following results were obtained:
(1) The turn-milling of cylindrical micropins was successfully con-
ducted, demonstrating that microcutting by turn-milling can
be performed using the developed machine.
(2) Microcutting by milling was also conducted, producing square
micropins with a cross-section side of 18 ␮m and a length of
65 ␮m, and with a cross-section side of 20 ␮m and a length of
135 ␮m. A stepped square micropin with cross-section sides
of 11 and 22 ␮m was fabricated as well. These micropins have
the smallest reported cross-section sides for pins fabricated by
cutting to the best of our knowledge.
(3) Noncylindrical micropins with cross sections other than
square ones, such as triangular and cross-shaped cross-section
micropins, were also successfully fabricated.
(4) Cutting characteristics such as the machined shape and surface
quality were investigated. The effect of the cutting conditions
on these characteristics was clarified. The machined shapes
were better in up-cut turn-milling than in down-cut turn-
milling or in turning because the cutting speed can be increased
by tool rotation in up-cut turn-milling. In contrast, turning was
superior to turn-milling in terms of the surface quality.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank K. Hattori and K. Kuriyama of
Kyoto Institute of Technology for their contributions to the exper-
iments.
References
[1] Schulz H, Kneisel T. Turn-milling of hardened steel – an alternative to turning.
Ann CIRP 1994;43(1):93–6.
[2] Schulz H, Spur G. High speed turn-milling – a new precision manufacturing
technology for the machining of rotationally symmetrical workpieces. Ann CIRP
1990;39(1):107–9.
[3] Choudhury SK, Mangrulkar KS. Investigation of orthogonal turn-milling for the
machining of rotationally symmetrical work pieces. J Mater Process Technol
1999;99(1):120–8.
[4] Furukawa T, Nomura Y, Harada K, Egashira K. Fabrication of micropins using
micro turning tools. Key Eng Mater 2012;523–524:76–80.
[5] Egashira K, Iwata M, Nomura Y. Boring and face grooving using micro turning
tools. Ann CIRP 2011;60(1):81–4.
[6] Masuzawa T, Fujino M, Kobayashi K. Wire electro-discharge grinding for micro-
machining. Ann CIRP 1985;34(1):431–4.
[7] Egashira K, Masuzawa T. Microultrasonic machining by the application of work-
piece vibration. Ann CIRP 1999;48(1):131–4.
[8] Egashira K, Fujita S, Hosono S. Extending tool life of ultra-small-diameter gun
barrel drills. J Jpn Soc Abras Technol 2008;52(2):105–8 (in Japanese).