Lesson 1

INTRODUCTION TO WORKSHOP PRACTICE, SAFETY, CARE AND PRECAUTION IN WORKSHOP

1.1 Introduction
Workshop practice is a very vast one and it is very difficult for anyone to claim a
mastery over it. It provides the basic working knowledge of the production and
properties of different materials used in the industry. It also explains the use of
different tools, equipments, machinery and techniques of manufacturing, which
ultimately facilitate shaping of these materials into various usable forms. In general,
various mechanical workshops know by long training how to use workshop tools,
machine tools and equipment. Trained and competent persons should be admitted to this
type of mechanical works and permitted to operate equipment.

Processes:

1. Primary shaping processes

2. Machining processes

3. Joining processes

4. Surface finishing processes

5. Processes effecting change in properties.

1.1.1 Primary shaping processes

Some of these finish the product to its usable form whereas others do not and it
requires further working to finish the component to the desired shape and size.
Wire drawing lead to the directly usable articles, which do not need further processing
before use.

Casting,forging, bending, rolling, drawing, power metal forging, etc

1.1.2 Machining processes

Large number of components need further processing after primary processes known as
secondary operation to obtain desired shape and dimensional accuracy. These
operations require the use of one or more machine tools, various types of cutting tools and
cutters, job holding devices, marking and measuring instruments, testing devices and
gauges etc.

Common machining operations are:

Turning,Threading. Drilling, Planning, Shaping, Sawing, Milling,

Boring, Grinding,Slotting, etc.

3. Joining processes
These processes are used for joining metal parts and in general fabrication work. Such
requirement usually occur when larger lengths of standard sections are required or
several pieces are to be joined together to fabricate a desired structure.

Common processes are Welding, Soldering, Brazing, Riveting, Screwing, Pressing,

etc.

4. Surface finishing processes

These processes should not be misunderstood as metal removing processes in any case as
they are primarily intended to provide a good surface finish or a decorative and/or
protective coating on to the metal surface, although a very negligible amount of metal
removal or addition may take place. Thus, any appreciable variation in dimensions
will not be effected by these processes. The common processes employed for
obtaining desired surface finish are the following:

1. Buffing 2. Polishing

3. Lapping 4. Belt grinding

5. Metal spraying 6. Painting

1.1.5 Processes effecting change in properties

These processes are employed to impart certain specific properties to the metal parts so as
to make them suitable for particular operations. Most physical properties like
hardening, softening and grain refinement etc., call for particular heat treatment. Heat
treatments not only effect the physical properties, but in most cases also make a
marked change in the internal structure of the metal. So is the case with cold and hot
working of metals.

1. Heat treatment 2. Cold working

3. Hot working

Workshop safety
The safety in Workshops has been written not only to provide appropriate safety
procedures but also to assist trained workshop personnel with the provision of a
reference document outlining the general principles of safe working practices relevant to
the mechanical engineering aspects. It relates to specific are as where definite
safety measures are required for workshop operations

Factories Act and Accident

Various acts relating to accidents are spelt out in workmen’s compensation Act-1923, The
factories act-1948 and Fatal Accidents Act-1855. These acts describe the
regulations for fencing and guarding the dangerous machinery, items and employer’s
liabilities.

6. Concept of accident

It is very difficult to give a definition of the word‘Accident’. However, a generally

accepted conception that an accident is a mishap, a disaster that results in some sort of
injury, to men, machines or tools and equipments and in general loss to the
organization.

The said injury or loss may be of minor or major nature and the accident is termed as non-
reportable or reportable. For example, a small cut on the body will be reportable accident
in a training workshop. It can be treated by first aid and does not involve any appreciable
loss of time, and will not be considered a reportable accident in a production unit.

7. Causes of accidents

The 98% accidents could be easily avoided provided due precautions are taken well in
time. A very familiar slogan goes on to say that accidents do not just happen but are
caused due to the failure of one element or the other, and the most unfortunate factor is
that the human element is the most pronounced of all which fail.

The common causes which lead to accidents are the following:

1.Unsafe working position.

2.Improper or defective tools or their improper use.

3.Improper acts- which result in violation of safety rules and non-observance of

safety precautions.

1.1.8 Common sources of accidents

The large number of machines in use and an even larger number of parts. This can be
regarded as sources of danger and require guarding for protection against accidents.

Some common sources of accident are listed below :

Projecting nips between sets of revolving parts, viz., gears, rolls and friction wheels, etc.

1.Projecting fasteners on revolving parts.

2.Revolving cutting tools, circular saw blades.

3.Revolving drums, crushers, spiked cylinder and armed mixers, etc.

4.Revolving shafts, spindles, bars and tools like drills,reamers, boring bars and
chucks, etc.

5.Projecting sharp edges or nips of belt and chain drives viz., belt, pulleys,
chains, sprockets and belt fasteners.

6.Reciprocating tools and dies of power presses, drop hammers, and revolving
presses, etc.

7.Grinding wheels and stones.

