Machining

Machining is an essential process of finishing by which jobs are produced to the desired
dimensions and surface finish by gradually removing the excess material from the
performed blank in form of chips with he help of cutting tools moved past the work
surface.
Machine ability
It is defined as ease of removing metals while maintaining dimensions and developing a
satisfactory surface finish.
Machine tool
A machine tool is a non portable power operated and reasonably valued device or system
of devices in which energy is expended to produce jobs of desired size, shape and surface
finish by removing excess material from the performed blank in form of chips with the
help of cutting tools moved past the surface.
Classification of machining process
(1) Metal Cutting
(1) Single point cutting tool: Turning, Boring Shaping, Planning
(2) Multi point Cutting Tool: Milling, Drilling, Tapping, Hobbing, Broaching
(2) Grinding and finishing process
(1)Grinding : Surface grinding, Cylindrical grinding, Centerless grindind
(2) Finishing process: Lapping, Honing, Superfinishing
(3) Unconventional machining: Ultrasonic machining, Electrodischarge machining,
Electrochemical machining, Laser Beam and Waterjet machining
Factors for selecting machining process
(1) Cost consideration
(2) Material of work piece
(3) Shape of work piece
(4) Size of work piece
(5) Degree of accuracy
(6) Surface finish required
(7) Number of product to be produced
Classification of machine tools
(1) General purpose
Lathe, Drilling, Shaping, Planning Milling, Sawing
(2) Special purpose
Boring, Broaching, Production milling, Special lathe ( Capstan and Turret)
(3) Automatic machine tool
(4) Computer numeric control.
Principle and operation of lathe

Working Principle: The lathe is a machine tool which holds the workpiece between two rigid and
strong supports called centers or in a chuck or face plate which revolves. The cutting tool is
rigidly held and supported in a tool post which is fed against the revolving work. The normal
cutting operations are performed with the cutting tool fed either parallel or at right angles to the
axis of the work. Generally single point cutting tool is used.
Types of lathes and size specification
Lathes are very versatile of wide use and are classified according to several aspects:
(1) According to configuration
a. Horizontal (Most common for ergonomic conveniences)
b. Vertical (Occupies less floor space, only some large lathes are of this type).
(2) According to purpose of use
a. General purpose (Very versatile, almost all possible types of operations are carried out on wide ranges of
size, shape and materials of jobs; example: centre lathes)
b. Single purpose (Only one type of operation is done on limited ranges of size and material of jobs;
example – facing lathe, roll turning lathe etc.)
c. Special purpose (Definite number and type of operations are done repeatedly over long time on a
specific type of blank; example: gear blank machining lathe etc.)
(3) According to size or capacity
a. Small (low duty up to 1.1 kW) only small and medium size jobs of generally soft and easily machinable
materials are machined
b. Medium (medium duty nearly up to 11 kW) Versatile Power lathes commonly used
c. Large (heavy duty)
d. Mini or micro lathe These are tiny table-top lathes used for extremely small size jobs and precision work;
example: swiss type automatic lathe
(4) According to degree of automation
a. Non-automatic (Handling operations are done manually; example: centre lathes)
b. Semi-automatic (Nearly half of the handling operations, irrespective of the processing operations, are
done automatically and rest manually; example: capstan lathe, turret lathe, copying lathe relieving lathe etc.)
c. Automatic (Almost all the handling operations are done automatically; example – single spindle
automatic lathe, swiss type automatic lathe, etc.)
(5) According to type of automation
a. Fixed automation (Example-single spindle automat, swiss type automatic lathe etc.)
b. Flexible automation (Modern; example CNC lathe, turning centre etc.)
(6) According to configuration of the jobs being handled
a. Bar type (Slender rod like jobs being held in collets)
b. Chucking type (Disc type jobs being held in chucks)
c. Housing type (Odd shape jobs, being held in face plate)
(7) According to precision
a. Ordinary
b. Precision (lathes) meant for high accuracy and finish relatively more expensive.
(8) According to number of spindles
a. Single spindle (Common)
b. Multi-spindle (2, 4, 6 or 8 spindles) Such uncommon lathes are suitably used for fast and mass
production of small size and simple shaped jobs.
 Parts of Lathe

