MACHINING PROCESS AND TOOLS

摘要

A method and an apparatus for machining an exterior surface of a metal alloy casing of a portable electronic device to form a combination of a flat edge surface, a curved edge surface and a flat bottom surface is disclosed. The flat edge surface is abraded by contacting a first flat section of a rotating cutting tool along a first circuit of a pre-determined continuous spiral path. The curved edge surface is abraded by contacting a convex section of the rotating cutting tool along additional circuits of the first pre-determined continuous spiral path. The pitch of vertical movement of the cutting tool is adjusted for each circuit of the continuous spiral path based on a resulting curvature of the metal alloy casing. The bottom surface is abraded by contacting a flat section of the cutting tool along a second pre-determined alternating direction linear path.