3078 3079 3080 3081 3082 3083 3084 3085 3086 3087 3088 3089 3090 3091 3092

3093 3094 3095 3096 3097 3098 3099 3100 3101 3102 3103

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Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer Geometer

Small lathe vertical slide Slide mounted angle plate Collet and cotter fitting Differential screw fittings Tool and slide setting Precision in length dimensions Tailstock feed control True and eccentric chucking Pairing accuracy in machining Standard and special dividing methods Vice jaws for special purposes Machining difficult castings Overcoming tailstock faults Thread backlash Self feeding facing tool Spiral feed facing tool Worm and pinion drives Machining domed and hollow surfaces Slide for spherical (ball) turning Setting slides for spherical (ball) turning A setting-up surface gauge Testing components on the lathe Built-up Vee supports Clamps for various purposes Nuts for the job Machining hexagons and squares

LATHE ACCESSORY LATHE ACCESSORY WORKHOLDING THREADING LATHE ACCESSORY GAUGING LATHE ACCESSORY WORKHOLDING LATHE TIPS DIVIDING & GEARS WORKHOLDING WORKHOLDING LATHE TIPS THREADING LATHE ACCESSORY LATHE ACCESSORY DIVIDING & GEARS LATHE TIPS LATHE ACCESSORY LATHE TIPS GAUGING LATHE TIPS WORKHOLDING WORKHOLDING MATERIALS LATHE TIPS

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

A small lathe
ANY milling operations in the lathe can be performed with the work mounted on the topslide, or on the cross-slide table, or on an angle plate attached to this table. They are operations involving lines of traverse and feed into which height adjustment does not enter, and for numbers of them an initial setting of work at correct height is essential. Naturally, this is a process requiring time and care; given means of height adjustment, it is greatly expedited.

and using a face mill to true it. The

by mounting each on the topslide, or on a block on the cross-slide table,

By GEOMETER
There are other operations, in which height adjustment is required as part of the machining procedure. Widening the slot in a piece of material by machining along one edge with an end mill is an example; and for such operations as this, a vertical slide on the cross-slide enables the material to be raised or lowered as necessary. The same is true when all that is required is an initial height setting of work in relation to mill or cutter. The vertical slide admits of quick adjustment. Usually, a commercial vertical slide is made from castings, and often has provision for tilting from vertical for angular feed. The simple non-tilting slide comprises two castings: one for the base and pillar forming the guides, the other for the table. The tilting slide consists of three: one for base and pillar; one for the guides; the third for the table. Both tables are slotted for square-headed bolts. For a small lathe, a simple nontilting vertical slide can be built up from mild steel bar and flat material, as at A, B and C. Certain machining operations-such as those on the guides and table-which can prove to be problems, are thus avoided; for the flat faces of the material serve as guides, and tapped holes in the face of the table can take workholding studs, obviating the need for tee-slots. The base can be a disc cut from round bar, or sawn and turned from flat material then bored to locate the machined end of the square bar used for the the pillar-for that is the section
7 JULY 1960

combining the advantages of simplicity, rigidity in all directions, and ease of mounting to the base-by brazing or welding. The square bar can be faced in the independent chuck-or if too much overhang is involved, it can be filed reasonably true for centre positions to be located with depth gauge and scriber, or on a faceplate using a surface gauge. Then, with centres drilled, support can be given from the tailstock for facing the ends. Even with considerable overhang, drilling right through can be done, with care, operating from each end. For the major part of the distance the hole should be cleared for the feedscrew -which can be of vee or Whitworth profile. Four bolts hold the table to side plates and a backplate-fitted to slide on the pillar. These pieces can be faced in the independent chuck, or

close fitting bolts and holes, and the other made adjustable through clearance holes, a small bar opposite each bolt being provided with grubscrews. Holes in table and backplate take the turned ends of the bars. Other details are the pressure screw with a flange to abut to the thrust plate, and a taper-fitted ball handle with a collar between it and this plate to eliminate end play. Holes X in the face of the table are tapped for holding studs. For the pillar to be square with the base, the base should be faced on a set-up as at D. A centred plug, or centred long bolt, stepped under the head., should be fitted; then, adjusting the jaws of the independent chuck, positions Y and Z on two faces at right angles should be brought parallel with the lathe axis. I3

or paper at the faces up to the backplate. One side plate can be fixed through

MODEL ENGINEER

Slide mounted angle plates

CCORDING to whether it is mounted on the cross-slide table or the vertical slide of a lathe, an angle plate provides a convenient vertical or horizontal face on which work can be set up Cutters for milling operations. with shanks can be held in the chuck or fitted in chucked mandrels. Those with bores can be gripped between shoulders and collars on arbors-which can be run between centres, or held one end in the chuck with the other supported by the tailstock centre. In normal work, which broadly is the kind that does not carry unusual angles, the first requirement for the angle plate on either of its mountings is that its face shall be square or parallel in all imaginable ways in relation to the run of the slides and

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Traversing the cross-slide table, a steady reading should be shown by the indicator-or there should be, all the way, the same small gap between the end of the rod and the face of the angle plate. The condition is easily brought about by adjustment. For checking the face in a vertical plane, the chuck with the indicator, or cranked rod, is rotated, and again there should be a steady reading or a uniform gap. If not, the error is corrected by loosening the angle plate and packing between it and the cross-slide table (near the face or away from it) with strips of shimstock or paper. The principle of checking by moving a slide applies for setting the face of the angle plate parallel to the lathe bed-at right-angles to the cross feed, the indicator or rod being mounted on an arbor, and the saddle moved along the bed. For this setting, vertical alignment is usually of no importance. Accurate setting up of work, with means for putting on cuts, can often be arranged as at C. The support block or bar, previously machined to width (height), stands on the crossslide table with flat strips of packing, which can be added to or subtracted from for adjusting the setting of the work-unclamped for so doing. Accurate setting to a scribed line on work can be done as at D. A needle in a holder is set with its point spinning truly, and the line on the work is carefully adjusted to it. On occasion, a piece of material is marked off with a surface gauge specially for making the setting, and a support bar arranged so that the work, when substituted, will be located. By off-setting a needle point in a holder in the independent chuck, and swinging it, the edges of a slot can be aligned, as at E, to be equal distances above and below the lathe axis. Both needle and work must be adjusted. Alternatively, a piece of material can be shaped to enter the slot, and adjustments made so that there is a small gap, V, at both top and bottom edges. The principles of setting an angle plate apply when it is attached to a vertical slide, as at F, a horizontal check being made on a steel rule fixed by a clip. If points Wand X are not the same height, packing must be fitted at Y or Z. El
MODEL ENGINEER

the axis of the spindle. All conditions cannot always be satisfied, of course, if there are small fundamental errors in the lathe itself-though often particular errors which could become functional on a given set-up can be counteracted in making it. The second requirement is accurate setting up of the work on the face of the angle plate, sometimes with means for putting on cuts, and, when this cannot be done, by operating feedscrews. Basic accuracy for an angle plate mounted on the cross-slide table to set up work for milling from the chuck is obtained as at A and B. An indicator on a rod as shown (held in the chuck) is a help in making the setting as it reveals errors in thous. But a piece of rod in the chuck (cranked for the test at B) is almost as good, given careful observation, or use of feeler gauges or strips of paper.

L_______J

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Collet and cotter fittings

collets and cotters are only detail items, there are often no satisfactory substitutes for them in assemblies
LTHOUGH

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Any rectification needed to a spring retainer after it has been parted off can be done with it on the mandrel. Collets can be made from two pieces of flat bar in the independent chuck, centred, drilled, turned and parted off carefully. With a holder, tapered by the reamer, they can be tapped in for facing-tapped out with a drift. Valves can each be machined, as at C, with support from the tailstock, and finished gripped in a split bush. Two types of cotters which can be used for securing spindles are as at Dl and (2). The flat-sided type engages a flat on the shaft and thus provides location, while the grooved type grips on the diameter and so admits of sliding or turning adjustments. If instead of the diameter being plain, it is threaded, the gripping surface of the cotter can be threaded too, which admits of adjustment and firm locking afterwards, without the threads being damaged. This cotter must be fitted before the shaft or inside part, and can only be removed after it. Keeping in line As the hole for the inside part is crossed at a tangent by that for the cotter, production methods must obviate the tendency for the second one, whichever it is, to run out of line. As at El, the main hole can be plugged with similar material for drilling the cotter hole; or the-cotter hole can be plugged and the main one drilled and reamed. Alternatively, as at E2, the cotter hole can be drilled, then the other undersize-not to run -and opened out by careful boring in the chuck. If the main hole is threaded by tapping, and a grooved cotter used, this can be carefully drawn by its nut to the tap, as the latter is turned -forming vee grooves to fit the thread. The ordinary groove in a groovedtype cotter can be made by filing with a round file, or more accurately on the lathe, usmg a reamer in the chuck. The rod, already threaded, can be set up in various ways, such as clamped to a piece of angle iron on the top slide, or mounted in a split clamp on the vertical slide. Such a clamp, mounted on the top slide, may he employed, too, for milling a flatsided cotter, as at F. q
MODEL ENGINEER

SPRlNG RETAINER

in which they are used. In particular, collets provide perhaps the best possible means for attaching spring retainers to valve stems, which in the course of turning can each be machined with a suitable groove. Substitute fittings would be a cross pin in a drilled hole, and a flat key in a slot in the valve stem-the one lacking in strength, the other offering constructional difficulties in small dimensions. Substitutes for cotters (which can be used for securing levers to shafts, tools in holders, anvils in gauges) are grubscrews and setscrews, taper pins, rivets, etc., each of which in certain circumstances could be deemed to have drawbacks. Machining of spring retainers and split taper collets can be done as at A and B, using a taper reamer and a mandrel for the spring retainers, and-if required-a holder for the collets so that each pair can be faced off squarely to functional length. The reamer is made from silver steel and used to taper out the drilled holes in the spring retainers, instead of attempting to bore them with a tool. Even in quite small sizes, reamers can be given cutting teeth by careful sawing and filing, though five equal flats, as on a broach, will serve as well, except that the corners produced will cut less fast than orthodox teeth. Taper turning of the reamer blank and the mandrel (in mild steel) can be performed with the same turning tool at the same top slide setting, so that both are alike. Afterwards, at any time, the mandrel held in the chuck serves for picking up the taper again with a tool on the top slide, which is useful when the split collets come to be turned., if the top slide setting has meanwhlle been disturbed. 21 JULY 1960 73

0
D

0
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Differential screw fittings