8.Reciprocating knives and saw blades such as cutting and trimming machines and
power hack-saws, etc.

9.Revolving drums and cylinders without casing, such as concrete and other
mixers.
 10.Intermittent feed mechanisms.

11.Projecting nips between various links and mechanisms,

like cranks connecting rods, piston rods, rotating wheels and discs, etc.

1.2. Common Methods of Protection

The common methods of protection against accidents are the following:

1. Safety by position.

2. Safety by construction.

3. Safety by using interlock guards.

4. Safety by using fixed guards.

5. Safety by using automatic guards.

6. Safety by using distance guards.

1. Safety by construction
When a new machine is designed, it should be ensured that all its dangerous parts are
either enclosed in suitable housings or provided with suitable safety guards. For
example, the belt drive and motor in a lathe or milling machine are enclosed, the back
gears in a lathe are either enclosed or provided with cast iron guards or covers.
Lubricating points are provided on the outer surfaces so that the interior parts are not
required to be opened every time.

2. Safety by position
The machine design is in such a way that the dangerous parts are located such that they
are always beyond the reach of the operator. The dangerous parts of all the
machines should invariably be guarded and undertaking should be made to make them
enclosed in the body or housing of the machines.

3. Safety by using interlock guards

It is a very efficient and sound method of guarding in that the guard cannot be
removed and dangerous parts exposed until and unless the machine is totally stopped.
Similarly, the machine cannot be started to work unless the guard returns in position and
protects the dangerous parts.
An interlocking guard may be mechanical,electrical or some sort of a combination of
these. It is essential that it should:

1.Prevent the starting and operation of the machine in case the interlocking
device fails.

2.Always acquire its position to guard the dangerous part before the machine can
be started.

3.Remain closed in position until the dangerous part is completely at rest.

4. Safety by using fixed guards

These guards either for man integral part of the machine or are tightly secured to
them. They should be made to have rigid construction and should be so placed that any
access to the dangerous parts of the machine is totally prevented in the running condition
of the machines.

Steel sheets can be advantageously used and they facilitate an easy fabrication of
guards and are lighter in weight.

In some cases the fixed guards are made adjustable in order to accommodate different
kinds of works or sets of tools. In some cases the fixed guards are provided at a
distance from the danger point.

5. Safety by using distance guards

The principle of a distance guards is that a fencing, enough high, is made of bars,at a
suitable distance from the machine such that even if the operative, by chance, extends his
hands over it, his fingers, clothes or any part of the body does not reach within the area of
dangerous parts. An additional measure of safety, some sort of tripping device is also
usually incorporated to stop the machine quickly in case of an accident.

6. Safety by using automatic guards

The principle of an automatic guard is that its operation is actuated by some moving part
of the machine.
It may linked that the part will automatically bring the guard in protecting position
before the operation of the machine starts. The design of the guard is such that it
automatically forces the operative away from the dangerous area of work before the
operation starts and does not permit his access to the area again until and unless the
machine stops. It may be noted that due to enough time being required for their
operation, this type of guards are not suitable for quick-acting and fast-running
machines. Their use is largely favoured for heavy and slow acting machines like
heavy power presses.

Lesson 2
THE BENCH WORK TOOLS AND ITS USES

1. Introduction
Bench work has its own essential position in all engineering works. In the mechanized
workshops, where most of the work is carried out on an automatic machine, while
bench work has its own importance. The jobs can be finished to a fairly good degree of
accuracy through machining operation; they often require the hand operations to be done
on them to finish to the desired accuracy. A fitter’s work is unavoidable when different
parts are to be assembled in position after they have been finished. Alignment of
machine parts, bearings, engine slide valves and similar other works call for a fitter’s
work. Reconditioning and refitting of machines and machine parts cannot be done without
a skilled fitter. All the above types of works require the use of a large number of hand
tools and a fitter must have good working knowledge of all these tools and
instruments.

2. Filter’s vices

Vices are the most suitable and widely used tools for gripping different jobs in
position during various operations carried out in a fitting shop.

There are a fairly good number of different types of vices such as parallel jaw vice,
machine vice, hand vice and pipe vice.

From these, the parallel jaw vice is the most commonly used in general fitting work.
These vices are available in different trade sizes and the selection of a suitable size will
depend upon the maximum size of the work. The width of the jaws determines the size
of the vice.

In fixing it on the fitter’s bench it is held with the help of bolts passing through the planks
of the bench. The bolts are tightened by means of nuts and the vice is held
firmly on the bench. The jaws of the vice are usually kept overhanging the edge of the
bench.

2.2.1 Bench vice

It is the most commonly used vice sometimes also known as parallel jaw vice. It
essentially consists of a cast steel body, a movable jaw, a fixed jaw, both made of cast
steel, a handle, a square threaded screw and a nut all made of mild steel. A separate cast
steel plates known as jaw plates with teeth are fixed to the jaws by means of set screws
and they can be replaced when worn. The movement of the vice is caused by the screw
which passes through the nut fixed under the movable jaw. The screw is provided
with a collar inside to prevent it from coming out and handle at the outer end. The
width of the jaws suitable for common work varies from 80 to 140 mm and the maximum
opening being 95 to 180 mm.

