Repairing Your Own Machine Components
Many industrial concerns have workshops of their own. For the
repair of worn shafts, the lathe machine is excellent. Keyway
slots can be machined by using a milling machine, while a
shaping machine can do machining of large flat areas. A
drilling machine does drilling of holes.
A skilled Maintenance Engineer should know how to use all these
machines in order to make his own repairs in a safe manner. Very
often he has to supervise machinists. The information below
should be useful for that purpose.
Lathe Machine
The lathe machine uses a single-point-cutting tool for a variety
of turning, facing, and drilling jobs. Excess metal is removed
by rotating the work piece over the fixed cutting tool to form
straight or tapered cylindrical shapes, grooves, shoulders and
screw threads. It can also be used for facing flat surfaces on
the ends of cylindrical parts.
The work piece is clamped onto a horizontal rotating shaft by a
3-jaw or 4-jaw chuck. The latter chuck can be used to cut
off-centered cylinders. The rotating horizontal spindle to which
the chuck is attached is usually driven at speeds that can be
varied.
The cutting tool is fixed onto a tool rest and manipulated by
hand. It can also be power driven on straight paths parallel or
perpendicular to the work axis. This is useful for screw cutting.
Internal turning known as boring results in the enlargement of
an already existing hole. The holes are more accurate in
roundness, concentricity, and parallelism than drilled holes. A
hole is bored with a single-point-cutting tool that feeds along
the inside of the work piece.
Shaping Machine
The shaping machine is used to machine flat surfaces, grooves,
shoulders, T-slots, and angular surfaces with single-point tools.
The cutting tool on the shaper oscillates, cutting on the forward
stroke, with the work piece feeding automatically toward the tool
during each return stroke.
Drilling Machine
The drilling machine is used to cut holes in metal with a twist
drill. By changing the cutting tool, they can be used to do
reaming, boring, counter boring, countersinking, and threading.
Milling Machine
The milling machine uses a rotating cutting tool to cut flat
surfaces, grooves, and shoulders, inclined surfaces, dovetails,
and T-slots. Cutters of many shapes are changed to cut different
grooves.
Cutting Tools
Metal-cutting tools are classified as single point or multiple
point. The lathe and shaping machine use single point cutting tool
while the milling and drilling machines use multiple-point-cutting
tools.
Metal is cut either by moving the work piece like in the lathe or
by moving the tool like in the shaping machine, drilling or
milling machine. Clearance angles must be provided to prevent the
tool surface below the cutting edge from rubbing against the work
piece. Rake angles are often provided on cutting tools to cause a
wedging action in the formation of chips and to reduce friction and
heat.
Tool Materials
In order to remove chips from a work piece, a cutting tool must be
harder than the work piece and must maintain a cutting edge at the
temperature produced by the friction of the cutting action.
Carbon Steel
Carbon steel tools even though comparatively inexpensive tend to
lose cutting ability at temperatures around 400 degree F (205
degree C).
High-Speed Steel
High-speed steel, containing 18 percent tungsten, 4 percent chromium,
1 percent vanadium, and only 0.5 to 0.8 percent carbon, permits the
operation of tools twice or three times the speeds allowable with
carbon steel
Cast Alloys
Cast-alloy cutting-tool materials containing cobalt, chromium, and
tungsten are effective in cutting cast iron and retaining their
cutting ability even when red hot.
Cemented Tungsten Carbide
The hardness of Tungsten Carbide approaches that of a diamond.
Tungsten carbide tools can be operated at cutting speeds many times
higher than those used with high-speed steel.
Oxides
Ceramic, or oxide, tool tips consist primarily of fine aluminum oxide
grains, which are bonded together. These are very hard.
Cutting fluids
An overheated tool can become blunt and soft very fast. Therefore
very often, cooling fluids cools the cutting points of the tool. This
serves to lubricate and cool.
