MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Mechanical engineering comprises several areas and professions (e.g. machining and welding).
MACHINING

Machining is an area within mechanical engineering which covers a vast area of professions and topics. This chapter on machining covers some basic topics - as listed below. Click on the topic you want to read about.
TOPIC COMMENTS

MIlling Turning "rilling and #oring $rinding and %laning &istory of Mechanical 'ngineering Training and (ork of Machinists

This te t briefly describes the milling operation! some milling machines! tool cutters and work holding. This te t briefly describes the turning operation! the lathe! tool cutters and chuck mounting. This te t briefly describes drilling and boring operations and the drilling machine. This te t briefly describes grinding and planing operations. This te t gives a brief overview of the histroy of mechanical engineering. This te t describes the training and work of machinists in the )*+.

MILLING

Milling machines are the most versatile machine tools in the machine shop. They offer a wide variety of cuts! made possible by the variety of cutters available. Milling machines produce plane surfaces that are either parallel to! at angle to or perpendicular to the worktable. There are several similarities and differences between a milling machine and a shaping machine. (hereas the lathe and the shaping machine use single point cutters! the milling machine uses multi-tooth cutters. Moreover! the movement of the cutting tool in a milling machine is rotary. +s the cutters used in milling machines contain several cutting edges! a milling machine can remove metal more rapidly than a shaping machine. Milling machines produce plane surfaces that are either parallel to! at angle to or perpendicular to the worktable. *ome of the most common milling operations performed on the hori,ontal milling machines are up-milling! down-milling! slotting and facing to length. -ertical milling machines are used for operations such as slotting! T-slotting, facemilling and boring.
Milling Machines

The main parts of most milling machines are very similar. Milling machines can be divided into vertical and hori,ontal milling machines! depending on how they hold the cutters! or rather the position of the spindle a is. The hori,ontal milling machine holds the cutter in a hori,ontal position. The cutter is mounted on the arbor! which is clamped in the spindle and supported by support brackets. -ertical machines have their spindles mounted vertically. +s the vertical head can be tilted! vertical milling machines can hold cutters at an angle and machine the workpiece at different angles. There is also the universal milling machine which has a swivelling table and combines the functions of the hori,ontal and the vertical milling machine.
Milling cutters

There.s a wide range of milling cutters that can be used on hori,ontal and vertical milling machines. *ome of the cutters can be used for the same purpose! but their names may differ. *lab mills and face mills! for e ample! are both used for producing broad! plane surfaces! but slab mills are used on hori,ontal milling machines! whereas face mills are used on vertical milling machines. Moreover! some of the cutters are straight tooth cutters while others are called .form cutters. because they can produced curved surfaces or tee-slots! for e ample. *ome of the most common cutters are shown left.
Milling cutters have the same basic rake angles and clearance angle as other cutting tools. Moreover, they have a secondary clearance angle. The purpose of the secondary clearance angle is to prevent swarf from choking the area between the teeth, so that they don't break, so the rate of metal removal must be controlled carefully.
ool and Work Holding

-ertical milling machines have the cutters mounted in the spindles! whereas hori,ontal milling machines have the cutters mounted on the arbor. Milling machines can have several cutters mounted on the machine arbor so that several surfaces are machined at the same time. This is called gang-milling. The workpiece is clamped in the machine vice or directly to the machine table. /ften a dividing head is used! for e ample for gear-cutting operations. Components are often mounted in workholding fi tures to make it easier and faster to load and unload them. The fi tures are designed so as to clamp the components in the correct position regardless of the faces that are to be milled. The cutter will remain in the same position and will not need to be reset. 0i tures are commonly used for production milling when a large number of identical components are to be produced. They will reduce setting-up time. 1isten to and view a presentation of a milling operation. Close the window when you have finished.

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T$RNING
The Lathe

The main parts of a lathe are2

the tailstock! which is a support for long work-pieces! the bed! which is the framework of the lathe! the headstock! which contains the the motor that drives the spindle and the chuck the saddle! which is mounted on the bed and can be moved along the length of the bed. The saddle contains the slide and the toolpost. The slide is commonly a compound slide that can be moved at right angles to the bed. The compound slide consists of top-slide and cross-slide.
Turning

Turning is a machining operation that is different from milling in several respects. In turning the workpiece rotates and the lathe tool is fed against the workpiece. In milling the cutting tool - the cutter - rotates and the workpiece is clamped on the table and fed against the rotating cutter. In a lathe the workpiece is clamped in a chuck mounted on the spindle. + motor in the head-stock makes the spindle and the workpiece rotate. The cutting tool is mounted in the tool holder in the compound slide. +ll ad3ustments as to the speed of rotation and angle of cutting are carried out by the machine operator. There are various types of lathes like the capstan lathe! the turret lathe and the centre lathe. In recent years lathes have become automatic or computer-operated. *uch lathes combine several operations which are normally carried out by various other lathes or machines. The centre lathe is so called because the workpiece is held between two centres - one centre in the headstock and one in the tailstock. Turning - as the operation is called - is done when the lathe tool is fed against the rotating workpiece and bits from the workpiece are chipped off. The lathe tool is harder than the metal in the workpiece. +s there is a great variety of lathe tools the workpiece can be given different shapes. The lathe can be used for a series of different turning operations. *ome of the most common turning operations are2 facing off, facing to length, tapering and boring. /n a centre lathe the tool can move along and across the bed depending on the design or shape the workpiece is to be given (compound slide).