Fig. 2.1 Bench vice

2.3 Surface Plate
Its specific use is in testing the trueness of a finished surface, testing a try square,
providing adequate bearing surface for V-block and angle plates, etc., in scribing
work.

It is a cast iron plate having a square or rectangular top perfectly planed true and
square with adjacent machined faces. The top is finished true by means of grinding
and scrapping. This plate carries a cast iron base under it and the bottom surface of the
base is also machined true to keep the top surface of the plate in a perfect horizontal
plane.
 Fig. 2.2 Surface plate
2.4 ‘V’ –Block
A ‘V” block serves as a very useful support to the work in marking. It usually works in
conjunction with a U-clamp.
Round bar is placed longitudinally in the block and the screw in the clamp tightened. Its
specific use is in holding the round bars during marking and center drilling their end
faces, which are to be held between centers on the lathe. Also it is very suitable for
holding round bars in drilling operations when the axis of the drill is to be kept normal
to the axis of the bar.
 Fig. 2.3 V-Block
5. Simple Scribing Block

It is principal marking tool in a fitting shop and is made in various forms and sizes. It
consists of a cast iron sliding base fitted with a vertical steel rod. The marker is fitted into
an adjustable device carrying a knurled nut at one end. By means of the nut the marker
can be loosened or tightened to set it at any desired inclination, moved to and fro inside
the hole accommodating it or adjust its height along the vertical pillar. Normally it
is used in conjunction with either a surface plate or marking table. Its specific use
is in locating centers of round rods held in V-block, describing straight lines on work held
firmly in its position by means of a suitable device like angle plate and also in drawing a
number of lines parallel to a true surface.

6. Universal Surface Gauge

It consists of a cast base, perfectly planed at the top, bottom and all sides. Two guide pins
are provided at the rear end of the base which can be pressed down to project below the
base. These pins can be used against the edge of the surface plate or any other finished
surface for guiding the instrument during scribing.

A swivel bolt is provided at the top of the base in which the spindle is fitted.
This spindle can be swung and locked in any desired position by means of the adjusting
screw. The scriber is fitted in an adjustable screw on the spindle and is capable of
being adjusted at any inclination and height along the spindle. A rocker is provided at the
top of the base and it carries an adjusting screw at its rear end.

Fig. 2.4 Simple scribing block and universal surface gauge

2.7 Try Square
It is better known as engineer’s try square and is a very common tool used
for scribing straight lines at right angles to a true surface or testing the
trueness of mutually normal surfaces. They are made in different sizes
from the steel pieces.
 Fig. 2.5 Try square
It consists of a steel blade fitted into a steel stock of rectangular cross-section. They are
well hardened and tempered to suit the need. Both inner and outer surface of the blade are
kept truly at right angles to the corresponding surfaces of the stock.
8. Bevel Gauge

Whenever angles other than right angles are required to be tested or set and marked
sliding bevel square or bevel gauge is used.

It consists of a steel stock of rectangular cross-section carrying a slotted steel blade at its
end. This blade can be made to slide, set at any desired angle and secured in that position
by means of a screw.

9. Files
Files of different types are the principal hand tools used by a fitter. All the files,
irrespective of their shape, size and grade, essentially consist of two main parts, viz., a
toothed blade and a pointed tang, which is fitted in a handle. Files are generally forged out
of high carbon steel, followed by cutting of teeth, hardening and tempering etc.
Common shapes of the files available are flat, hand, square, pillar, round, half round,
triangular, knife edge, etc.

These files are manufactured in different varieties and their classification is governed by
the following factors: effective length- i.e. excluding the length of tang, shape or form of
the cross-section, depth, spacing and cut of teeth

Length of the files varies according to the need but the most commonly used lengths
range from 10 cm to 30 cm and they cover almost all sorts of filing work done by
hand.

Length between 10 cm and 15 cm are generally used for fine work, between 15 cm and
25 cm for medium sized work and above 25 cm for all general and large sized jobs.

Square file which carried double cut teeth on all the four faces and is normally made
tapered for about one-third of its length near the end opposite to the tang.

Triangular file which normally carries single cut teeth on all the faces and is
made tapered towards the end for about two-third of its length near the tip. The
cross- section is an equilateral triangle.
 Fig. 2.6 Types of files
Teeth of the files may single cut or double cut. Single teeth are parallel and at angle of
60ºto the center line of the file. Double cut files have two sets of teeth, the overcut teeth
are cut at angle of 60º and the uppercut at 75º to 80º to the centre line. Files are also
further classified according to the coarseness or spacing between the rows of teeth.