Water is an excellent cooling medium, but it corrodes ferrous
materials. Sulfurized mineral oil is one of the most popular coolants
as it can both cool as well as lubricate. The sulfur prevents chips
from the work from melting on to the tip of the tool.
repair of worn shafts, the lathe machine is excellent. Keyway
slots can be machined by using a milling machine, while a
shaping machine can do machining of large flat areas. A
drilling machine does drilling of holes.
A skilled Maintenance Engineer should know how to use all these
machines in order to make his own repairs in a safe manner. Very
often he has to supervise machinists. The information below
should be useful for that purpose.
Lathe Machine
The lathe machine uses a single-point-cutting tool for a variety
of turning, facing, and drilling jobs. Excess metal is removed
by rotating the work piece over the fixed cutting tool to form
straight or tapered cylindrical shapes, grooves, shoulders and
screw threads. It can also be used for facing flat surfaces on
the ends of cylindrical parts.
The work piece is clamped onto a horizontal rotating shaft by a
3-jaw or 4-jaw chuck. The latter chuck can be used to cut
off-centered cylinders. The rotating horizontal spindle to which
the chuck is attached is usually driven at speeds that can be
varied.
The cutting tool is fixed onto a tool rest and manipulated by
hand. It can also be power driven on straight paths parallel or
perpendicular to the work axis. This is useful for screw cutting.
Internal turning known as boring results in the enlargement of
an already existing hole. The holes are more accurate in
roundness, concentricity, and parallelism than drilled holes. A
hole is bored with a single-point-cutting tool that feeds along
the inside of the work piece.
Shaping Machine
The shaping machine is used to machine flat surfaces, grooves,
shoulders, T-slots, and angular surfaces with single-point tools.
The cutting tool on the shaper oscillates, cutting on the forward
stroke, with the work piece feeding automatically toward the tool
during each return stroke.
Drilling Machine
The drilling machine is used to cut holes in metal with a twist
drill. By changing the cutting tool, they can be used to do
reaming, boring, counter boring, countersinking, and threading.
Milling Machine
The milling machine uses a rotating cutting tool to cut flat
surfaces, grooves, and shoulders, inclined surfaces, dovetails,
and T-slots. Cutters of many shapes are changed to cut different
grooves.
Cutting Tools
Metal-cutting tools are classified as single point or multiple
point. The lathe and shaping machine use single point cutting tool
while the milling and drilling machines use multiple-point-cutting
tools.
Metal is cut either by moving the work piece like in the lathe or
by moving the tool like in the shaping machine, drilling or
milling machine. Clearance angles must be provided to prevent the
tool surface below the cutting edge from rubbing against the work
piece. Rake angles are often provided on cutting tools to cause a
wedging action in the formation of chips and to reduce friction and
heat.
Tool Materials
In order to remove chips from a work piece, a cutting tool must be
harder than the work piece and must maintain a cutting edge at the
temperature produced by the friction of the cutting action.
Carbon Steel
Carbon steel tools even though comparatively inexpensive tend to
lose cutting ability at temperatures around 400 degree F (205
degree C).
High-Speed Steel
High-speed steel, containing 18 percent tungsten, 4 percent chromium,
1 percent vanadium, and only 0.5 to 0.8 percent carbon, permits the
operation of tools twice or three times the speeds allowable with
carbon steel
Cast Alloys
Cast-alloy cutting-tool materials containing cobalt, chromium, and
tungsten are effective in cutting cast iron and retaining their
cutting ability even when red hot.
Cemented Tungsten Carbide
The hardness of Tungsten Carbide approaches that of a diamond.
Tungsten carbide tools can be operated at cutting speeds many times
higher than those used with high-speed steel.
Oxides
Ceramic, or oxide, tool tips consist primarily of fine aluminum oxide
grains, which are bonded together. These are very hard.
Cutting fluids
An overheated tool can become blunt and soft very fast. Therefore
very often, cooling fluids cools the cutting points of the tool. This
serves to lubricate and cool.
Water is an excellent cooling medium, but it corrodes ferrous
materials. Sulfurized mineral oil is one of the most popular coolants
as it can both cool as well as lubricate. The sulfur prevents chips
from the work from melting on to the tip of the tool.
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