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fine adjustment when this and not force is the function required. -The considerable force provided by a differential screw admits of assembling parts with the minimum risk of their working loose; and often no locking device is needed. A possible use in a small engine is as at B, for fixing the crankpin to the web of a cantilever crankshaft. The crankpin is a sleeve (with flange to keep the big-end of the connecting-rod on it) and is tapped with a fine thread, while. the crankweb is tapped with a coarser thread. The screw can be made to length-or cut to length after pulling the parts together. The force available in such a doublepitch screw is particularly useful on occasion in a puller for separating taper-fitted parts. It can be arranged as at C. The normal pressure screw can have its usual relatively fine thread and be fitted into a sleeve with a coarser thread to the body of the puller. The pressure screw gives the setting and initial tightening. Then it is held while the sleeve is turned. This advances in the body and at the same time draws the pressure screw back; and the difference between the two movements is the actual advance. No hammering should be needed on the pressure screw. Parts of jigs and tools can be pulled firmly together with a fitting as at D, obviating recesses or countersinks for screws-the ends of the screws going beneath the surface. Tightening by ordinary screwdriver gives sutffcient force with the fine functional pitch. Screws must be started with parts separated an appropriate distance (right) for correct final assembly (left). Fine adjustment for the lens of a microscope can be arranged as at E (top) with a double-pitch screw; while tine adjustment for a tool (bottom) is possible through a sleeve with different pitches inside and out. For the latter fitting, a backing screw is advisable to lock the tool with backlash upwards. In adjusting the sleeve, conditions as at F occur Backlash between sleeve and bar is correctly taken, but the tool is pulled downwards, leaving backlash beneath its threads. So a backing screw will q prevent it from pushing down.
MODEL ENGINEER

to what may be required in a tool or mechanism, a very large axial force, or extremely fine adjustment, can be provided by a differential screw, using normal pitches of thread of robust proportions and ample strength. Even for applications where the function is fine adjustment, these are important factors; for a thread of very fme pitch has no great vertical height to withstand wear, much less provide considerable axial thrust without stripping. A differential screw is one having two different t.p.i. or pitches; and it is by using the difference between them that the force or tine adjustment is obtained. For any particular pitch (which is obtained by dividing 1 by the t.p.i.), a thread may be likened to a type of wedge. A large pitch (small number of t.p.i.) gives a steep wedge, and a small pitch a very slender one. Now, two steep wedges of slightly different angle can be placed together
CCORDING

in opposition. The variation from parallel is equal to that of a very slender wedge. This is similar to a differential screw. and it works as at A. Making one forward turn with the screw from the left side, the space X is diminished by the difference between the movement of nut Y with the fine thread, and that of nut Z with the coarse thread. If nut Y has 10 t.p.i., the pitch is l/l0in., or 4/40in.; and if nut Z has 8 t.p.i., the pitch is 1/8 in. or 5/40 in. The difference is l/40 in., which is the pitch of a normal micrometer screw. Consequently, using these substantial threads in a mechanism, it is possible to obtain the fine adjustment of a micrometer-or the force that attaches to l/40 in. pitch-without risking the stripping that could occur with a thread proportioned to l/40 in. pitch. Even threads of 4 t.p.i. and 5 t.p.i., which are very strong, give the equivalent of 1/20in. pitch; and at the other extreme, combinations of threads of line pitch (large numbers of t.p.i.), relatively weak though they may be, will provide an extremely

COARSE *THREAD

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28 JULY 1960

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Tool and slide setting

good a lathe, it is virtually impossible for it to have all its controls arranged exactly as one would like, and everything in the way of equipment. Consequently, there is always scope for the user to evolve or use dodges and devices which either speed the production of work or improve its quality. If the machine is n o longer in its youth, these principles acquire extra force, for it will almost certainly be lacking fittings and features which have since become standardised. And added to the problems thus presented are those which inevitably occur with wear, causing slackness and malalignment. One of the ever-present problems for the lathe user is height adjustment of tools-which should preferably be expeditious, for with the work set up, and the tool ground and ready, there only remains its setting for the job to begin. A cradle or boat-type toolpost is a convenience in this respect; though for many lathes, with a simple turret or clamp on the top slide, reliance must be made on packing of various thicknesses.
OWEVER

1 WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS 1 I I

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surface plate, using a surface gauge and indicator. Again, some veeblocks can be used on the bar on the lathe-or a piece of radius packing can be employed to support the anvil of a micrometer. Easier than any of these solutions is to arrange the tool as at B, at an angle, and provide a removable bracket with an adjusting screw. Then the tool can be set to micrometer measurement over X-Xl. It should be a good fit in its hole; and if the feed is such that spring could increase diameter on roughing cuts, the setting should leave enough for finishing. Combined feed In screwcutting threads, an alternative to straight in-feed of the tool which can lead to digging in and tearing is combined side and in-feed, given by applying top-slide and crossslide feeds in suitable sequence and proportions. Another method which combines the two movements in one, is to set the top-slide at half the thread angle, as at C, and use top-slide feed only, with the tool cutting always on the advancing flank of the thread. Using the top slide at a slight angle serves to provide a small depth of cut for a long feed, as at D. This can be the solution on some lathes, lacking micrometer collars, to the problem of fine finishing cuts; for the slide can be set to give any required in-feed, such as O.C005-in, pa;theof cut for a half-turn of the Resetting a top-slide parallel with the lathe axis (or sufficiently so for most jobs) is another problem the solution to which is a gauge in mild steel plate, as at E. It should fit between the tailstock barrel and the end of the slide when this is right back, and the cross-slide is positioned to a mark Y scribed on the saddle to a straight-edge Z. For the initial setting, the slide is trued, the gauge fitted, and then the line scribed to the straight-edge. An adjustable tailstock centre for set-over or accurate between-centre work can be as at F, the holder machined from rectangular mild steel bar, with a hardened silver steel centre adjusted by a wedge-the point having been turned with the holder in the spindle. El 1 3 7
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0
A

DEPTH

OF

Quick height setting A holder, however, mounting a tool at an angle, as at A, provides for quick height setting of a tool for many plain external turning and facing operations. Using square or rectangular mild steel bar of a size suitable for the lathe,. the holder can be made from two pieces brazed or welded to provide the necessary drop from the top slide. Then the hole for the tool can be drilled and reamed at an angle from the top, and the hole for the holding screw drilled and tapped in the side away from the chuck. Setting a tool to radius in a boring bar presents a problem that can be solved in various ways. It can be a double-ended type, ground to diameter and set spinning truly, or a singleended tool set in vee-blocks on a
4 AUGUST 1960

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PRECISION in length dimensions

OR many purposes, accuracy on non-functional features of models and mechanisms need be no greater than that given by reasonably careful working to a steel rule. This can be in machining on the lathe, as well as in hand operations. It is another matter, of course, if first-class appearance or fidelity to scale should be required. For an experienced eye will notice small errors--even he way in which a coat of paint has increased in thickness in a corner, with the attraction of two

BY GEOMETER
surfaces, and resulted in a heavy effect. In such cases, accuracy as high as possible is desirable. The principle applies, too, where a feature which is visible involves a subsidii function, such as clearance: 0.003 in. may b e all that is required mechanically, though 0.015 i n . say, might be given. Then, dependmg on conditions, the one gap might be barely visible, and the other all too plainly seen-when preferably it should not. Of course, when the function of the model or mechanism is involved in length dimensions, it is particularly important for them to be as accurate as possible to avoid the circumstance of several small errors summing to a sizeable one that can obstruct or modify operation. It applies to all features like overall lengths, distances to steps, widths of flanges, and depths of recesses. Precision on these obviates rectification and the time that would be lost in fitting when assembling. Fortunately, in lathe work, there is considerable choice of means for achieving this precision, using micrometer collars-if these are fitted to the feedscrews, width and end gauges, stops at the headstock or on the bed, and various types of depth gauges. A short step which is required on many components can be obtained, as at A, using the top slide feed micrometer collar. Noting the setting of this, a facing cut can be taken over the end of the
11 AUGUST 1960

smaller diameter, and then the tool be moved by the feedscrew through dimension X for finishing the shoulder at the larger diameter. A normal feedscrew should give the dimension within 0.002 in. Longer lengths than can be comfortably dealt with in this way can be obtained using the leading screw--either from the micrometer collar fitted, or by rotating it some definite number of turns, and completing with topslide feed. Standard tools such as drills and lathe tools, and accurate material like silver steel, provide for tiny short dimensions, as at B, while end gauges can be ma& from rod for longer ones, facing carefully to micrometer or vernier gauge. For short dimensions, gauges are used between tools and shoulders of larger diameters to give the setting for facing cuts at the smaller diameters. Longer dimensions can be obtained in the same way from end gauges on the work, or applied to the chuck face. A stop, as at C, in the spindle nose locates work at a definite position in the chuck. Then, using a gauge at the face, as at B, correct overall length is obtained-particularly useful if there are several parts to finish. A recess as at D, or other internal step, can be machined to depth, setting the tool to a gauge, then facmg over the outside face, the recess having initially been over-depth. Annular grooves in bores to take circlips or act as undercuts for threads can be accurately located with two gauges, as at D. using a square-ended holder. In settmg the tool, one gauge is placed between it and the holder: while in setting to the work, the other gauge is used to the holder. The in-set of the groove is the difference between the gauges. Accuracy in drilled holes follows from over-drilling, checking with a depth gauge, as at El, obtaining the over-depth from a vernier depth gauge, and finally advancing the tool from the micrometer collar. An ordinary depth gauge, set by block gauge and straight-edge, can be used to locate the tool for a flange, as at E2; though to eliminate inaccuracy from tipping, the type as at F is recommended-set in the same way. q 167
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TAILSTOCK FEED CONTROL

HILE it is often possible to E drill holes over-depth from the tailstock, then face the material to length for accuracy, there are occasions when it is de sirable or necessary for the drilling itself to be accurately performed. This is true also of counterboring and cutting angular seatings for which fine control of axial movement is essential. For ordinary work, there are various ways and means of exercising depth control. A pencil mark can be put on the drill, or a nick made on it with the comer of a grinding wheel. The extension of the tailstock barrel can be measured-from the end or from a scribed line or centre punch dotor inside calipers or dividers can be be used from the tailstock to a mark on the barrel.