1. Rough (R) with 10 to 4.5 cuts per 10 mm length

2. Bastard (B) with 18 to 6 cuts per 10 mm length
3. Second cut (SC) with 21 to 11 cuts per 10 mm length
4. Smooth (S) with 30 to 15 cuts per 10 mm length
5. Dead smooth (DS) with 35 to 28 cuts per 10 mm length
6. Super smooth (SS) with 63 to 40 cuts per 10 mm length
2.10 Scrapers
Scraping is a very important hand operation in bench work employed for obtaining a fine
surface finish on the work, particularly for removing convex spots from machined
surfaces, and the tools used for doing this operation are known as scrapers.

They vary in shape and size, depending upon the specific work for which they are
employed.

They are usually made from rejected old files. Such files are heated and bent to the
desired shape. They are fitted with a wooden handle.

2.11 Chisels

There are many verities of chisels used for chipping work by a fitter. Some very
commonly used forms are Flat, Cross-cut, Round nose and Diamond point.

All the chisels are forged from bar stock of carbon steel, to the desired shape and the
cutting edge ground to the correct angle.

The forging operation is followed by annealing, hardening and tempering to make

chisel body tough and obtain a sharp cutting edge.

Full length of the chisel is never hardened, only a small length about the cutting edge (say
about 20 to 30 mm) is hardened.
The included angle at the cutting edge varies between 40 and 70, depending upon the
material on which it is to be used. Approximate values of cutting angles for common
materials are as follows:

Brass and copper 40 Wrought iron 50

Cast iron and general cutting work 60

Steel (cast) 70

A flat chisel is a general purpose chisel which is most widely used in cutting work,
chipping large surface, cutting metal sheets, rods, bar stocks and similar other
purposes. Since it cuts the metal in cold state it is also frequently known as cold
chisel.

A round nose chisel is used for drawing the eccentric hold back to correct centre
which has run off-centre during drilling operation. Another specific use of this type of
chisel is in cutting oil grooves and channels in bearings and pulley bushes and
cleaning small round corners.

A cross cut is a comparatively narrow chisel having its cutting edge slightly broader than
the blade. It is made to keep the blade free when the chisel is used to cut deep groove
into the metal. Normal widths of the cutting edge vary from 3 mm to 12 mm. This chisel
is used to cut parallel grooves on large surfaces, before chipping by means of a flat chisel,
cutting key ways, etc.

A diamond point chisel is a special purpose chisel used for chipping rough plates and
cutting cast iron pipes, cutting ‘V’ grooves, chipping sharp corners, squaring up
corners of previously cut slots and cleaning angles.
 Fig. 2.7 Types of chisel
2.12 Hammers

The hammer is one of the most widely used fitter’s tools. It is used for striking chisels in
chipping and cutting and the punch in marking.

All the hammers used in a fitting shop are similar in construction to the smith’s hand
hammers, such as ball peen, cross peen, straight peen, etc. The only difference lies in
weight. Hammers used in fitting work are comparatively lighter in weight than the
smith’s hand hammers. They normally weigh from 0.45 kg to 0.7 kg.
Ball peen hammer is the most commonly used hammer. The peen is ball shaped. It is used
for riveting, chipping, drawing and laying out. The weight of the hammer varies from
0.11 to 0.91 kg (as per IS standards)..

Fig. 2.8 Hammers

Cross peen hammer resembles the ball peen hammer in shape except that its peen is in
wedge shape and at right angles to the eye. This hammer is used for bending and
hammering in the corners.

Straight peen hammer has a peen in line with the handle and is used for peening or
stretching the metal.

2.13 Hack-Saw
Desired lengths of bar stocks, rods, tubes, iron flats and metal sheets, etc. are always
required to be cut in fitting shop. Hack-saw is a common tool used for this purpose. It
consists of a metal frame, fitted with a wooden handle, carrying metal clips with
wing-nut at its end to hold. The clip carrying the wing nut is threaded so as to stretch the
blade to the desired extent. The frame can be either of fixed type, which can
accommodate the same length of blades or adjustable type which is capable of
accommodating different lengths of blades.

Hack saw blades are made of high carbon steel or low alloy steel. Hack saw blade is the
main part. Push type blades, those which cut in forward stroke only, are generally used. In
these, the teeth always point away from the operator. The blades in common use are
generally 0.7 mm thick, 12.7 mm wide and 20 cm to 30 long. About 5 to 7 teeth per cm
length of blade from the course group and 8 to 12 teeth per cm from the fine group of
teeth.

Fig. 2.9 Different parts of a hack saw

 Lesson 3
THE BENCH WORK TOOLS, ITS USES AND PROCESSES

3.1 Miscellaneous Tools

1. Punch
A punch made from a steel rod with a length of 90 to 150 mm and a diameter of 8 to 13
mm is used in bench work for marking purpose and locating centres in more
permanent manner. The punch with a tapered point angle of 400 is called a princk
punch and that of600 point angle is called a centre punch.

Fig. 3.1 Punch

2.Calipers
Calipers are the devices used for measuring and transferring the inside or outside
dimensions of components. Although gradually they are being replaced by the more
accurate and precision instruments and gauges, like micrometers in modern
workshops, still they stand as the in general work on account of their cheapness and ease
in handling.

