CNC face milling – simple idea to reduce machining time

Written By Ashish Kumar S

November 10, 2025

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Reducing machining time in CNC face milling

Most times we blindly use the same tool path for rough and finish CNC face milling, and the tool path looks like the one in the ‘Finishing’ picture below. This is inefficient for roughing, and with a little tweaking you can reduce the machining time. The ‘Roughing’ picture below shows the tweaked and more efficient tool path. Example: If you’re milling a 300 x 180 mm plate with a 100 mm dia. face mill, the time saving with this tool path is 16 %. That’s BIG.

Cadem’s CAPSmill CNC milling programming software has separate tool paths for rough and finish miling, to reduce cycle time.

Author

Ashish Kumar S

cadem

Ashish brings strong techno-commercial depth across CNC productivity solutions, CAD/CAM systems, and skill development initiatives. As the face of CADEM’s CNC ecosystem, he drives solution adoption and market growth by aligning advanced manufacturing software with real-world production challenges. A passionate advocate of CNC education in India, he actively engages with customers and students to bridge the gap between industry needs and workforce readiness.

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