By GEOMETER
from sheet material, bent, drilled and fixed by screws to the tailstock. On a screwcutting lathe, the tailstock barrel can be graduated with a set-up as at B. Holding a piece of rod in the chuck, it is machined from the topslide to the taper in the tailstock barrel to form a mandrel on which the barrel can be mounted, leaving clearance from the chuck jaws to work the vee-tool. The handle and key are removed and the barrel allowed to turn in the tailstock body. To mark the base line, the veetool is mounted sideways and drawn along the barrel by saddle feed. Then to cut the graduations, with the tool in the normal attitude, the lathe is set to the required thread (say, 32 t.p.i.), and the chuck turned by hand, the tool being fed in at the line and drawn out after a given rotational movement. For uniformity, simple block gauges can be used between a chuck jaw and the bed. Minimum helix angle follows from a fine thread, even though graduations may be more than one turn apart. Figuring can be applied through punches, and burrs eased off with a smooth file. On some tailstocks, a graduated or micrometer collar can be arranged as at C. They are tailstocks on which the rear boss can be machined true on the outside for the collar to fit to a shoulder, and be driven by a pin let into a spoke of the handwheel. Total graduations for a true micrometer collar must agree with the thread on the barrel (125 for 8 t.p.i., and 100 for 10 t.p.i.), though fewer will give accuracy to ordinary fractions. A set-up as at D admits of machining the outside of the boss on the tailstock, using a bar through it. Driven from the chuck, this can be flattened at the end for bolting on blocks for the tool, which can be lossened and tapped down for depth of cut. Feed follows from lightly clamping the tailstock to the bed and moving it along with the saddle. The collar can be turned and bored from bar stock or a casting and set up for graduating as at E. For this, its bore can be a force fit on the mandrel which mounts the change gear and is supported by the fixed steady. Later it can be bored to fit the tailstock. Indexing of the gear can be done as at F, with a bar bolted to the lathe bed, and a sliding jaw in the teeth of the gear. El
MODEL ENGINEER

These suffice for the occasional job on which better-than-usual accuracy is required, though for a succession of such jobs, it is a convenience for the means of control to be built into the tailstock in the form of a graduated barrel or a micrometer collar. Then not only is there control for precision work, but for ordinary work there is a check on progress with control over depth clearance, so that bar stock is not wasted in facing out unwanted holes in subsequent use. A graduated barrel for a tailstock can be arranged as at A, with spacing of graduations to choice, 1/32in. being a normal minimum. Reading should be at a pointer rather than at the end of the tailstock, as the advance to a particular graduation can be seen, and there is no temptation to go beyond to be certain of not underdrilling. Such a pointer can be cut

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TRUE and ECCENTRIC CHUCKING

small inaccuracy of the standard self-centring chuck, after a period of use, is a fact known to all experienced turners, who, by various ways and means, prevent its entry into components-where, obviously, it could lead to trouble in assembling. One way of countering inaccuracy is to machine all over at one setting
HE

By GEOMETER
provided for a multi-throw crankshaft by throw plates and a betweencentre mounting follows from an eccentric chuck mounting, as at C, the free end of the shaft carrying a throw plate with a plug running in a bearing attached to a pad centre. First and subsequent setting-up can be done from this throw plate. In making, it is bored, cross drilled, split, and the throw marked. Then the plate is clamped on a stub in the chuck to bore for its plug, which, at any subsequent setting, must run truly. Resetting for the second crankpin of a shaft can be done as at D. Before unchucking, points Y-Z on a bar U-bolt clamped to the centre web should be brought horizontal with the lathe bed, and the faceplate located-as by a bar to the leading screw. Freed in the chuck, the shaft can be turned to bring points Y-Z level again, then the chuck retightened, and the throw plate turned for its plug to run truly. q

-or at least all critical diameters and faces. Where this is not practicable, because components must be unchucked, there is the choice for resetting them by such means as centred mandrels, stub mandrels, split bushes, and clamps with loose caps. There is, too, the device of soft jaws for a chuck, which can be machined to grip particular diameters. It can be claimed, of course, that the standard self-centring chuck makes a good showing in view of its construction and the vagaries of its usegripping diameters which may be long, short, rough, smooth, round or only allegedly so. Its jaws resemble cantilever brackets, on which there is always the possibility of tipping under pressure; while the scroll which effects their movement, if originally accurate, sooner or later develops strain or wear-induced errors. Special types of chuck greatly reduce if not totally eliminate the possibility of such errors; the type of chuck which has a concave face, jaws with inclined guides that obviate overhang, and a scroll on which pitch error is reduced as the cosecant of guide inclination. For the standard self-centring chuck, however, overcoming its inherent or acquired errors requires no more than a mounting on the flat face of a faceplate, where it can be adjusted, instead of on the spigot of a backplate, where it must run concentrically. Gripping a given diameter of bar, this can be set to run truly with the chuck-holding screws temporarily loosened to permit of adjustment. If required, a piece of packing can be used on each holding screw between the chuck and the faceplate; and if there are three holding screws, two holes are drilled in the faceplate, or two slots cut-which latter admit, when occasion demands, of specific eccentric chucking. An occasion is as at A, when the
25 AUGUST 1960

crankpin of a one-piece cantilever crankshaft is to be machined as the last of a series of straightforward operations. The first is to machine the mainshaft with the material between centres, or chucking by the web end, supporting the other by the tailstock centre. Following this, the crankpin centre can be marked in vee-blocks, centrepunched if required, and brought to spin truly by off-setting the chuck in which the mainshaft is grippeddirectly in smooth jaws, or with protective packing interposed. Another occasion as at B is drilling, reaming, or boring, material for an eccentric. With a mounting initially in vee-blocks, eccentricity can be marked as for the crankpin, using a surface gauge set down top-to-centre for the main centre line, and up from this to point X for throw, which can be centre punched and set to spin truly. At the finish, a piece of material can be turned as a setting-up dummy for future occasions. Much superior support to that

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Pairing accuracy in machining

constructional work concerns pairs of components or features-which may be like pairs such as two parallel blocks or packing pieces, matching pairs such as the halves of a small crankcase, or dissimilar pairs such as internal and external tapers.
In such instances, dimensional accuracy, correct alignment, and suitable fitting depend on the two components being exactly alike, or corresponding in their matching features. At times conditions can be met by machining two parts together, which eliminates doubt about their similarity, and may save time when two can be finished as well as one. On occasion, this can be as much a convenience as a precept for accuracy. At other times, a suitable sequence of operations must be followed to bring about the required result-with foresight no less important than skill. Machining two pieces of flat bar to the same length for use as packing or supports on the surface plate is a job that can be done on both at once, using the independent chuck and clamping the pieces for changing end-for-end. One end having been finished on the two, and burrs removed, a toolmakers clamp is attached before the hold in the chuck is released. Then a second clamp is applied at the other end, and the first removed, for the pieces to be returned to the chuck with the machined ends in alignment, and the uneven ones projecting, ready for facing, as at A. If the pieces have been faced individually, they can be stood side by side on a surface plate and aligned edge to edge for clamping; and if they are long, a first clamp at surface plate level will give stability while a second is attached at the top. In similar fashion, two at a time, pieces of angle material can be faced accurately to length. Merely placing pairs together, however, is not satisfactory from the obstruction caused by the sharp outside comer to the inside radius. Square rod, which may be used for spacing them, requires chamfering at two opposite
1 S E P T E M B E R 1960

By GEOMETER

SUBSTANTIAL proportion of

corners; but round rod with which there is no difficulty can be used equally well, as at B. To align the angle pieces for rechucking to machine the second end, they can be stood with faced rod on a flat surface, then clamped. On occasion, it may be convenient to drill a plate and let the rod go through; while another way is to use a bolt with the angles pushed up to its head-which can be turned down if the corners of the hexagon project. Two pedestal or plummer block bearings can be given the same riseto-centre or centre height by machining together on the faceplate. In preparation, using the independent chuck, each can be machined individually on its base to abut to the faceplate, where the two can be clamped oppositely for machining their joint faces to take caps. Two base pieces are thus finished almost as quickly as one with the certainty of their being the same height. Small versions of such bearings, from flat bar, solid, each with an integral stud to fix to a baseplate, can be brought to the same height by finishing the bores first (by drilling and reaming), then using a pluglocated collar as a gauge for the individual facing, as at C. The outside diameter of the collar i s of course, twice the rise-to-centre height. Tricky pairing procedures, like machining internal and external tapers, and transferring tapers, become straightforward working to a system. Small internal tapers are usually best finished by reaming; and at the setting for turning the reamer blank, a taper mandrel can be prepared, as at D , by which parts can be mounted by their bores, and from which slide settings for external tapers can be made. Transferring a taper by reversing accurately the angular setting of the topslide can be done as at E and F. The device is a stub mandrel taking a parallel blade at the centre line, and may include indexing means. Moving the tool by the slide for checking, the blade can be set to angle. Then after turning the lathe through 180 deg., the opposite angular setting can be made. El 263

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Standard and special DIVIDING METHODS

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By GEOMETER

NLESS a lathe is equipped with a division plate or a dividing head, the standard method of dividing is to use a change gear with the number of teeth the same as, or divisible by, the number of divisions required on the work. Common exceptions, of course, are two, three and four divisions, which can be obtained using a block between the lathe bed and the jaws of three-jaw and four-jaw chucks, bringing each jaw down in turn. Neither a division plate nor a
change gear suffices, however, in the case of special numbers of divisions, consisting of large prime numbers, such as 29, 31, 37,41, for which there is no change gear large enough in the normal range of gears, rising by units of five teeth. For these special equipment must be made, though it can be very simple when the work is light and the problem of providing &finite location against heavy cutting forces does not arise. For the standard method of dividing-when definite location against cutting forces is as often as not required-the change gear and workpiece can be mounted together on a suitable mandrel, which is held in the chuck, with the free end supported by the tailstock centre. Alternatively, the bar or rod from which the workpiece is being made can be machined to take the gear. Definite location against quite heavy cutting forces is obtained, as at A, using a shaped jaw, slotted for movement, and mounted on a block to engage the space between two teeth at centre height. A stiff flat bar, bolted across the lathe bed beneath the gear, carries the block, and can be fitted in a few moments. For special numbers of divisions, the basic problem is to -make a disc or drum on which they are accurately located. The easiest method, which involves nothing tricky like trigonometry, is to use a flat divided strip, wrapped round a disc or drum, and clamped with the ends butting up. Whatever the number of divisions,
8 SEPTEMBER 1960