3.Screw Drivers
It is a very useful hand tool for rotating the screws. It consists of wooden or a plastic
handle and steel blade, shaped at the end. The flat end of the tool is inserted into the slot
provided on the head of the screw for rotating it. Screw drivers are made in
various sizes to suit the corresponding sizes of the slots on the screw heads.
Sometimes star headed screw driver is used for star headed screws.

Fig. 3.2 Screw driver

4. Drills
Drilling is an important operation carried out in a fitting shop for producing different
types and sizes of holes in various materials. There are many forms of drills used for this
purpose.

The simplest form is a flat drill which is used for wood work. The other important and
most widely used is a fluted twist drill. It has a cylindrical body carrying the spiral
flutes cut on its surface. Twist drills are usually made of high-speed steel, some
cheaper varieties are made of high carbon steel. They are made in different forms to suit
the work but the most commonly used types are (i) those having parallel shank and (ii)
those having tapered shank,Parallel shank is provided on small sized drills (say up
to 12.7 mm) only and those above this size are usually provided with a tapered shank.

The twist drill essentially consists of two main parts, a shank which is gripped in the
chuck of the drilling machine and the body forms the main cutting unit. Main
advantages of using twist drills are:

1. The chips of the metal are automatically driven out of the hole through the
spiral flutes.
2.Cutting edges are retained in good condition for a fairly long period.

3.Heavier feeds and speeds can be quite safely employed.

4.For the same size and depth of hole they need less power as compared to other
forms of drills.

Fig. 3.3 Twist drill

5. Taps
The hand operated taps used in fitting shops are employed for cutting internal threads in
cylindrical holes or for cleaning damaged threads in similar parts. A tap consists of a
toothed body having flutes (usually 4) cut on its surface, a round shank and a square
formation at the end of the shank. The flutes are provided for the same purpose as in case
of a twist drill and square formation at the top enables to grip by the tapping
handle.

All the hand taps of different sizes are usually available in a set of three taps of each size
known as taper or rough, second and finish or plug respectively. The main
difference between the three taps is the chamfer angle. In the threading operations
they are used in the same order as taper, second and plug.

When starting tapping care should be taken to start the thread in alignment with the hole.
Also the tap should be occasionally rotated back about a turn to break the chips and
facilitate their removal.
Fig. 3.4 Taps and tap wrench
6. Dies and stocks
Dies are used to cut threads on a round bar of a metal, such
as the threads on a bolt. It is a round or square block of
hardened steel with a hole containing threads and flutes
which form cutting edges. Die may be a solid or adjustable
type. Solid die has fixed dimensions. An adjustable die may
be split type with a split through one side or two piece
rectangular type. These types of dies are fitted into special
stocks and closed by means of adjusting screws.The size of a
die is specified by the outside diameter of the thread to be cut
and pitch of the thread.
 Fig. 3.5 Die and die handles
3.2 Bench Work Processes

Bench work involves following hand operations to finish

the work to desired shape and size with required accuracy.

1. Marking 2.Chipping 3.Sawing

4.Filing

5.Draw filing 6.Threading

 7. Grinding

Some common bench work processes are described here

1. Marking

 It is the basic and one of the most important operations in bench work.
 It should be remembered that how accurately and carefully one tries to perform
other operations it will be of no help until and unless the piece has been
properly and accurately marked.
 Sufficient care should be exercised in performing this operation to obtain a
desired fitting of the components.
 Marking on the work can be done by setting out dimensions with the help of a
working drawing.
 The surface to be marked is coated with either the paste of red lead or chalk and
allowed to dry.
 After that, the work is held in a clamp, if it is round. If the work is too thin, it is
normally supported against an angle plate keeping the surface to be marked in a
vertical plane. Lines in horizontal direction are scribed by means of a scribing
gauge.
 Lines at right angles to this can be drawn easily by first turning the work
through 90 and then using the scriber.
 Lines can easily be marked with the help of a try square. Circles and arcs on
flat surfaces are inscribed by means of dividers.
 After the scribing work is over, indentations on the surface are made, by using the
center punch and hammer along the scribed lines and arcs.
 The punch marks serve as the guide during further operations like filing,
chipping and drilling. etc.
2. Chipping