1. Bed.
• It is the base or foundation of the lathe
• Headstock, tailstock, carriage etc are mounted on the bed
2. Headstock.
• It is permanently fastened to the innerway at the left end of the bed
• It serves support to the spindle and the driving arrangement
• Work holding devices such as face plate, driving plate or chucks may be mounted on the
spindle nose
• Receive power through head stock
• Headstock has a gear box for changing the speed of rotation of spindle and thereby the
speed of rotation of work piece
• The quick-change gear-box is placed below the headstock to vary speed and torque
3. Tailstock
• It is mounted on the bed at the right end and can be clamped at any convenient position
• It supports one end of the work piece
• It is also used for holding a tool for performing operations such as drilling, reaming
4. Carriage
• The carriage is located between the headstock and tailstock and serves the purpose of
supporting, guiding and feeding the tool against the job during operation

Major parts of Carriage

Saddle: Base of the carriage. It slides along the guide ways. The saddle is an H-shaped casting
mounted on the top of lathe ways to support cross-slide, compound rest and tool post

Cross slide: The cross slide mounted on the top of saddle provides cross movement for the
cutting tool

Compound rest: The compound rest is fitted on the top of cross slide to support the tool post
and tool. Compound rest can be rotated about the saddle, which makes positioning of cutting
tool at the desired angle
Tool post: The tool post is mounted on the compound rest for the rigid clamping of cutting tool

Apron: It is fixed below the saddle. It contains gears and levers for manual and automatic
motion of carriage. For manual motion of carriage along the bed, there is a hand wheel in front
of the apron. Automatic motion of carriage is made possible by engaging hand wheel shaft of
apron with the lead screw(for thread cutting operation)
5. Feed mechanism
• It is employed for imparting various feeds (longitudinal, cross and angular) to the cutting
tool
• It consists of feed reverse lever, tumbler reversing mechanism, change gears, feed
gearbox, quick change gear box, lead screw, feed rod, apron mechanism and half nut
mechanism

• Feed rod: The feed rod transmits power to the apron to drive the longitudinal feed and
cross feed. The feed rod is driven by the spindle through a train of gears. The ratio of feed
rod speed to spindle speed can be varied by using change gears to produce various rate of
feed.
• Lead screw: It is used for thread cutting. It has accurately cut acme threads along its
length.
Size and Specifications of Lathe

1. The height of the centres measured over the lathe bed.

2. Swing or maximum diameter that can be rotated over the bed ways.
3. Swing or diameter over carriage. This is the largest diameter of work that will revolve over the lathe saddle.
4. Maximum job length in mm that may be held between the centres (headstock and tailstock centres).
5. Bed length in metres which may include the headstock length also.
6. Diameter of the hole through lathe spindle for turning bar material.
Working Principle
• In a lathe, the workpiece is held in a chuck or between centres and rotated about its axis at
a uniform speed.

• The cutting tool held in tool post is fed into the workpiece for desired depth and in desired
direction (i.e., in linear, transverse or lateral direction)

• Since their exists a relative motion between the workpiece and the cutting tool, therefore
the material is removed in the form of chips and the desired shape is obtained.
Lathe Operations
1. Facing
It is an operation of machining the ends of a workpiece to produce a flat surface
square with the axis.
It is also used to cut the work to the required length
The operation involves feeding the tool perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the
workpiece
The facing operation is usually performed in two steps.
1. Using a heavy cross feed of the order of 0.5 to 0.7 mm and a deeper cut upto 5
mm (maximum).
2. Finer cross feed of 0.1 to 0.3 mm and a smaller depth of cut of about 0.5 mm
2. Plain turning

• It is an operation of removing excess material from the surface of the cylindrical

workpiece.
• In this operation, the work is held either in the chuck or between centres and the
longitudinal feed is given to the tool either by hand or power.
3. Step turning :

• In this type of lathe operation various

steps of different diameters in the
workpiece are produced.
• It is carried out in the similar way as
plain turning.
4. Taper turning :

• Taper. A taper may be defined as an uniform increase or decrease in diameter of a piece of

work measured along its length.
• Taper turning means to produce a conical surface by gradual reduction in diameter from a
cylindrical workpiece.
Taper turning methods

i) Forming tool method: Forming tool is

used

ii) Tailstock set over method:

• This method is used for small tapers
only
• It is based upon the principle of
shifting the axis of rotation of the
workpiece, at an angle to the axis, and
feeding the tool parallel to the lathe
axis
iii) Compound rest method:
• In this method of taper turning the workpiece is rotated on the lathe axis and the tool
is fed at an angle to the axis of rotation of the workpiece. The tool mounted on the
compound rest is attached to the circular base, graduated in degrees, which may be
swiveled and clamped at any desired angle
5. Thread Cutting
• Lead screw is used for the movement of tool
• Lead screw is driven by a set of gears from spindle
• Saddle receives its motion from lead screw
• For each turn of the screw, saddle moves along the
bed a distance equal to the pitch of the lead screw. Tool
is held in the tool post also moves the same distance
• Produces a helical groove on a cylindrical or conical
surface by feeding the tool longitudinally
• Longitudinal feed should be equal to pitch of the
thread to be cut per revolution of work piece
• Leadscrew of the lathe has a definite pitch
• A definite ratio should be present between longitudinal
feed and rotation of headstock spindle
•Relative speed of rotation of lead screw and work will
result in cutting a screw of desired pitch. This is effected
by use of change gears
 6. Knurling
• It is an operation of embossing a diamond shaped pattern on the surface of a workpiece.
• The purpose of knurling is to provide an effective gripping surface on a workpiece to prevent
it from slipping when operated by hand.
• The operation is performed by a special knurling tool which consists of 1 set of hardened
steel rollers in a holder with the teeth cut on their surface in a definite pattern.

7. Drilling :
• It is an operation of producing a cylindrical hole in a
workpiece by the rotating cutting edge of a cutter known as
the drill.
• For this operation, the work is held in a suitable device,
such as chuck or face plate, as usual, and the drill is held in
the sleeve or barrel of the tailstock. The drill is fed by hand
by rotating the handwheel of the tailstock.
8. Boring
It is the operation of enlarging and turning a hole produced by drilling, punching, casting or forging.

9. Reaming
Reaming is the operation which usually follows the earlier operation of drilling and boring in case of those holes in which a
very high grade of surface finish and dimensional accuracy is needed.

10. Undercutting/grooving

It is the process of reducing the diameter of a workpiece over a very narrow surface. It is often done at the end of a thread
or adjacent to a shoulder to leave a small margin

11. Forming
It is an operation of turning a convex, concave or any irregular shape.
Lathe tools

1. Turning tool
2. Facing tool
3. Chamfering tool Threading tool
Knurling tool
4. Form or profile tool
5. Parting or necking tool
6. External threading tool
7. Internal threading tool
8. Boring tool
Chamfering tool Boring tool
9. Knurling tool
1. Cutting Speed
• It is the peripheral speed of the workpiece past the cutting tool.
• In turning, it is given by the surface speed of the work piece,

V = π DoN/1000 m/min
Where Do is the diameter of the work piece in mm
N is the RPM of work or spindle speed
The main factors which influence the selection of a proper cutting speed are :
(i) Material of the cutting tool.
(ii) Hardness and machinability of the metal to be machined.
(iii) Quality of heat treatment, if it is a H.S.S. steel tool.
(iv) Whether machining is to be done with or without the use of a coolant.
(v) Rigidity of the tool and the work.
(vi) Tool shape.
(vii) Depth of cut.
(viii) Feed to be given to the tool.
(ix) Rigidity of the machine.
Feed: It may be defined as the distance that a tool advances into the work during one
revolution of the headstock spindle
• Feed is expressed in mm/revolution.
• The smaller the feed, the better the finish although a great deal depends on the type
of lathe tool used, and a well sharpened tool is necessary.
• Larger feeds reduce machining time, but the tool life is reduced
• Feed f may calculated as follows
L = Length of cut, mm,
N = r.p.m, and
Tm = Machining/cutting time
 3. Depth of cut (d)
The depth of cut ‘d’ is the perpendicular distance measured from the machined surface to
the uncut (or previous cut) surface of the workpiece.
Di = Initial/original diameter of the workpiece, mm, and
Df = Final diameter of the workpiece, mm.
Material Removal Rate (MRR)