their linear spacing can be some simple fraction of an inch, obtained directly or through dividers from a steel rule. Having decided the spacing, we multiply it by the divisions to obtain the circumference of the strip as a circle. Then the diameter follows, dividing by 3.1416, and from this we subtract twice the thickness of the strip, for the diameter of the disc or drum. For a large number of divisions, a disc of considerable size is advisable. It can be mounted overhanging the end of the lathe bed, as at B, on a bar supported by the regular fixed steady or one made up from metal or wood blocks. The disc can be of plywood, set to a pointer of flat strip metal, and held by tightening the screw or bolts of the steady. Attachment can be made to the workpiece in various ways, one of which is as at C. The chuck end of the bar carrying the disc has a turneddown diameter, and a similar diameter is machined on the workpiece for the two to be joined by a sleeve. In preparing the bar for the disc, it may be advisable for it to be overlength, so that one end can be held in the chuck, the other supported by the fixed steady. Then the end can be turned down, and a thread screwcut, as at D, for holding the drilled plywood disc-a large washer each side of it-up to the shoulder by a nut. Turning a large disc, previously prepared by cutting roughly to size, is an operation which is performed as at E, on a small lathe. A long tool reaches at an angle to the periphery of the disc, whose diameter is checked initially by calipers, and fmally by placing round it the divided strip. Tensioning and securing the strip are done as at F, with two clips from flat metal each side, soft-soldered or silver-soldered on, to take small screws or bolts. As the disc nears size, reducing its periphery with a sandpaper block rather than by the tool gives better control of size and finish-though if a mistake should be ma&, and the strip is loose, a strip of paper can be placed under it. q 293
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VICE By GEOMETER JAWS for special purposes

rrH its capacity to grip firmly or apply steady pressure, the vice holds the solution to a variety of production problems in the small workshop, where it is frequently necessary to adapt equipment and technique to the job in hand. Operations that in a large workshop would require jigs or press tools can often be p&formed with special jaws or other means in the ordinary vice. One ever-present problem is to grip the work firmly without marking it from rough jaws; another is the problem of holding small parts in a relatively large vice. There are easy solutions to both. Apart from the normal slip-on pads or soft jaws which can be used to protect work, it is often sufficient to hold the work in cardboard like a piece of cigarette packet. Being thin and backed closely by the metal jaws, this gives a firmer grip on work than thick fibre jaws. Strips of metal, such as aluminium and brass wood, and all sorts of soft materials, can be used in the same way. If the major part of work is machined or likely to suffer damage from standard vice jaws, a pair of smooth-faced ones from mild steel will turn the bench vice, for this purpose, into a fixed machine vice. At times, too, it is convenient to hold a machine vice by its base in the bench vice, using the machine vice for mountmg the work; and on this principle, special small vices, or pin vices, and even toolmakers clamps, can be mounted for small work. Mild steel pads, as at A, adapted to features of components, enable them to be held safely and firmly when even soft jaws would be ineffective. They may be components like unions or plugs with external threads, or merely standard screws, for which the pads are drilled and tapped at their centre line and then eased on their faces to grip. Small-diameter or thin-walled tubing can be held in plain holes; and by countersinking the tops of holes,
15 SEPTEMBER 1960

countersunk rivets can be made from rod. Typical operations using such pads are as at B. A snap-head rivet (1) can be made from rod, gripping it in the pads with a suitable amount proiecting and forming it with a punch. This is made in the usual way from silver steel rod, dimpling its end with a drill, and rounding the cavity with a steel ball and a blow from a hammer. Hardening and tempering should follow if the punch is to be in frequent use. A countersunk rivet (2) is made by beating the end of the rod into the countersink and filing the surplus off. Tubing (3)-after annealing by heating to red and plunging in water if it is copper or brass--is flared with a taper punch. Matched to a coned union, such a flared end makes a shortlength pipe fitting.

A simple pressing operation is performed in dowelled jaws, as at C. It is to squeeze on the clip which secures a flexible hose to its union. Initially, the clip is a ring of annealed brass, which is slipped on the hose. Then the union is pushed in-its entering stem having a nozzle end or serrations; and a squeeze in the jaws completes the job. Usually the radii for them can be intelligently judged. A half-clip, as at D, can be finished in jaws as in the upper diagram. Two centre-line drillings are made to produce the radii in the jaws-one for the radius of the rod, the other for the outside radius of the clip; and the face of this jaw is cut back to the thickness of the clip. If required, prior shaping can be done in jaws as in the lower diagram. Flanges can be produced on sheetmetal discs, squeezing between a strong ring or washer and a centre plug of suitable size; while flanges on straight edges can be formed by beating over flat or rectangular material. Using strip material, light angles can be made in this way-and these made into channels at a second beating, as at E. For shearing operations (preferably using an old vice) jaws can be. made as at F, with a cast steel chisel and narrow anvil. El

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Machining difficult castings

lathe, because of its size, and the fact that it is - often the only machine tool in the workshop--or at least the major one-may have to work near the limit of its capacity more frequently than its production counterpart. It is a circumstance that poses problems for the owner, and puts a considerable premium on his skill in dealing with the larger components of a model or piece of equipment, when a small machine may be actually at the point of overloading. With a little more power in the

By GEOMETER
the surface of a casting with a pointed tool, which can be effectively done on a boss, as at C. Instead of facing from the outside to the centre, scraping the tool edge during the early revolutions, a point tool at centre height (1) can be forced in (2) at minimum surface speed, then drawn out towards the diameter (3). It can be done on the face of a rim, as at D, using a slow rotational speed, with a firm in-feed of the tool, and taking care that it is not entered so far that a ring will be left in the tlnished surface. Once started, the groove can be widened by facing feed until the ordinary tool can be substituted. Whenever possible, a cut along a diameter, as at E, should be deep enough, even with wobble, for the tool edge never to scrape the surface -for only a definite hard spot is more damaging to a cutting edge than a gentle ramp of scale or skin. The problem of a first cleaning cut in a rough bore can on occasion be solved as at F, using a tixed steadyorthodox or made for the purposeclose to the work, supporting a round boring bar which is fed from the tailstock.

SMALL

drive, a larger spindle, a wider bed, and a longer saddle, what in existing conditions is something of a struggle would be a walk-over-though there is always satisfaction in achieving ones ends in the face of drawbacks. In dealing with a large casting, like that for a flywheel, conformity with general procedure for such a component, and some preliminary attentions to the lathe, help materially in overcoming difficulties. A firm setup is a prior concern, and so if the casting is held in the chuck it should be at its rim rather than on its boss. If it has holes or spokes, it can be clamped to the faceplate-with packing interposed for proper butting-up. Slackness should. be adjusted from $ga;T;dle bearmgs, and backgear As most of the machining may be done with the cross-slide and top slide, their action may be stiffened by adjustment. Brought into position, the saddle can be adjusted almost to be clamped to the bed, and given support against thrust by engaging the leadscrew nut. The material of tools, its heat treatment and grinding, and the cutting angles employed, are similarly factors of considerable importance to trouble-free working. Something better than ordinary silver steel or cast steel tools is advisable for machining hard cast iron, and a few tools of special material are never a bad investment. Various makes are obtainable, and all are tougher than carbon steel and less easily
22 SEPTEMBER 1960

damaged by heat in use. Nevertheless care should be exercised in their grinding,; and in their mounting, the axiom IS , of course, as alwaysminimum overhang. In general use, a turning tool carries top rake, as at A (1) to assist free-cutting from the sharp point given by the front clearance angle. But such a point is weak, for tough materials, and likely to overheat on those that are hard. Consequently, a tool with zero rake (2), or even one with negative rake (3) may be used with advantage on a hard castingif only for the early cuts, until scale and skin have been removed.. Work with a suitable file, or on a grinder, to remove roughnesses and casting irregularities will save a tool from damage in scraping a rough finish; and if there 1s sufficrent material, a small chamfer can very well be made at the edge of a rim, as at B, for the tool point to enter clean metal. Another way is to dig below

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Tailstock faults
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By GEOMETER

TOCK

a lathe that has had some use, it is rare not to discover faults through certain characteristics of handling, or errors that appear in work-unless steps are taken to avoid them. It may be the sort of machine that many of us have owned or usedand may still use-which is still capable of good service to anyone knowing its frailties, and is more stimulative of his skill, especially in the early stages of his career, than a super-lathe whose precision. is supported by numerous accessories. The briefest acquaintance can bring to light typical faults in the tailstock. Its centre may not point truly to that in the headstock, from malalignment or wear at the base, between tailstock and bed, or its guides. Firm as clamping for the barrel may appear, it may yet permit more or less

0
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easy endwise movement, and even some sideways shake-from wear on the barrel, but often more particularly in the end of the bore in which it slides. And the whole tailstock may slew or move bodily across the bed, if this is the flat-topped type and there is wear against the engaging tongue. From such faults as these, the handling peculiarities arise. In using a centre drill, it may be found to be lifting to the axis of the work; during between-centre turning, the barrel adjustment may not hold, or there may be marked variations in cut; and whenever the tailstock is moved on the bed, it is unlikely to remain or reclamp in its previous alignment. The severest test of tailstock alignment is made with an indicator in the chuck, as at A, moving it round the tailstock centre. The smallest amount of drop on the centre, or sideways malalignment, is revealed by variations in reading; and to search out other errors, the effect can be tried of resetting the tailstock on the bed, of extending and retracting the barrel, and of subjecting it to sideways pressure when clamped. Some of the possible faults can be overcome by using special centres, after the two major ones have had attention-barrel support and clamping, and tailstock alignment to the bed. The first can be dealt with by boring and bushing the open end of the tailstock bore where the clamping is done, as at B and C. A boring bar is made a good fit for the tailstock bore, and a tool is fitted that can be adjusted for cut. In this area, the diameter of the bar can be reduced to give clearance for swarf. Often, of course, it would be possible to use standard mild steel bar., Packing in the slit of the tailstock (to open it slightly) and then firm clamping, will secure the open end of the bore; then advance can be given by clamping the tailstock lightly to the bed ahead of the saddle, and using this to move it along. With a smooth bore produced to required size, a bush in bronze or gunmetal can be machined to suit, split and fitted, and. secured by countersunk screws. 389

