Application cases of end mills in the processing of plumbing equipment

End mills are widely used in the processing of plumbing equipment. The following illustrates their application effects and advantages through specific application cases:

Valve and pipe fitting processing

In plumbing equipment, the connection parts between valves and pipe fittings often need to be machined with precise threads or sealing grooves. High-precision slot milling can be performed on stainless steel or copper pipe fittings by using smaller-diameter end mills (such as 4mm or 6mm). For instance, a certain enterprise used a 4-edge hard alloy end mill to process the sealing grooves of copper valves. By optimizing the cutting parameters (cutting speed 80-120m/min, feed rate 0.1-0.2mm/ tooth), it achieved a processing effect with a groove width accuracy of ±0.02mm and a surface roughness of Ra1.6μm, significantly enhancing the sealing performance.

2. Joint and flange processing

The joints and flanges in plumbing equipment need to be machined with positioning holes or mating surfaces. Take stainless steel flanges as an example. Using an 8mm diameter end mill for planar milling and hole system processing, through the layer-by-layer cutting process (each cutting depth of 0.5-1mm) and subroutine calls, the processing of complex surfaces can be efficiently completed. In a certain case, by optimizing the tool path and cutting parameters, the processing efficiency was increased by 30%, while ensuring that the flatness of the flange surface was ≤0.05mm.

3. Surface treatment of bathroom products

The surface of bathroom products often needs to be processed with decorative grooves or textures. Take the aluminum alloy bathroom handle as an example. When using a ball-end end mill for surface milling, by adjusting the tool path and cutting parameters (cutting speed 150-200m/min, feed rate 0.05-0.1mm/ tooth), a smooth surface transition and uniform texture effect can be achieved. After a certain enterprise adopted this process, the surface quality of the products was significantly improved and the customer complaint rate decreased by 20%.

4. Processing of micro plumbing accessories

For micro plumbing fittings (such as fine-tuning valve cores), smaller-diameter end mills (such as 2mm or 3mm) need to be used for precise processing. In a certain case, a 2-edge carbide end mill was used to perform micro-groove processing on the stainless steel valve core. By optimizing the cutting parameters (cutting speed 60-80m/min, feed rate 0.02-0.05mm/ tooth) and tool path, the processing effect of slot width accuracy ±0.01mm and surface roughness Ra0.8μm was achieved. It meets the high-precision requirements of micro accessories.

5. Composite material processing

In plumbing equipment, some accessories are made of composite materials (such as carbon fiber reinforced plastic). When using end mills to process such materials, it is necessary to select appropriate tools and cutting parameters. In a certain case, diamond-coated end mills were used to process carbon fiber composite pipe fittings. By optimizing the cutting parameters (cutting speed 50-70m/min, feed rate 0.03-0.08mm/ tooth), the cutting heat and tool wear were effectively reduced, and the processing efficiency was increased by 25%.