The material removal rate is the volume of material removed per unit time
MRR = π Di × d × f × N mm3/min in terms of revolution N
r.p.m
MRR = 1000 × V × d × f mm3/min in terms of cutting speed V
in m/min
Lathe Accessories (holding Devices for Lathes)

Work holding devices

• Chucks
• Face Plate
• Driving Plate
• Angle Plate
• Lathe Dog
• Mandrels
• Centres
• Rests
Chuck
• Work pieces of short length, large diameter and irregular shapes, which cannot be
mounted between centres, are held quickly and rigidly in chuck

• 3 jaw chuck ( self centering universal chuck)

• 4 jaw chuck (Independent chuck)
• Air or hydraulic operated chuck
• Collet chuck
• Combination chuck
• Magnetic chuck
• Drill chuck
Three jaw chuck (or) self-centering chuck
• The three jaws fitted in the three slots may be made to slide at the same time by an equal
amount by rotating any one of the three pinions by a chuck key
• This type of chuck is suitable for holding and rotating regular shaped work pieces like round
or hexagonal rods about the axis of the lathe
Four jaws or independent chuck

• There are four jaws in this chuck. Each jaw is moved independently by rotating a screw with the help of a chuck key
• A particular jaw may be moved according to the shape of the work.
 Collet chuck
• This type of chuck is used when the work to be held is very long in size
• Collet chuck has a cylindrical bushing known as collet.

Combination chuck

• May be used both as self centering and an independent chuck

• Jaws can be operated individually by separate screws or simultaneously by scroll disc
Face plates

• It is a circular disc bored out and threaded to fit to the nose of the lathe spindle
• It is provided with radial plain and ‘T’ slots for holding the work by bolts and clamps
• Face plate is used to hold large, heavy and irregular shaped work pieces which cannot be
conveniently held between centres
Angle plate
• It is used for holding work in conjunction with a face plate
• When the size or shape of the work is such that it is not possible to mount the work
directly on the face plate the angle plate is secured to the face plate and the work
mounted on it

Driving plate
• It is a cast circular disc having a projected boss at its rear. The boss carries internal
threads, so that it can be screwed on to the spindle work
• It also carries a hole to accommodate a pin which engages with the tail of a lathe dog
or carrier when the job is held in the latter
 Lathe carriers or dogs
• These are used in conjunction with the driving plate.
• The two common forms are straight tail and bent tail.

Lathe mandrels
• A “mandrel” can be described as a solid steel shaft or spindle which is used for holding
bored parts for machining their outside surfaces on lathe. They are also known as arbors
Types:

a) Plain Mandrel b) Step Mandrel c) Collar Mandrel d) Screwed Mandrel e) Gang Mandrel f)
Expansion Mandrel
Rests
• When a very long job is to be turned between centres on a lathe, due to its own
weight it provides a springing action and carries a lot of bending moment. The result
is that the turning tool is spoiled very soon and may even break sometimes. To avoid
this, such jobs are always supported on an attachment known as ‘steady rest or centre
rest
• Sometimes, when the job is too flexible, it becomes necessary to support the job very
close to the cutting edge of the tool throughout the operation. In such cases a
‘follower rest’. It is attached to the saddle of the lathe carriage and thus travels along
with the tool throughout the operation
Centres

• Mostcommon method of holding work is between live and dead centres

• Dead centre is subjected to wear due to friction

Types of centres

• Ordinary centre
• Tipped centre
• Ball centre
• Insert type centre
• Rotating or frictionless centre
• Half centre
• Revolving centre
• Pipe centre
Jigs and fixtures
• Jigs and fixtures are used in conjunction with the face plate on a lathe for supporting
and holding odd shaped and eccentric jobs during the operation.
Tool Holding Devices

• Lathe tool holders are designed to securely and rigidly hold the tool at a fixed angle for
properly machining a work piece.
• Single bolt, four bolt, open side and four-way tool post are main types of tool post used
to hold the tool
Factors considered while mounting the tools