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The second major fault-sideways malalignment of the tailstock on the bed can be overcome as at D, by attaching a plate (well-fitting in the guideways of the bed) at each end of the tailstock. Thickness is optional to the size of the lathe, though 1/4 in. is reasonable in small sizes, and the material may be steel, aluminium or bronze. Accurate setting and permanent tixing can be done by leaving the stud holes in the plates oversize, adjusting the tailstock true by experiment, clamping the plates on, and then removing the tailstock for drilling holes and fitting dowels. Faults of alignment from dropped centre or lateral error, or both, can be counteracted with special holders, or adjustable centres, as at E and F. For example, the blank of a hollow centre can be centred and drilled, not in the headstock but in the tailstock, and can be given a re-aligning dot W to come to another X, while an adjustable pointed centre can be fitted at an angle for it to be set up to spindle axis Y from tailstock axis z.
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Thread backlash
fine feed and progressive action that are characteristics of screw threads, combined with the change in motion which they provide from rotary to straight-line type, fit them for applications in machines and mechanisms where accurate adjustment or precise measurement is the function. Thus, they are used on lathes for controlling slides, and in micrometers to give accuracy. Another characteristic of a threaded pair-as a screw and nut are calledis backlash, which may or may not have an influence on their function that calls for elimination. On a lathe, one is always careful after retraction of a slide to take up backlash against the pressure of the cut. But that procedure would not be acceptable for a micrometer-on which, too, a certain degree of smooth friction is essential. So here there is means of adjustment, the nut having an external taper thread, being split and contracted to the screw by a ring nut. Besides this form of adjustment, which is particularly suitable to the barrel shape of a micrometer, there are several other devices that can be usefully employed for adjusting threaded pairs in light slides, tools, jigs, and so on. All are applicable to threads of V-profile? and some to threads of square section, on which contraction of a nut does not eliminate backlash. In some, thrust can be applied equally in either direction, while in others the intention is to take thrust one way, and eliminate backlash and provide a smooth action the opposite way. They are points of course, that influence choice of a device for an application. An easy-to-accommodate devicein the bottom of a small slide, for example-is a plate, as at A. It can be a disc, held by countersunk screws in its recess, which, being circular, requires only a turning operation. The hole for the screw is drilled and tapped on the joint line, and thereafter adjustment is made by drawfiling the face of the plate. A cotter, with a nut either side of a slide, eliminates backlash on a screw by wedging it to the bottom
HE

Alternatively, half of the thread. it can provide locking if the application demands it. Either of these functions can be obtained with a drawbolt, as at B , where two locked nuts retain a fine adjustment setting. Together with the slide, the head of the drawbolt is drilled and tapped when tightened down to a washer in its recess. Likewise, a cotter is drilled and tapped in its slide when secured firmly by its nuts and washers. Split nuts, as at C, are other devices of general application. A circular one, fitting in a smoothlydrilled or tooled bore, can be adjusted either side by screws and locknuts, W, X. One made from rectangular stock, and attached beneath or outside the part which it moves, can be held firmly by the nut on one stud, and adjusted by the other; or a piece of packing (which can be filed) can be fitted in the slit for both nuts to be firmly tightened. Plain plugs adjusted by cap screws, their inner ends conforming to the

radii and thread profile of the main screw, can be used in pairs or singly, as at D, in plain or threaded holes. Reaming or milling provides the radii, and threads follow from adjusting the plugs to a tap. With a single plug in a threaded hole, this should be done as the main thread is being tapped. A circular plate or auxiliary nut, as at E, fitted to the main one, or at the end of a slide, offers a two-way setting to eliminate backlash in the opposite direction to that in which thrust is taken. It is a device, too, that eliminates backlash on a square thread. Automatic taking-up of backlash, and preservation of a nice degree of working friction, are possible with a spring-loaded double nut, as at F . The spring-loaded portion, Y, is keyed for alignment to the main part, Z, which can be flange-fitted by countersunk screws. With such a device, the feedscrew should be through both nuts in assembly-to obviate damage to threads. l3

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1 WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS I

Self-feeding

FACING TOOL
N meeting the needs of a small workshop, a lathe may perform many operations that are work for specialised machines in a large machine shop. It is not unusual for features on components of a single model or piece of equipment to require the makers lathe to function as planer, shaper, grinder, milling machine and boring mill-as well as in its ordinary capacity. Much ingenuity is necessary in setting up and machining components -and one may regret the lack of facilities provided by specialised machines, particularly when one is working near the full capacity of the lathe. An occasion of this sort occurs when there is need to face a large surface or series of bosses on a component which cannot be swung on a lathe principle, or moved across the bed past a tool or cutter in the manner of work on a milling machine. What is needed then is the feature of the special head on a boring mill by which a tool can be swept, not on a fixed radius, but in a flat spiral. Given this, the work can be fixed either to the slotted saddle or to the bed of the lathe-which is used to maximum capacity. Self-acting cross feed Many operations can be performed, of course, with a tool in the chuck or on the faceplate, sweeping on a fixed radius;. but to machine a flat surface with It, cross feed is required, and is not possible at full capacity, though it is another matter when, as now indicated, the tool besides being rotated is fed on an increasing or diminishing radius. The easiest way of providing this self-feed for a tool is an arrangement as at A, with the feedscrew turned by a star wheel from a peg on the lathe bed, as at B. Simple guides for the tool block can be from flat material, attached to the faceplate (or to a large chuck backplate), as at C and D. A right-hand thread on the screw draws the tool block towards the centre, retracting the tool from the radius giving the large circle X. To return the tool, a loose handle can be fitted to the feed screw-or it can
13 OCTOBER 1960

By GEOMETER

TOOL
BLOCK
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.GUlbES
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be rotated with a screwdriver via a slot in its end. For a fixed component, depth of cut must be provided by setting the tool further out of its block. It can be done without special provision for the type of work performed, although a taper-ended screw from the end of the block to the bottom of the tool would give fine adjustment. Rate of feed of the tool is governed by the t.p.i. on the screw which is moved l/5 turn for every revolution of the faceplate. Divide 1,000 by 5 (200), and the answer thus obtained by the t.p.i., gives the feed per revolution in thou. With a screw of 26 t.p.i. which it is convenient to use, the feed is just under 0.008 in. per revolution. This is satisfactory for a facing operation if the tool has a small flat at its cutting edge. Back gear for slow speed should, of course, be used. The tool block is mounted to its flat base by countersunk screws; and the two are drilled and tapped at the joint line for the feedscrew. If adjustment is required to give a good working fit for the screw, it can be provided by carefully facing (draw-filing) the bottom of the tool block. Drawfiling can likewise be the method of fitting the guides to the flat base of the tool block, to ensure the firm support that is essential to obviate chatter in machining. To the same end, the extension of the tool from its block should be a minimum. Any or all of three features in the drive will safeguard it from jamming if the lathe is left running. The feedscrew may be given a plain portion on to which the thread in the block can run. The star wheel is gripped between locknuts, admitting of slip under heavy thrust. And the peg for the wheel is set in a plate which is tightened just to hold in normal working. El
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A spiral Y a simple arrangement of worm and pinion drive, spiral feed can be given to a facing tool in the lathe, as an alternative to the self-feed described in my This type of previous article. feed has the advantage of moving the tool continuously away from or towards the centre (preferably towards), instead of suddenly once every revolution, as happens with self-feed from a star wheel turned from a stop on the lathe bed. Another point is that tool movement, or feed per revolution, is finer

By GEOMETER
revolution; and if the feed screw has 20 t.p.i., the feed is l/20 x l/20 = l/400 in. = 0.0025 in. Other ratios and pitches provide other feed&and there is also the possibility of altering the feed by gearing the worm shaft to the spindle, instead of its being stationary. The arrangement of tool block, baseplate and nut in the guides is as at C. The collars for spacing the guides for the baseplate can be rubbed on a file in fitting, and shims can be used if they are made too thin. The depth of the lower portions of the guides allows the baseplate to slide over the pinion and worm. Drive is transmitted to the feedscrew as at D, so that with the holding nut slackened, the screw can be turned to retract the tool to its starting position. For this, the screw is turned down to a stem and threaded at the end. The nut there holds the washer, sleeve and pinion firmly, but permitting rotation in the bearing which is mounted in the lower portions of the guides. El

FACING TOOL

(brass or duralumin) held by countersunk screws between the lower members of the two guides. All these parts are flat, parallel, square-edged shapes, easily produced by normal workshop processes. The pinion and feedscrew are rotated through turning about the stationary worm, which is fixed as at B. Two bushes--one each end of the spindle-provide bearings for the rod where the worm is mounted on a reduced diameter, riveted at the end. The opposite end carries locknuts for adjustment, and for holding a piece of flat bar, wedged or held in any convenient way. with spiral feed as a natural result A of the gearing employed. Using a gives right-hand thread on the worm a feed that draws the tool from convenient worm and pinion ratio, the periphery to the centre, and one and a suitable pitch of thread: a feed revolution of the faceplate moves of 0.0025 in. per revolution is obtained, the pinion one tooth-as is usual on whereas a natural feed for a selfworm. the fee&$;g tool. 1s. about. three times as a single-startis movedIfl/20 pinion has turn each 20 teeth, it This is particularly helpful in promoting a fine finish. It has merits, too, for machining hard materials. As with self-feed for a facing tool, the component can be mounted on the bed of the lathe, or on the saddle, without cross feed being essential; and if the component must be fixed on the bed, the tool can be drawn out from its mounting to give the depth of cut required. The arrangement of worm, pinion, feed screw and guides is as at Afor mounting on a faceplate. The worm X, on a rod in bearings in the spindle, causes the pinion to turn and rotate the feed screw. The facing tool is held in its block by a setscrew at position Y, with the option of moving it to position 2. The guides are pieces of straight rectangular material, such as mild steel,. two pieces for each, separated by distance pieces or collars to leave a space between them. The baseplate on which the tool block is mounted moves in this space, and the tool block itself is of a width to move without shake between the upper members of the two guides. The nut for the feedscrew is at the bottom of the baseplate; and the bearing for the pinion at the tail end of the feedscrew is a piece of square or oblong material
20 OCTOBER

1960

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WORM and PINION DRIVES

bination, has wide applications for gearing shafts at rightangles where, within a relatively small compass, a considerable reduction in speed, or increase in force, is required. In design, features of the pair admit of varying proportions to suit available shaft centres; while the construction provides essays in workshop techniques that, by contrast, may he all the more interesting when they follow a surfeit of plain turning jobs. Typical applications of a. worm and pinion are in the steering gear of a model traction engine; in the drive to the oil pump of a high speed reciprocating engine or turbine; and in special equipment for the lathe to give slow feed to a slide. At one extreme, a large single-start worm is self-locking on a winding drum; while at the other, a multiple-start worm and appropriate pinion make the two-to-one skew gear pair for the camshaft drive of a gas engine. With the usual form of singlethread or single-start worm, the pair are as at A, and their ratio is given by the number of teeth on the pinion. If it has 20 teeth, the ratio is 20 : 1. Should the worm be two-start, the ratio with 20 teeth on the pinion is 10 : 1. It is 6.66 : 1 if there are threestarts, and 5 : 1 if there are fourstarts. Thus, fundamental ratio requirements are met by varying the teeth on the pinion and the starts on the worm. Freedom in design to choose shaft centres appropriate to the space follows from the way in which the worm can be varied in size without altering the ratio, as at B, though in a drive which transmits power up to its proportions there is a limit to what should be done-because a large worm occasions disproportionate sliding friction. If there is a hint of an excess of this, a coarser pitch of thread giving a larger pinion is advisable. A minor point in construction is a radius at the periphery of the pinion which conforms
27 OCTOBER 1960