 It is the operation employed for removing the excess metal by means of cold
chisels.
 To have a properly chipped surface it is essential that the same cutting angle should
be maintained throughout the operation.
 In case the surface is too large it is advisable to cut grooves along the whole
surface by means of a cross cut chisel and then chip off the remaining metal.
 The cutting angles of the chisels differ for different metals.
 Frequent lubrication and cooling of the cutting edge, while taking heavy cuts for
removing large amount of metal, it helps considerably in chipping the metal easily
and more effectively.
 To the correct cutting angle of the chisel, proper gripping of the chisel and the
hammer and correct standing position of the operator play a significant part.
 The chisel should be firmly gripped in one hand leaving about 3 to 5 cm length
above the thumb of the hand, and hammer should be held near the end of the
handle to ensure more power in the blows.
 The operator should stand erect with his two feet sufficiently apart to balance his
own weight equally on both the feet.
 The operator should always see the cutting edge of the chisel and not the top of the
same.
3. Sawing
 This operation is performed in fitting shop for cutting different metal pieces to the
desired size and shape, usually prior to other operations such as filing,
drilling, scraping, etc.
 It is also employed for cutting metal pieces of required length out of the
bar stock.
 For sawing, the saw blade should be properly fitted, and stretched to have the
proper tension, in such a way that the cutting teeth always point away from the
operator so as to cut the metal in forward stroke.
 Sawing should be done steadily and slowly.
 An average speed of about 50 strokes per minute is a good practice.
 Sufficient pressure should be exerted in the forward stroke and this be relieved
during the backward stroke.
 It is advisable to use a coolant throughout the operation. A new blade should not
be directly used on a hard metal.
3. Filing

 Similar to the saw blades, most of the files have their teeth pointing away from the
operator such that they cut during the forward stroke.
 The pressure of the hand in filing should also be applied only during the
forward stroke and relieved during the return stroke.
 Beginners particularly should be careful enough to practice correct movement
of file.
 It should always be more in a perfect horizontal plane for obtaining a truly
plane and smooth surface.
 As far as possible, try to use full length of the file during the operation.
 Moving the file diagonally on a flat surface always yields best results. A coarse
pitched file should be employed when enough metal is to be removed, followed by
finishing with a smooth file.
3. Draw filing

 When the surface is to be finally finished by filing only and no other operation, like
scraping, is to follow the filing operation, a special method of filing, called Draw
filing, is employed for finishing the surface.
 A flat file of fine cut is used for this operation.
 It should be ensured before use that the file teeth are free from metal particles,
 Other wise a numbers of scratches will be produced on the surface. It is usual to
employ a file card quite frequently for cleaning the file teeth both before use as well
as during use.
 For draw filing operation the file is held flat on the surface between the two
hands.
 The file must move forward and backward. Flatness and evenness of the
surface should be checked quite frequently during the operation.
For final finishing, it is a common practice to rub a chalk piece over the entire surface of
the file. This helps in producing a finely finished surface.

Fig. 3.6 Cross and draw filing

 Module 3. Smithy and forging tools & operation
Lesson 4
SMITHY AND FORGING TOOLS AND
EQUIPMENT
4.1 Introduction
 A smithy’s work involves heating of a metal stock to a desired temperature,
enable it to obtain sufficient plasticity, followed by the operations like
hammering, bending, pressing etc., to give it the desired shape. This is known as
forging.
 The above operations can either be carried out by hand hammering, by power
hammers, or by forging machines.
 Hand forging is the term used for the process when it is done by hand tools.
Similarly, forging done with the help of power hammers is known as power
forging, when carried out by means of drop hammers as drop forging, and
when by forging machines as machine forging.
 Applying pressure for shaping the metal, the primary requirement always is to heat
the metal to a definite temperature to bring in into the plastic state.
 This may be done either in an open hearth, known as smith’s forge, or in closed
furnace. Small jobs are normally heated in the Smith’s forge and larger jobs in
closed furnaces.
 The Hand forging process is employed for relatively small components,
machine forging for medium sized and large articles requiring very heavy
blows and drop forging for mass production of identical parts.
4.2 Principal Tools and Other Equipments Used in Hand Forging

4.2.1 Smith’s forge or hearth

 It has a robust cast iron or steel structure consisting of 4 leg supports, an iron
bottom known as hearth, a hood at the top and tuyere opening into the hearth either
from the rear or from the bottom.
 The hearth carries the coal and provided with fire bricks lining to withstand the
extensive heat produced due to the combustion of coal. In the absence of this lining
the heat produced, as started above, will directly effect the metal structure of
the hearth, so that the body, particularly the bottom and the surrounding
walls, may even melt.
 With the result, the entire structure will collapse and the hearth will no more be
useful.
 Air, under pressure is supplied by the blower, suitably placed somewhere near
the forge, through the tuyere opening in the hearth.
 This blower can either be hand operated or power driven. The latter is
preferable, but in the absence of availability of power supply choice of the
former has no alternative.
 If hand blowers are to be used, they are usually mounted at the rear of the forge
itself. In case the power driven units are to be employed the blower is suitably
placed in one corner of the shop and all the forges are connected with it by
means of a well-laid pipe running underground all around the hearths.
 At suitable points auxiliary pipes are used to connect the tuyere with the main
pipe line.
 A valve is incorporated in the auxiliary pipe, just before the place where it is
connected with the tuyere, to control the supply of air to the furnace.
 The chimney provided at the top enables as easy escape of smoke and gases
produced due to the burning of coal.
 A water tank is provided, in front of the forge, which carries water for the
purpose of quenching.
 These hearths can also be made to have masonry construction provided with all the
attachments like chimney, tuyere, blower, water tank, etc.
4.2.2 Anvil

