Milling machine

A method of milling an eccentric cam on a cam shaft, comprising:

• supporting and rotating the cam shaft about its longitudinal axis,
• providing a milling cutter comprising a rotatable milling head, said head having a front face adjacent to the cam shaft, and a plurality of cutting elements having cutter edges and mounted on an annular portion of said front face of said head in a circular array about the axis of rotation of said head,
• supporting said head with its front face in confronting relation to the cam shaft and with its axis of rotation at an acute angle to the longitudinal axis of the cam shaft such that when said head is rotated the path of said cutting edges lies in a plane which forms an acute angle with the longitudinal axis of the cam shaft and such that the cutting elements successively engage the cam on the cam shaft,
• feeding said milling head toward and away from the cam shaft in a path at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the cam shaft in accordance with the contour to be milled on the eccentric cam, and
• rotating said head,
• said cutting elements each taking a progressive cut beginning at a point on said side edge of said cam which has a substantial force vector component longitudinally of the cam shaft and ending in a line across the full width of the cam having a force vector substantially perpendicular to the cam shaft.