HE

or worm and wheel com-

worm and pinion pair,

to the core diameter of the worm. All proportions follow from the pitch, p (opposite of t.p.i.) which is employed. This is the distance from the centre of one tooth to another. A standard worm thread has flanks at 29 degrees. The total depth is 686 x p, the flat at the top 0.335 x p, and the flat at the bottom 0.310 x p. The pitch line, as at C, Y-Yl, is 0.318 x p from the top of the thread. The straight pitch on this line; tooth to tooth, is the same as the circular pitch, tooth to tooth, on the pitch circle Z-Z1 of the pimon. Thus! t h e p i t c h o f t h e w o r m multiplied by the number of teeth on the pinion is the circumference of the pinion pitch circle. Diameter is circumference divided by 3.1416; adding 0.318 x p x 2 provides the diameter of the pinion blank at the bottom of the radius. Subtracting the pinion pitch circle radius from the shaft centres gives the worm radius at the pitch line. Multiplying by two and adding

0.318 x p x 2, we get the diameter of the worm blank. For the pinion to work properly with the worm, it must be hobbed to suit it. In small sires, hob and worm can be turned and screwcut together, leaving the hob a few thou larger to give clearance to the pinion. The set-up can be as at D; then, with the worm parted off, the hob is slotted to form cutting teeth and is hardened and tempered, or casehardened, depending on whether silver steel or mild steel is used. Screwcutting is best done in stages with side and in-feeds, as at El and 2. Gashing and hobbing the pinion blank can both be done on a simple fixture on the vertical slide, as at F . For gashing, a change gear provides spacing, the fixture is set at an angle, and a slotting cutter is used. For hobbing, the iixture is set vertically on the slide, and the spindle mounting the pinion blank is free to turn with it. The depth of the teeth is obtained from cross-slide feed. q

511

MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

MACHINING D O M E D AND HOLLOW SURFACES

By GEOMETER
and hollow surfaces present problems in machining when they are of considerable size-and, to avoid chatter, a generating principle must be employed in their production. The task is, of course, comparable to the process of normal turning with a single-point tool which is moved in an arc instead of along a straight line. At any give instant, there is only a short line of contact between the tool and the surface, as distinct from the long contact in the later stages of form-turning -which, from this aspect alone, the giving rise to chatter, is impracticable above a fairly modest size. According to the numbers of components and the accuracy required, either free-hand turning, using top slide and cross-slide, or a controlled means of moving tools may be used for domed and hollow surfaces. Gauges from thin plate help in obtaining form in free-hand turning, while the finishing can be done on domed surfaces with files at fastish speeds, and on hollow surfaces with scrapers, running the lathe slowly. Polishing can be done at fast speeds with emery cloth. Controlled movement Greater accuracy than is given by these methods, and a faster rate of production if there are several components to do, call for controlled movement of the tool. Either it slides in contact with a form plate or it is swung in an arc from a radius turning fixture, for a series of cuts to be taken to remove metal, as in normal
OMED
COMPONENT

the tool is a considerable help; and it can be arranged, as at A,, for a hollow surface. For unobstructed working of the top slide handle, the tool is mounted in a holder similar to that used in boring large holes, but having the means for mounting a pointer whose end must be on a horizontal line with the tool point. Then, using top slide and cross-slide handles, you can move the point an arc X-Xl, the same as that of the surface which is being machined. The arc can be a scribed radius on a piece of angle plate clamped to a pad centre with the tailstock fed up to apply the guide to each cut. For machining a domed surface in this way, the arc is scribed the opposite way on the angle plate.

Using a sliding tool

Domed surfaces, providing that they are not too greatly curved, can be machined with a sliding tool and a form plate bolted to the pad centre, as at B. Cuts are applied by feeding the tailstock and run through by retracting the cross slide. The tool can be silver steel rod, hardened and tempered, with a flat for location by screws, and a thread at the end for a collar to take the pressure of the spring. The form plate is preferably machined to curvature, on an angle plate on the faceplate. For machining hollow surfaces, it is often practicable to arrange a turning tixture as at C and D, using the tailstock to apply the cut, and a rack linked. to the cross-slide to carry it through by rotating the tool holder. Two small angle plates bolted to the pad centre form a fork in which the tool holder turns without shake on a pin. This is threaded through one plate for adjustment and locked by a nut. Racks are obtainable commercially (camera size ones are suitable for small fixtures) and a tool holder can be planed with teeth to suit for about. one third of its circumference. Backing for the rack is furnished by the face of the pad centre. The teeth are kept free of swarf by brushing. 8, 543

TOOL

turning, to the final cut which produces the finished surface. Taking cuts in free-hand turning usually needs practice to. bring about the co-ordination of hand and eye necessary to maintain an even depth of cut. Apart from this, a good eye for form is essential-to obviate, for example, machining a ball that is far from being a sphere. A guide Which indicates correct movement of
3 NOVEMBER 1960

MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

BY GEOMETER

A slide for spherical turning

a lathe is equipped with a spherical turning slide, hollow or ball-ended components can be machined with a single point tool, which is the best means for ensuring a good finish and accurate dimensions. It is true that spherical surfaces can be machined with form, tools, or by free-hand turning? followed by caref u filing o r scrapmg .Likewise, l surfaces of ball ends can be trued and smoothed with a keen hollow punch, fitted with a handle and used from a support, like a hand turning tool. But none of these methods gives results to compare with those of a spherical, turning slide, either in speed or accuracy. Fo thi s reason, a r toolroom lathe often has such a slide among its accessories, enabling special work to be done almost with the facility of turning tapers from the top slide. On a small lathe, similar advantages obtain, and the sketches show details of a s lid e that can be built up from stock material. Its features and proportions can be freely altered and adapted to individual needs, so long as construction is kept substantial and rigid. The slide is intended for mounting on a slotted cross-slide table, and its use on a cross-slide with circular table and spigot would require adaptation of the base. As shown, the base A is flat with plain holes for holding bolts, and tapped holes for the pillar stud and bearing setscrews. The pillar stud is a separate piece to permit careful filing or lapping of the end of the pillar (if necessary fo r a nice endwise ) fit for the bearing. Were it not for this, the stud could be a threaded extension of the pillar. Similarly, the end of the bearing and nut can be lapped , if dimensions are such that the pillar grips. At the top end, the bearing is bored with a recess for the flange on the pillar and turned to press into the flat material used as the base for the guideways-where it is brazed. The bottom end is turned for the worm wheel and threaded for the nut which secures it . This nut can b broade based to help to support the bearing and slide. The two bearings B for the worm shaft are of rectangular bar material, the thrust of the worm being taken on the one adjacent to the handle.
HEN 10

height, which -means its tip must be ground to coincide with the lathe centres. This can easily be done, mikin g the tool when grinding, though an alternative would be a Optionally, the worm may be integral slotted tool block in which the tool could be packed to height, as in a with its shaft, or held by a nut. Special hobbing of the worm wheel turret. Two holding screws would can be avoided by using a narrow then be required. For the small amount of use made gear and lapping its teeth on a pattern worm-although it is realised that of the tool block, its feedscrew can by a vee-thread type; while the objections might be made to this handle can screw on and be secured method. The guideways are rectangular by a locknut-a fitting also employed material, secured by setscrews-to for the worm shaft handle. Setting the slide centrally under the keep the underside of their base clear. A locking screw from the side lathe axis, and the tool to radius, are processes aided by a plug and permits of gripping the tool block, when necessary, with the tool at a gauge. The plug locates in the pillar, The tool block is and the upper part is machined half fixed radius. mounted on its base by countersunk through and has a line scribed down screws-and it will be seen that a it. With the flat of the plug across the good working fit on this base in the lathe axis, the slide is set for the line guideways can be obtained by care- to coincide with the point of a centre. fully filing or lapping the one or the other And with the flat parallel to the lathe axis, a gauge can be used to set the A round tool is specifie atd a fixed tool to radius.

,LOCKNUT

BASE O F / GUIDEWAYS

0
A

BASE .I

r?!z

v WHEEL WORM

BEARING

WORM

BEARING

NOVEMBER 1960

571

MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

Setting slides for spherical turning

By GEOMETER
o machine a dome or hollow with a proper spherical surT face, the turning or boring tool must be set to radius from the vertical axis of the slide, and the axis must be directly beneath the lathe centre line. Viewed from above, the point of the tool will then move round in a circle (or the part of the circle required) and in so doing will generate the spherical surface as the work rotates. For simplicity, it is understood, of course, that the point of the tool is

at lathe centre height: for while it is possible to machine substantial parts of spheres with the tool slightly above or below centre, such a position requires the tool point to move in a smaller circle-which is something to watch if the results are to be what we expect. On the type of small slide which I have described, a turned plug can be inserted in the pillar about which the slide rotates, for positioning the slide on the lathe and for setting the tool to radius. Its upper part has a flat machined to its centre line, and a line scribed along the flat A. The scribing is done with the plug held in the chuck and a pointed tool mounted sideways at centre height. With the plug in the slide, and the flat facing a centre as shown, the cross-slide can be fed until the line on the plug coincides with the point of the centre. Then the- cross-slide gib screws can be tightened to hold the setting. For accurate centring More accurate centring is possible with a parallel plug in the slide and an indicator mounted so that it can be rotated from the lathe spindle. Traversing the slide along the bed, we test each side of the plug, rotating the spindle half a turn for each. If the work has previously been machined to diameter, the tool point can next be set to radius by squaring the slide and advancing the point to touch the work. Alternatively, a plug with a flat can be positioned to face the tool, and a gauge block or calipers employed for setting the tool
17 NOVEMBER 1960

point. To machine hollow surfaces, the tool point must be positioned beyond the axis of rotation; and for this, other plugs B can be used. One type of plug has a head flattened at one part, and a piece of flat material screwed on to provide a known dimension X from the centre. For any smaller radius, a gauge or material of suitable thickness is used against the flat material. Another type of plug has a slotted arm on which a round pillar can be set. For this, it is helpful to have a piece of angle made to place on the slotted arm with its edge coming to the centre of the plug. Then a gauge or calipers gives dimension Y. Such a plug may be used in setting the tip of a bent tool to radius C. It is placed in the slide and swung to and fro while the tool point is advanced just to touch the pillar. A bent tool is useful where a straight one would be difficult to use because 605

of obstruction to the movement of the slide. With more time for setting up, a slide and a tool for machining a dome surface can be located experimentally from a washer on a mandrel in the chuck D, as when a slide lacks the means for positioning. The washer has the same radius as the dome to be turned, and is fixed by a screw or a bolt. Slide and tool are adjusted for the tip of the tool to follow round the edge of the washer. For some classes of very small radius, the tool point must rotate without the shank or tool block causing obstruction, and for other work it is an advantage if a horizontal tool is quickly adjustable. In such cases, the tool block or mounting is fixed, its base being gripped in guides on the slide. A low tool block carrying the tool at an angle, E, will pass under the work, and a clamped holder, F, admits of speedy angular setting of tools. El
MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

A setting-up

SURFACE GAUGE
the scribing block or surface gauge is intended primarily for marking off on the surface plate, often it can be usefully employed in setting up work or tools on the lathe.