1. Orientation of the tool

2. Accurate mounting of tool
3. Easy and quick mounting and change
4. Un-obstructed chip flow and cutting fluid action
 Semiautomatic and Automatic Lathes
• The lathes that have their tools automatically fed to work and withdrawn after the cycle is
complete are known as Automatic lathes.
• In semi-automatic lathes all the machining operations are automatically performed by the
machines, exactly in the same way as in fully automatic lathes, but loading, starting of
machine for machining each new component, inspection of job during operation and
unloading the finished articles are done by the operator manually
The conventional general purpose automated lathes can be classified as
Semi-automatic
(a) capstan lathe (ram type turret lathe)
(b) turret lathe
(c) multiple spindle turret lathe
(d) copying (hydraulic) lathe
Automatic

(a) Automatic cutting off lathe

(b) Single spindle automatic lathe
(c) Swiss type automatic lathe
(d) Multiple spindle automatic lathes
The characteristic features of semi - automatic lathes are:
• Some major auxiliary motions and handling operations like bar feeding, speed change, tool
change etc. are done quickly and consistently with lesser human involvement.
• The operators need lesser skill and putting lesser effort and attention.
• Suitable for batch or small lot production.
• Costlier than centre lathes of same capacity.
Classification of semi-automatics
Depending upon the number of work spindle, these machines are classified as:
• Single spindle semi-automatics
• Multi spindle semi-automatics
The machine may also be built in two designs:
• Centre type.
• Chucking type.
As per the arrangement of the spindles
the automatics lathes are called horizontal or vertical.
Vertical machines are more rigid and powerful than horizontal models and are designed for
machining large diameter work of comparatively short length
Capstan and Turret lathes
The main limitations of a centre lathe are :
1. Only one tool can be used in the normal course (sometimes the conventional tool post
can be replaced by a square tool post with four tools).
2. Large setting time of the job (in terms of holding the job)
3. The idle times involved in setting and movement of tools between the cuts is large.
4. If proper care is not taken by the operator, it is difficult to achieve precise movement of
the tools to destined places.
Turret and capstan lathes and semi-automatic and automatic can overcomer the above
limitations by achieving improvements basically in the following areas
(i) Multiple tool availability.
(ii) Work holding methods.
(iii) Automatic feeding of the tools.
(iv) Automatic stopping of the tools at precise locations.
(v) Automatic control of the proper sequence of operations.
Capstan and Turret lathes
• Are semiautomatic
• Possess an axially movable indexable turret (mostly hexagonal) in place of tailstock
• Holds large number of cutting tools
• Are more productive for quick engagement and overlapped functioning of the tools
• Enable repetitive production of same job
• Are suitable and economically viable for batch production
Differences between a turret lathe and a capstan lathe
Comparison of centre lathe and Turret and capstan lathes
In contrast to centre lathes, capstan and turret lathes

• Are relatively costlier.

• Are requires less skilled operator.
• Holds large number of cutting tools; up to four in indexable tool post on the front slide,
one in the rear slide and up to six in the turret (if hexagonal).
• Are more productive for quick engagement and overlapped functioning of the tools in
addition to faster mounting and feeding of the job and rapid speed change.
• Enable repetitive production of same job requiring less involvement, effort and
attention of the operator for pre-setting of work-speed and feed rate and length of
travel of the cutting tools.
• Capable of taking multiple cuts and combined cuts at the same time.
 Turret lathe (Top view)
CAPSTON AND TURRET LATHE- PARTS
• Bed
• All geared headstock
• Hexagonal turret
• Feed rod
• Cross slide
• Saddle
• 4 station tool post

Capstan lathe (Top view)

HEXAGONAL TURRET
Multiple spindle Vertical Turret lathe
The multiple spindle vertical turret lathes are characterised by :
• Suitably used for large lot or mass production of jobs of generally;
– chucking type
– relatively large size
– requiring limited number of machining operations
• Machine axis – vertical for
– lesser floor space occupied
– easy loading and unloading of blanks and finished jobs
– relieving the spindles of bending loads due to job – weight.
• Number of spindle – four to eight
General Purpose Automatic lathes
• Automatic lathes are essentially used for large lot or mass production of small rod type of
jobs
• Automatic lathes are also classified based of number of work spindles
Single spindle
• Automatic cutting off lathes (short work pieces)
• Automatic (screw cutting) lathe
• Swiss type automatic lathe (Diameter range – 2 to 12 mm Length range – 3 to 30 mm)
Multispindle automatic lathe (four to eight parallel spindles)