 To carry out the forging operations successfully, a proper supporting device is

needed which should be capable of withstanding heavy blows rendered to the job.
 An anvil stands as the most appropriate choice for this purpose.
 Its body is generally made of cast steel, wrought iron or mild steel provided
with a hardened top, about 20 to 25 mm thick.
 This hardened plate is welded to the body on the top.
 The horn or beak is used in bending the metal or forming curved shapes. The flat
step provided, between the top and the horn, is used to support jobs during cutting
and is known as chipping block.
 The flat projecting piece at the back of the anvil is known as tail.
 It carries a square hole to accommodate the square shank of the bottom part of
various hand tools like swages, fuller. It is called a hardie hole.
 The circular hole provided near the hardie hole is known as pritchel hole.
 The commonly used size of an anvil weighs approximately 50-150 kg although it is
manufactured in various sizes.
 The top face of the anvil should stand at about 0.75 m from the floor.
 Fig. 4.1 Anvil
3. Hammer
 The classification of hammers is largely according to the size and weight of the
hammers used in forging.
 A smith’s hand hammer is a small sized hammer used by the smith himself and
the sledge hammer is comparatively larger in size, heavier in weight and is used by
the smith’s helper, known as hammer man.
 The smith’s hand hammer is normally a small sized ball peen hammer.
 Fig. 4.2 Smithy hammers
All the hammers are mainly divided into 4 parts; namely peen, eye, cheeks and face. The
peen is the top part made slightly tapered from the cheeks and rounded at the top.
It gets a particular form known a ball peen hammer.

The face is hardened and polished well and is given slight rounding along the circular
edges so that the metal surface is not spoiled by the sharp edges when the former is struck
by the hammer.

The eye is normally made oval or elliptical in shape and accommodates the handle or
shaft. For small sized hammers these handles are made of shisham wood or bamboo, but
in case of sledge hammers the handles made of solid bamboos. A steel wedge is always
forced into the handle after it is fitted into the hammer so as to prevent the slipping of
the hammer off the handle during striking.
A smith’s hammer is usually a ball peen hammer or a straight peen sledge type
hammer of relatively small size. Its weight normally varies between 1.0 kg and1.8 kg. A
ball peen hammer is used for all general work and its peen is employed when light blows
at a faster speed are needed, such as in fullering a rivet head in a countersunk hole.

Sledge hammers are comparatively 3to 4 times heavier than the hand hammers. They are
available in varying sizes and weights from 3 kg to 8 kg. They are employed when heavy
blows are needed in forging and other operations done on heavy jobs.

Fig. 4.3 Sledge hammer

4.2.4 Swage block

It is usually a block of cast steel or cast iron carrying a number of slots of different shapes
and sizes along its four side faces and through holes from its top face to bottom face.

This is used as a support in punching holes and forming different shapes. The job to be
given a desired shape is kept on a similar shaped slot, which acts as a bottom
swage, and then the top swage is applied on the other side of the job.

The holes in the top and bottom face are used in punching. Their use prevents the
punch from spoiling by striking against a hard surface after the hole has been
punched.
 Fig. 4.4 Swage block
5. Tongs
 They are used to hold the jobs in position and turning over during forging
operation. They are made of mild steel.
 Tongs are usually made in two pieces, riveted together to form a hinge. Smaller
length on one side of the hinge carries the holding jaws, which are made in
different shapes and sizes to suit the corresponding shapes and sizes of the jobs, and the
longer portions on the other side of the hinge form the arms which are held in hand by the
smith.
Overall sizes of the tongs vary according to the size and shape of the job to be held, but
the commonly used lengths of the tongs in hand forging vary from 400 mm to 600 mm
with the jaws’ opening ranging from 6mm to 55 mm.
 Fig. 4.5 Tongs
Tongs are usually named after the inside shapes of the jaws.
Flat tongs are used for gripping thin section and small flat pieces.
Round hollow tongs, with curved surface inside, are used for holding round
work.
Hollow tongs with square jaws are used to hold square or hexagonal work. Pick
up tongs have their jaws so shaped that even small sections can be easily picked up.
They are not used for holding the work.
6. Chisels
 Chisels are used to cut metals in hot or cold state.
 Those which are used for cutting the metal in hot state are termed as hot chisels
and the others used for cutting in cold state are known as cold chisels.
 The main difference between these chisels is in the included angle at the cutting
edge.
 A cold chisel carries an included angle of 600 at the cutting edge and the latter
is well hardened and tempered. It is made of high carbon steel.
 A hot chisel can be made of medium carbon steel as there is no need of
hardening. It is used to cut the metal in plastic state. The included angle of its
cutting edge is 300.
6. Punches
Punches are tapered tools made in various shapes and sizes. They are used for
producing holes in red hot jobs. A larger tapered punch is called a drift.

The job is placed on the anvil and the punch is hammered through it up to about half its
depth. In is then turned over and the punch made to pass through it.Completion of this
operation in two stages prevents the job from splitting and full to bursting.