LTHOUGH

Typical jobs are truing bars in the independent chuck, adjusting scribed circles to spin truly, and setting crossed centre lines exactly to the lathe axis. It can also be used for testing spinning truth on the face of a part, as when a wheel casting is being set up in a chuck; and there are numerous occasions when the height of a tool needs to be verified. An advantage of the scriber, or pointer of a surface gauge, over a tool is that it is not rigidly mounted, and so does not mark the work being trued. Other factors in its favour are the ease and speed with which it

By GEOMETER
can be moved across work (much faster than traversing a tool), and the facility with which the point can be adjusted up or down to scribed lines -with the spindle and work being turned through 180 deg. for checking. Lack of space is the usual objection to the use of a surface gauge on a lathe, the bed of a small lathe being so narrow, and that of a large one having widely-spaced guides or inverted vees. On a large lathe, the problem can be overcome by bridging the bed with a flat plate, while on a small lathe, the solution is a surface gauge with a long base A. This takes up little room between the headstock and the saddle, and is quite stable even on a small lathe-whereas a separate plate and heavy based gauge are out of proportion on a narrow bed, and easily upset in use. The base can be a casting obtained from a simple pattern, but a piece of mild steel bar requires less work for the faces and sides already being reasonably true. On this, the ends can be faced by holding one end in the independent chuck, and centring 24 NOVEMBER 1960

the other for support from a half centre in the tailstock. On a large lathe, of course, the bar would merely be held in the independent chuck. The underside or working face can be filed and draw-filed true, although it can be machined on the faceplate by drilling and tapping holes for mounting by studs and nuts. In a machine shop, shaping would probably be the method (followed by draw-filing) while surface grinding would give a one-operation finish. The pillar can be from silver steel rod, which is perfectly parallel, so that the clamp will slide smoothly and grip firmly. Screwcutfing the thread to about three-quarter depth reduces work for the die, and promotes accuracy if the finishing has to be done by a hand die-holder. The pillar can then be fixed in the tapped hole in the base by a locknut B. The clamp C follows normal design, containing a bolt with a sleeve for the scriber, all being held by a knurled nut. The bore of the clamp should be accurately machined or reamed to slide smoothly on the pillar-then minimum contraction is needed to hold, and the faces are not drawn out of parallel. The hole for the bolt should also be accurate, and it is a great advantage for the bolt to be fitted with a Dwasher, so that it does not slacken as the scriber is tapped to set it. Anyone not able to slit the clamp on the lathe can use a hand slitting saw against a guide block D. The D-washer is best made from strip metal, using taper drifts for rough shaping, and a punch for finishing E, both from silver steel rod. The strip should be heated red for driving the drifts in, then filed flat and carefully punched-old. Cut roughly to shape, D-washers can be finished on a mandrel; while the bolt and sleeve for the clamp can be faced flush in the chuck in a bush F. Silver steel scribers can he pointed by filing, bent heated to red, and hardened dipping in water--then polished and tempered. A flat ended rod, however, is best for seeing the gap X when setting up round material. El
639

0
B

S A W BLADE

D -W A S H E R S L

FACED

MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP. HINTS AND TIPS

TESTING COMPONENTS
N a large toolroom or inspection department, tools for marking off and testing componentsvee-blocks, surface-gauges, squares, angle plates-are often supplemented by items of special equipment, s u c h a s b e n c h c e n t r e s , dividing heads, angle measuring equipment and gear testers. In addition, jigs and fixtures are made to requirements when the testing of repetition parts can thereby be more easily and speedily performed.

on the l a t h e

By GEOMETER
Often, of course, special equip ment functions on a straightforward principle, which a lathe, with a little preparation, can duplicate for the amateur or machinist with limited resources. Its centres, chucks, faceplate, slides, are there ready to usewith feedscrews for setting, or even simple measuring. One standard item is suggested for extending the scope of work-a platform for the bed, which can be a suitable small surface plate, steel plate surface ground each side to be flat and parallel, or a piece of plate glass. On any of these, a surface gauge or square can be used better than on the bed itself. A surface gauge with an extended base (as described in the previous article) can he used similarly-and if its base is flat and parallel, a square can be stood on it for vertical testing or scribing. Gears especially can be tested and run-in on the lathe before assembly; and departing a little from theory, if necessary, there can be the practical effect of much-improved runmng. In theory, pitch circles and centres are according to the dimensions on the drawing. In practice, for the one-off job particularly, it may not be so. Then sweeter running of gears, with binding eliminated and backlash at the minimum, can result from running them in on the lathe, using an abrasive like metal polish, measuring their working centres, and using these dimensions on the job. No other dimension must, of course, be in1 DECEMBER 1960

volved; and if one is dealing with bores already produced, and now to be bushed, the bushes can be made appropriately eccentric and pegged when fitted. A worm and wheel A are run-in with the worm on a mandrel in the chuck, the wheel on a spindle in a bar on the slide. The best centre distance X is obtained and then, without altering the slide, worm and wheel are removed, and a check is made by micrometer over the mandrel and spindle. A pair of spur gears B can be similarly run, one on a mandrel, the other on a spindle; centre distance Y is then checked. Testing the maximum throw of an eccentric and marking its position are jobs effectively done on a lathe, using either a surface gauge and square, or a vee tool at centre height on the slide C. The eccentric is on a stub mandrel, whose centre is found from cross lines. After the surface gauge scriber has set maximum height, a vertical line (right) is scribed, using the square. Alternatively, a lme can be scribed with the vee tool after you have set the maximum throw horizontally (left. A connecting rod can be tested 675

for parallelism mounted by its bigend on a mandrel, with another through its small end to verify by surface gauge. Tests can also be made on crankshafts, and a very searching one can be made of crankpin alignment with the connecting rod fitted D. A straight-edged plate is set on the slide at centre height,. its edge at right-angles to the lathe axis. If the crankpin is parallel with the mainshaft, the gap is uniform at each end of the stroke. The piston rod cover and gland of a steam cylinder can be checked by facing a thick washer in the chuck, boring for the spigot, and clamping up the cover and fitting a piston rod. Wobble on this indicates a source of binding. A truly-faced piston and rod may be tested in a simlar manner E. When a dial indicator is available, a taper on a shaft or tool can be very accurately tested, mounting the shaft in the chuck or between centres, and the indicator at centre height F. The slide is set for parallel turning and moved a definite distance Z, preferably 1 in. Then the difference in reading of the indicator is the tangent of the angle in the tables. El
MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

j Built-up VEE SUPPORTS

general workshop practice, there are so many operations needing V-support of the work that the standard equipment of Vblocks-intended mainly for use on surface plate or drilling machine --cannot meet all demands. Unless, therefore, ones efforts are permanently restricted to a narrow field, the time arrives when one is forced to improvise, adapting such ideas as may be available-original or ready-made--to the exigencies of the moment. Work does vary enormously, and with it problems of support. Often, too, there are allied questions of precision, time and cost-precision naturally being to the standard
N

Bv GEOMETER
necessary, and time and cost preferably each at a minimum. The problem may be to set up firmly an unusually large, long or heavy part; a shaft which is to be straightened by heating, and then tested for truth; or the problem may concern a shaft on which wheels or pulleys are mounted, demanding height for the supports. Again, it may be a shaft with differing diameters that require a difference in height. At the other extreme, one may be dealing with pins or round components so small that they are lost in ordinary V-blocks. Many problems are solved by using the lathe bed as the base for Vsupports. The supports can be built up A from bright rectangular steel and angle iron to the needed height, even to the extent of permitting a shaft to be tested passing over the headstock and tailstock. The two pieces of rectangular material are bolted one each side of the angle iron with a spacing collar between them. They will accurately support, say, a stationary engine crankshaft and flywheel, or a boiler barrel for marking off. If one leg of each support is adjustable horizontally, the height of the V can be varied; and if the hole in the angle iron is slotted for adjustment across the bed, a 8
DECEMBER 1960

precision set-up can be obtained in relation to the lathe. A cheap, quickly-made V-block (to save a better one, for example, in general drilling work) is obtained by bolting bright rectangular steel to the sides of angle iron B. An alternative, is to bolt or rivet three pieces of angle iron together, thus making a continuous or full-length V which is suitable for supporting short workpieces. Size can be varied by the choice of angle iron used. A need is sometimes felt for Vsupports c, that can be used in conjunction with the headstock and tailstock, and speedily set up and aligned. Here, two flat plates, each with a V, are attached to the ends of mandrels by nuts, one to fit in the tailstock barrel, the other to be gripped in the chuck. This can be a four-jaw independent type set with two of its jaws vertical, two horizontal, and held by engaging backgear. A square on the lathe bed will bring the edges of the plates vertical, and the chuck jaws can be manipulated to true the work. Removing the work, disengaging the backgear, and turning the chuck are necessary for height adjustment until a setting is obtained at which adjustment of the top jaw alone is sufficient-unless, of course, a spanner is available for the bottom jaw. Back on the drilling machine, a light flat-based V-block can be very useful, built up from flat plate and two pieces of angle iron. One piece can be brazed or welded, and a. parallel bar can be used for height setting D. After clamping, the other angle is then brazed or welded. The problem occasioned by very small parts can be solved with a support consisting of a plate base to which thick strips or shallow blocks are bolted E. They may be squareedged or chamfered, and set for gap using a parallel rod between them. Tiny pins can be centre punched and drilled without difficulty. Equally suitable for small work, and providing precise location for testing purposes, is a support built up of two rollers and endplates with bolts and nuts F. The rollers mav touch orocay be spaced with a parallel l5l 101

