1. Machining operations

1.1 Evolution of rotating tool machines

Before the advent of NC, each machine had its own specificity:

• drilling and tapping on drills, thanks to its ease of handling, while reaming is sometimes carried out using fixtures for tool guidance;

• milling on a milling machine ;

• standard reaming on a boring machine, or precision reaming (of the order of 0.01 mm) on a pointing machine.

For large parts, the volume (e.g. 1 m ³ or more) or mass (several hundred kilograms) made handling difficult, and boring machines often performed the various machining operations even when conditions were not the best....