We’re proud to announce the completion of  Mill 11, our largest and most capable 5-axis mill. Years in the making, Mill 11 is our newest major mill since the Utah facility was completed in 2017. Its development reflects decades of institutional knowledge, technical expertise, and cross-disciplinary collaboration.  

Janicki originally built 5-axis computer-driven mills with plans to sell them to the marine industry. Instead of buying the machines, boat builders hired the company to machine hull molds and plugs from putty. Thirty years later, our next generation of 5-axis machines evolved to become 10x more precise with new systems to increase productivity and automation.  

The machine itself is staggering in scope. Mill 11 commands an 80-foot by 27-foot by 8-foot milling envelope, a powerful HSK 100 spindle, and linear motors on its X, Y and Z axes. It’s equally at home hogging out steel and invar as it is performing composite trim and drill at 15,000 RPM.  

Constructing this mill required 150,000 pounds of mild steel, miles of cables and hoses, and hundreds of sensors. Industrial computers process sensor feedback in real time, performing countless calculations every second to coordinate dozens of actuators that move the machine, pump fluids, and control valves.  

From initial design, it took engineers hundreds of drawings, to the building phase, which took thousands of unique part numbers, to final launch – tens of thousands of individual components, to ongoing maintenance.  

The machine positions are controlled by servo mechanisms with extremely high-resolution optical encoders. The resolution of these encoders is better than 0.000012 inches (0.312microns). As a matter of reference, a single sheet of paper measures .003 inches.  

Mill 11 was a simultaneous design build project, which meant the margin for error was razor-thin. This project required close collaboration across all teams to ensure every piece came together at the right time. The entire team remained disciplined in executing even the smallest technical details.  

The result is one of the largest and most precise milling machines in the world. It occupies an entire factory bay, yet if you were to cross two human hairs anywhere in the milling envelope, the mill would be able to hit the intersection. Mill 11 will make existing work faster and more efficient – and it will open doors to opportunities Janicki hasn’t yet imagined.   

Learn more about our proprietary mills on our 5-axis milling page.