The Milling Cutter keeps rotating by a powerful electric motor. Any surface that comes into contact with this rotating cutter gets its material removed. The milling machine is nothing but a rig designed to control this material removal to the smallest millimeter.

It is designed to move the Milling Cutter or the job (the lump of material being worked on) in a way that material is removed from the intended places so as to result into the final intended shape of the finished object or product. Check the illustration below,

Simply put, milling is a process of removing material from a workpiece using a special machine/rig to convert it into a desired geometry. With milling, you start with a block of metal and use the milling machine to carve out the intended shape of a finished object.

Welding

Let us explain welding process in layman terms.

Welding is the process of fusing two metals together.

This fusion is made possible by heating the two metals to a very high temperature and joining them together with a filler metal that acts kind of like a glue. Heat causes them to soften and when they solidify, the joint is made permanent. This is the simplest way of explaining welding.

The above mentioned heating may be accomplished by a burning gas (called gas welding) or by electricity (called electric arc welding). For each type, there is a special piece of machinery called a welding plant. Welding is performed by hand by a skilled person called a welder.

In welding, the welder joins the two parts of metal to be fused together. He then uses the welding stick as a guide to his welding action. The welding stick is accompanied by a welding torch (in case of gas welding) or an electrical clamp (in case of electric welding). Check the illustrations below.

Summarizing the Differences Between Milling and Welding

• Milling is a machining process and welding is a jointing process.

• Milling removes material and welding joins material.

• Milling does its job by cutting action and welding does its job by fusion action.

• Milling is used for creating parts and welding is used for joining parts.

• Milling machine is a heavy piece of equipment that cannot be loaded on your truck and taken to the jobsite. Milling is a process used in factories and manufacturing facilities. On the other hand, welding is often performed on jobsites using portable welding plants.

• Milling is a relatively modern manufacturing process whereas welding origins are traceable to ancient Egypt (archeologists have discovered forge welded articles of bronze from pyramids of Egypt).