Increasing competition in the mechanical engineering industry is driving the development of more complex, higher quality part designs in the shortest possible time, combining aesthetics and functionality. Free surface geometry problems arise at three levels: design, manufacture and measurement. Despite the existence of several manufacturing processes, machining remains the most commonly used process to produce these parts. Moreover, due to their complex geometric shapes, these parts are machined on multi-axis digital milling machines (MOCN) with three or more axes. The aim of this work is to study the steps in the process of manufacturing free-form parts using multi-axis milling, focusing on the technical aspects. This study is founded on an experimental reverse engineering approach for the manufacture of a gas turbine blade.