LATHE

BED

ANGLE IRON

WORK

MODEL ENGINEER

WORKSHOP HINTS AND TIPS

CLAMPS for various purposes

usually provide the solution to the problem of holding work that cannot be gripped in the chuck or vicewhen it is not of such a specialised character as to require a jig or fixture. Straight pieces of rectangular mild steel, drilled for bolts, serve many purposes in setting up work on the faceplate, angleplate and slotted slide; and more specialised varieties of clamps can be either fabricated from standard section material or machined from it with features to suit those of the work. Clamps with slots for bolts are often more convenient than those with drilled holes, particularly when the boltssthemselves are in holes, not in s lo ts . Qu ic k a d j u s t me n t i s t h e n
LAMPS

long bolts and clamps that are preferably light in relation to their size. Using two pieces of rectangular material in a similar manner, a strong bar can be provided for a clamp or puller C; or a forked clamp D can be made to hold clear of positions where heat is applied in brazing or welding. In each case, plates are welded at X. Jaws for a puller are made from rectangular material, heating to red for bending by hammering, then sawing and filing to shape. Straight pieces of rectangular bar

variety of ways E Using wide material, . turning down the end, rounding it and sawing and filing a gap, a clamp is made to grip at two pomts (1). For light clamping when parts have to be heated, it reduces heat-flow from the job-which can be important in soldering and similar work. A clamp to grip on a flange round a component is best provided with a semi-circular cutaway (2), drilling or boring the material (according to size) before it is cut. For gripping always the same limited thickness, a clamp (3) can be

By GEOMETER
possible, and there is no call for the clamps to be just the right length. Slotting can be done by end milling, though, alternatively, holes can be drilled in line in the clamp material and then run together by filing. Another method which avoids the machining and filing is to rivet, braze or weld together two pieces of light section mild steel leaving a space between them for bolts A Such a clamp, moreover, is strong In relation to its weight, with the material taking the clamping forces edge on in the correct way for a beam. Small blocks or collars are used for spacing when riveting is the method of fabrication. Otherwise, the material is bent at the ends, by hammering over in the vice, and then filed true to take the bolts easily. Brazing is done at the ends X with the pieces clamped to a distance piece -leaving a good fillet; but when a welding torch is available, the material can easily be bent and Joined in one piece-like a chain link from flat material. The lightness of such clamps is an advantage when outsize work must be mounted on an angle plate-a problem likely to be encountered particularly on a small lathe. Then the only solution is to clamp over the work and the angle plate B, using 15 DECEMBER 1960

material can be used for clamping, if a stirrup is made for each bolt D . Bars can then be cut to length for each job. To make a stirrup, flat material is turned U-shaped by hammering it over a block equal in thickness to the combined dimensions of the bars and bolt. After this, it is squared to length by filing, and brazed or welded to a plate X. Holes for the bolt should be easy, and the hole in the plate may be larger still, to allow for lengthwise tipping in adjusting and clamping. Other clamps can be made in a 739

made by drilling holes in bar stock, chamfering the end for the jaws, slotting, then cutting off: A steel hinge (4) can be used in a like manner. Rod may be sweated to a clamp (5) to provide radiused gripping faces, and self-alignment obtained through a radiused hollow and washer. A tapped-in reaction screw (6) sets an ordinary clamp quickly. For holding round work, clamps can be drilled, and if necessary tapped, at the centre-line F-as when screws have to be held for slotting, or a shaft set up for cutting a keyway. q
MODEL ENGINEER

NUTS for the JOB

__ B y GEOMETER
components; when split and used for locking, a nut of this type, B, grips the screw it contains, eliminates backlash, and admits of fine adjustment. Such nuts serve for tappets and gauges, holding securely with moderate tightening. A nut of special application is one in two parts with differential threads, B right. Both parts have the same size hexagon ; and the outside one has a finer thread than the bolt or stud. Initial tightening is normal, with the spanner on both hexagons. Then it is applied to the top one alone, for the final tightening and locking. The security of nuts presents problems with many solutions. Thin locknuts may be used on top of standard nuts, or spring washers or tab washers beneath them. Slots may be provided for split pins in standard nuts-as an alternative to deep castellated nuts. On occasion, for semi-permanent assembly, the end threads of bolts may be dented, each at one position, with a centre punch. In deep nuts, C, slotting from the side or the end admits of punching after fitting, or squeezing beforehand, for gripping through slight displacement of the threads. In restricted positions, dismantling of taper-fitted parts-such as a sprocket or flywheel on a shaft-is easily effected using a nut with a flange which is contained by a collar riveted or screwed to the boss, D. Turning the nut back, it pulls on the collar, and so frees the tapers. By appropriately shaping the ends of nuts, self-locking on a round trunnion (against a spring), or floating alignment in a spherical seating is possible, E. The one fitting may be used for adjusting a rod, the other for securing a hinged part-as the lid of a jig. The spherical radius is produced by turning, and the other by filing or milling. Accuracy of threads in nuts ensures security and sealing-and smooth working of parts, such as piston rods in gland nuts. And so all functional work should be done at one setting, using the tailstock chuck for the tap, or guiding it with a centre. Any mandrels used should be screwcut or finished with the tailstock dieholder. One which is flat-ended can be used with a ball for truing a troublesome cap nut, F. q MODEL ENGINEER

nuts are but minor items in an engine or machine, its function, efficiency and appearance inevitably owe a great deal to their design a n d annlication. Suitable choice of nuts, too, can materially aid the assembling and dismantling of certain parts and the adjustments that may be needed to others. There are stock problems concerning nuts that occurin everyday, work. The nut which does not seat squarely, because the threads are askew with the end, can be trued by fitting on a stud in the chuck, and skimming its The replacement nut whose end. thread pitch is in doubt, and whose bore is too small for a thread gauge to enter, can be checked by screwing on a piece of wood, the marking on which can be matched to the screw or stud. An unknown thread in a casting can be verified in the same way. The nut which leaks oressure. or seeps oil from its face or ihreads, can be sealed by running back and winding a strand o f asbestos string round thk bolt or stud-before tightening again firmly. Often it is helpful if the nut is chamfered slightly at the bottom, Al, to contain the strand of stringan operation performed on a stud in the chuck, by a boring tool or turning tool with ample clearance. A domed nut, A2, with its thread square with the end, seals automatically, and in an exposed situation prevents rusting or corrosion of threads-and consequent seizure. At other times, its appearance can commend its use. An internally-chamfered nut, A3, is sometimes used with a lead washer Y to make a sound electrical connection to a wiring tag Z, there being a double-coil spring washer on the other side of the tag. Sealing a banjo union with fibre washers can be done with a flanged cap nut, A4, whose face does not cut the washer against which it abuts. Externally-tapered nuts in tapered holes can be the means of centralising
THOUGH

L
769

22 DECEMBER 1960

Machining HEXAGONS and SQUARES

unions, and cap fittings, there are many occasions when its shortcomings are apparent. It runs in stock sizes, and none may be right for scale dimensions-or even for satisfactory appearance in freelance work. In addition, there are a number of

HILE

hexagon bar material can be used to produce standard bolts and nuts,

and undercut, then the piece parted or sawn off. In stage 3, the union is screwed into a threaded holder in the chuck, for the end to be faced, chamfered and countersunk, and the second thread die-cut. Without means of dividing on the lathe, the corners of squares can be scribed, bringing each jaw of a four-jaw chuck to a stop on the bed, and using a pointed tool sideways from the slide. But to mark a hexagon requires

through simple multiplication and measuring by micrometers. When we know the distance over the flats of a hexagon, the corner dimension follows; we multiply by 1.155. Given the corner dimension, multiplying by 0.866 provides the distance over the flats. For checking one flat from blank diameter, the radius must be used, C. Multiplying R by 0.866, distance X is obtained; and is added to R for a micrometer test. From the dimension for the flats of a square, we multiply by 1.414 to get the blank diameter. To obtain

fittings-such as caps and flanged nuts -with diameters larger than their hexagons, which means that they must first be turned as blanks from round material, the hexagons then being produced by filing or milling. Tap bodies, too, often incorporate machined hexagons, and such features may be included on tools. The same is largely true of squares, which are sometimes employed as alternatives to hexagons. Besides all this. our need of standard hexagon material may sometimes be foreseen as very modest, compared

By GEOMETER
with our need of round material; and accepting that the round can be used for the occasional job, outlay and stock in hand can be reduced. In producing hexagons or squares, corner and flat dimensions may be known, or there may be a good pattern from which to take them. Then, with the blanks turned to size, the flats come automatically by turning or milling at an appropriate stage in the total operations. A programme helps-and it must include the operation of dividing, which follows that of turning when the flats are to be tiled. An example is a double-ended union fitting, A, produced in three stages on the lathe. In stage 1, the bar (dot-marked for refitting) is faced, drilled and countersunk at the end. Diameters are turned for the hexagon and the thread, which is chamfered and undercut. Behind the blank for the hexagon, the bar is relieved, and then the blank is divided into six; and with the bar held in the vice, the hexagon is carefully filed. In stage 2, the thread is die-cut, and the opposite thread blank turned
29 DECEMBER 1960
AUGE

0
E

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F
The two pieces of flat material are joined by countersunk screws, one bridging the bed, the other standing vertically to centre height. The vertical piece is faced in the independent chuck; and with an off-set, a step is turned to a depth of half the thickness of the jaws of the threejaw chuck. One jaw is brought down to the step for setting, and the gauge is used each side of the blank with a hand scriber. According to requirements, sizes of hexagons and squares can be obtainedfromcornerorflat dimensions 801

a gauge, B , and the three-jaw chuck.

flats from blank diameter, we multiply by 0.707; and the distance of one flat from the centre is found by multiplying the radius, R, by 0.707. To mill hexagons or squares, bars can be mounted on the vertical slide; or when threads are finished, a hold can be obtained in split blocks on the slide. Certain hexagons can also be machined in such blocks on the faceplate, D. With one flat finished, the part is turned, E, a bar clamped to it, and gap Y brought equal. Resetting for other flats is done with a 60 deg. square, F, to machine along line Z-Zl. El
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