+t a large engineering works there will be many different types of lathes. 'ach of them serves one or more particular functions. The turret lathe is used when large numbers of one item or product are to be made. It is possible to mount various types of lathe tools on a turret lathe. +s the turret changes position the various lathe tools are brought into position to cut the workpiece to correct si,e and shape. *ome lathes also have a compound slide which makes it possible to bring the lathe tool not only along but also across the bed or the workpiece. Turning mistakes may be discovered by looking at the swarf to see whether it is discoloured or ragged. The te ture of the workpiece surface may also indicate mistakes. The most common causes are the use of blunt tools or wrong positioning of tools or choice of speed or feed. The most common mistakes in turning are wrong choice of tool material! wrong choice of feed and speed! or insufficient amount of coolant. 0eed is the amount that the cutting tool advances per revolution of the workpiece. The feed determines the surface finish obtained. Coarse feeds have large advances and produce rough surfaces but take less time. Turning mistakes can also be discovered by checking if the swarf is discoloured or ragged. The te ture of the workpiece surface may also indicate turning mistakes.
Chuck Mounting

Chucks have three or four 3aws. The 3aws are stepped in order to make it possible to clamp workpieces with large bore diameters. +s the 3aws can be reversed it is fairly easy to clamp workpieces of various si,es. The 3aws in the three 3aw chuck are self-centering. It is conse4uently easy to set the workpiece centrally using the three 3aw chuck. Most chucks are of the four 3aw type. +s the 3aws in the four 3aw chuck must be ad3usted independently! great care must be taken to set them correctly. They are commonly used for manual clamping of work pieces with an irregular shape. The workpieces are mounted in the chuck and the grip of the 3aws are tightened by means of the chuck key. The operator.s manual issued by the manufacturer will contain instructions on how to fit or remove chucks. These instructions should be strictly adhered to. It is also important that threads! tapers and flanges are absolutely clean so that machine tools or workers are not damaged or in3ured. 'nsure that the chuck key is removed from the chuck before the motor is switched on. 1isten to and view a presentation of a turning operation. Close the window when you have finished. ( back to top )

%RILLING and &ORING

The most common methods of making and enlarging holes are drilling! reaming! and boring.
%rilling

"rilling machines come in a large variety of types and si,es! from small hand-held electric drills to heavy-duty types used in manufacturing. The illustrations below show some of the most common types.

The si,e of the drilling machines indicates their capacity and range of feeds and speeds.

In all these machines the drill bit is clamped in the chuck and fed vertically into the workpiece. The drilling table commonly have slots for the clamping of the workpiece. /n bench and pillar drills! the drilling table can be lifted! tilted and turned around the pillar. (ith radial drills! the saddle can also be moved along the radial arm! and the radial arm can be rotated around the pillar. "uring the drilling operation! the workpiece must be securely and correctly clamped to the drilling table. The drill bits used in drilling machines are spiral drills5 the threads run in spirals along the drill body. The drills are made of high speed steel which is very hard so that they can withstand the heat generated during drilling operations without becoming blunt too easily. "rilling can be performed on various types of metals and thicknesses. The drill bit is fed into the workpiece either manually by means of a lever! or by means of power feeds. The drilling of sheet metal is normally carried out by means of hand feeds as this gives the operator a feel for the cutting action of the drill. %ower feeds are not used because the drill may easily snatch as the drill breaks through the sheet surface. (hen a hole is to be drilled in a workpiece! two alignments must be observed2 the a is of the cutter - the drill - must be in alignment with the centre of the hole to be drilled as well as in alignment with the a is of the machine spindle. C6C machining centres can perform all kinds of drilling operations using a variety of cutting tools. Tool selection! feeds! and speeds are numerically controlled. The movement of the drilling table! on which the worpiece is clamped! may also to programmed to move so as to provide the desired hole or slot pattern.
&oring

#oring is the process of enlarging an e isting hole. /ften! a hole is drilled undersi,e because it may be difficult to get it e actly centered on the desired location. In the ne t operation the hole can be bored to the desired diameter and centered correctly. #oring can be carried out with drilling machines! milling machines and lathes. ( back to top )
GRIN%ING and PLANING
Grinding

$rinding is a precision metal-cutting operation done with an abrasive grinding wheel. The grinding wheel cuts in a manner similar to a milling cutter. $rinding machines are classified broadly as cylindrical! surface! and internal. Cylindrical grinders may have the workpiece mounted between centres! or the workpiece may be free to pass between a grinding wheel and a control wheel for centerless grinding. *urface grinding is applied to flat surfaces! and the grinding wheel may be in either a vertical or a hori,ontal position. 0or internal grinding the work is held in a chuck! on a faceplate! or between control wheels.
Planing

%laners cut a large flat surface on a large workpiece or cut many small parts simultaneously.