Lathe Machine (Machining)
Lathe Machine (Machining)
Lathe Machine (Machining)
Machine:
A machine is a tool containing one or more parts that uses energy to perform an
intended action. Machines are usually powered by mechanical, chemical, thermal, or
electrical means, and are often motorized. Historically, a power tool also required
moving parts to classify as a machine. However, the advent of electronics has led to the
development of power tools without moving parts that are considered machines.
LATHE MACHINE
History:
Lathes were developed as early as the 15th century and were known as "bow" lathes.
The operator rotated the work piece by drawing a bow back and forth, either by hand or
with the use of a foot treadle. Next come Bassoons lathe in 1568, which was driven by
a cord passing over a pulley above the machine. This in turn drove two other pulleys on
the same shaft which rotated the work piece and a crude, wooden lead screw, which in
turn allowed the operator to remove metal from the piece being machined. The screw
cutting lathe originates in the 17th century. Development and advancements have
continued and today we have sophisticated computerized controlled lathes.
Types of Lathe:
woodworking lathe:
Woodworking lathes are the oldest variety. All other varieties are descended from these
simple lathes. An adjustable horizontal metal rail - the tool rest - between the material
and the operator accommodates the positioning of shaping tools, which are usually
hand-held. With wood, it is common practice to press and slide sandpaper against the
still-spinning object after shaping to smooth the surface made with the metal shaping
tools.
Most woodworking lathes are designed to be operated at a rate of between 200 and
1,400 revolutions per minute, with a rate slightly over 1,000 rpms being considered
optimal for most such work, and with larger work pieces requiring slower rates.
Turret Lathe:
Turret lathes are used in production machine shops where several sequential
operations are needed on single work piece. It is costly and time consuming to remove
a work piece from one machine and hold it in another. Removing and reholding a work
piece also introduces errors in work alignment and machining accuracy.
Cue lathes:
Cue lathes function similar to turning and spinning lathes allowing for a perfectly
radially-symmetrical cut for billiard cues. They can also be used to refinish cues that
have been worn over the years.
Glass-working lathes:
Glass-working lathes are similar in design to other lathes, but differ markedly in how the
work piece is modified. Glass-working lathes slowly rotate a hollow glass vessel over a
fixed or variable temperature flame. The source of the flame may be either hand-held,
or mounted to a banjo/cross slide that can be moved along the lathe bed.
The flame serves to soften the glass being worked, so that the glass in a specific area
of the work piece becomes ductile, and subject to forming either by inflation
("glassblowing"), or by deformation with a heat resistant tool. Such lathes usually have
two head-stocks with chucks holding the work, arranged so that they both rotate
together. Air can be introduced through the headstock chuck spindle for glassblowing.
The tools to deform the glass and tubes to blow (inflate) the glass are usually handheld.
Rotary lathes:
A lathe in which softwood, like spruce or pine, or hardwood, like birch, logs are turned
against a very sharp blade and peeled off in one continuous or semi-continuous roll.
Invented by Immanuel Nobel. The product is called wood veneer and it is used for
making plywood and as a cosmetic surface veneer on some grades of chipboard.
horn and then later driven by electric current when microphones were used in recording.
Many of these were professional models, but there were some used for home recording
and were popular before the advent of home tape recording.
Description of Parts:
Bed:
Usually made of cast iron Provides a heavy rigid frame on which all the main
components are mounted.
Ways:
Inner and outer guide rails that are precision machined parallel to assure accuracy of
movement.
Headstock:
Mounted in a fixed position on the inner ways, usually at the left end. Using a chuck, it
rotates the work.
Gearbox:
Inside the headstock, providing multiple speeds with a geometric ratio by moving levers.
Spindle:
Hole through the headstock to which bar stock can be fed, which allows shafts that are
up to 2 times the length between lathe centers to be worked on one end at a time.
Chuck:
3-jaw (self-centering) or 4-jaw (independent) to clamp part being machined.it allows the
mounting of difficult work pieces that are not round, square or triangular.
Tailstock:
Fits on the inner ways of the bed and can slide towards any position the headstock to fit
the length of the work piece. An optional taper turning attachment would be mounted to
it.
Tailstock Quill:
Has a Morse taper to hold a lathe center, drill bit or other tool.
Carriage:
Moves on the outer ways. Used for mounting and moving most the cutting tools.
Cross Slide:
Mounted on the traverse slide of the carriage, and uses a hand wheel to feed tools into
the work piece.
Tool Post:
To mount tool holders in which the cutting bits are clamped.
Compound Rest:
Mounted to the cross slide, it pivots around the tool post.
Apron:
Attached to the front of the carriage, it has the mechanism and controls for moving the
carriage and cross slide.
Feed Rod:
Has a keyway, with two reversing pinion gears, either of which can be meshed with the
mating bevel gear to forward or reverse the carriage using a clutch.
Lead Screw:
For cutting threads
Split Nut: When closed around the lead screw, the carriage is driven along by
direct drive without using a clutch.
Operations:
Facing:
Facing is done to decrease the length a single point tool is used for this purpose
Straight Turning:
Taper turning:
Grooving:
Cut off:
Threading:
Tracer turning:
it is done to produce a certain shape by cutting the work piece at the external periphery.
Drilling:
Boring:
Knurling:
It is not a pure cutting operation it is used to produce a cross hash tag for strong
gripping.
Contact of tool with workpiece should be such that how much tool is above and
below the center line. It is known as tool centering
In turning angle made by rake surface and horizontal tangential line between the
workpiece and cutting tool is called inclination angle.
If a rake surface is down from the centering line then inclination angle is positive,
if along the centering line then angle is zero and if above then it is negative.
Angle between rake surface and horizontal surface plane is known as normal
rake angle.
Angle between flank surface and vertical tangential line is known as clearance
angle.
Flank surface of the tool is attached with the machined surface
Chip formed moves over the rake surface of the tool
Chip removal is easy when there is less friction between the chip formed and
rake surface of the tool
In machining chip cut thickness is greater than uncut chip thickness due to chip
contact with the tool.
Shank:
It is main body of tool. The shank used to grip in tool holder.
Flank:
The surface or surface below the adjacent of the cutting edge is called flank of the tool.
Base:
It is actually a bearing surface of the tool when it is held in tool holder or clamped
directly in a tool post.
Heel:
It is the intersection of the flank & base of the tool. It is curved portion at the bottom of
the tool.
Cutting edge:
It is the edge on face of the tool which removes the material from work piece. The
cutting edges are side cutting edge (major cutting edge) & end cutting edge (minor
cutting edge)
TOOL ANGLES:
5. Side clearance:
This formed by the side surface of the tool with a plane normal to the base of the tool.
It avoid rubbing between flank & work piece when tool is fed longitudinally
6. Nose radius:
Nose Radius makes the finish of the cut smoother as it can overlap the previous cut and
eliminate the peaks and valleys that a pointed tool produces. Having a radius also
strengthens the tip, a sharp point being quite fragile.