4.2.8 Flatters
These are also known as smoothers.They are made of high carbon steel and consist of a
square body, fitted with a handle, and a flat square bottom. They are used for
leveling and finishing a flat surface after drawing out or any other forging operation.

Fig. 4.6 Flatter

4.2.9 Set hammer
It is made of tool steel and hardened. It is not used for striking purpose. Its
construction is also similar to that of a flatter but is smaller in size and it does
not carry an enlarged bottom face. It is used for finishing corners, formed by two adjacent
surfaces at right angles. The job is supported on the anvil and the tool is hammered from
the top.

Fig. 4.7 Set hammer

4.2.11 Fullers
These tools are made of high carbon steel in different sizes to suit the various types of
jobs. They are usually used in pairs, consisting of a top and a bottom filler. Their
working edges are normally rounded. They, are employed for making necks by
reducing the cross-section of a job and also in drawing out.
 Fig. 4.8 Fullers
12. Swages
 Like fullers, they are also made of high carbon steel in two parts called the top and
bottom swages.
 Their working faces carry circular grooves to suit the size of the work. They are
available in various sizes.
 The top swage carries is a handle and the bottom swage a square shank to fit the
hardie hole of the anvil during the operation.
They are used for increasing the length of a circularrod or for finishing the circular
surface of a job after forging.
 Fig. 4.9 Swages

Module 3. Smithy and forging tools and operation

Lesson 5
SMITHY AND FORGING OPERATION
5.1 Fuels Used in Furnaces

Many types of fuels are used in the furnace

employed in forging work. All these fuels can
be broadly classified into three groups, as
1. Solid fuels – such as coal, coke, charcoal
follows:etc.
 2. Liquid fuel – they include different types of fuel oils.

3. Gaseous fuels – natural gas and producer gas.

2. Forging Materials
The materials possessing the ability to sustain substantial plastic deformation without
fracture even in presence often sile stresses can be forged easily. Wrougt iron, low and
medium carbon steels, low alloy steels, aluminium, magnesium and copper alloys are
common forgeable materials. Austenite and marten site stainless steels, nickel alloys can
be forged with some difficulty.

3. Forging Temperatures
Forging materials must be heated to a temperature at which it will possess high plastic
properties both at the beginning and at the end of the forging process. If the forging
operation is finished at lower temperature, this leads to cold hardening and cracks.
With excessive heating, the forgings suffer oxidization and much metal is wasted.
Approximate temperatures for forging the following common metals at the beginning and
at the end of forging process are as under:

The temperature of heating steel for hand forging can be estimated by the heat colour of
the heated steel are given in the following table :
5.4 Forging Operations

For giving desired shapes to the products the following operations are used in a
smithy shop.
1. Upsetting

2. Drawing out or drawing down.

3. Cutting

4. Bending.

5. Punching and drifting.

6. Setting down and finishing.

5.4.1 Upsetting or Jumping

 Upsetting is the process through which the cross-section of a metal piece is

increased with a corresponding reduction in its length.
 When a metal is sufficiently heated, so that it acquires the plastic stage, it
becomes soft.
 If some pressure is applied to it the metal tends to increase in its dimensions at
right angles to the direction of application of force with a corresponding reduction
in its dimensions parallel to the line of action of the said force.
  The particular aprt in the bar shape, where said increase in the cross-section is
desired, is heated till it acquires a fully plastic state.
The hot portion of the bar is then kept on the anvil face and the bar hammered at the

top. )
Hammering in this operation is done either by the smith himself, if the job is small, by
means of a hand hammer or by his helper in case of big jobs, when heavy blows are
needed, by means of a sledge hammer.

2. Drawing out
This process is also known as drawing down. It is exactly a reverse process to that of
upsetting in the sense, it is employed when a reduction in thickness, width or both of a bar
is desired with a corresponding increase in its length. The desired effect is
possible to be obtained by the use of either the peen of a cross peen hammer, a set of
fullers or a pair of swages (for round bars only).

The process of heating and cooling the length, not required to be drawn, is the same as in
case of upsetting, but the selection of the above tools is governed by the shape of the
cross-section of the stock, the amount by which the increase in length is desired and also
the required finished shape of the job.

3. Cutting

 Cutting of metals in hot or cold state is done by means of hot or cold chisels
respectively.
 This operation is required in removing extra metal from the job before finishing
it, cutting required lengths of pieces from a stock, splitting a metal piece into two at a
desired location and similar other requirements.
  Enough care should be taken while cutting cold steel, since there is every
likelihood of the chips flying off in different directions and cause injuries.
 Also, more power and time is taken in cold cutting as compared to hot
chiseling.
 If very thick section is being cut, even cracks may sometimes occur. Cold
cutting is, therefore, preferred for the thin sections only, such as rods of thin
sections and sheets, etc., (usually below 20 mm thickness).
 Especially alloy steels should never be cut cold.
 For hot cutting of steel, it should be heated to red heat in the furnace and then cut.
The usual temperature for hot cutting is 850 0C to 950 0C.

4. Bending

Bending of bars, flats and other similar stock material is usually done in a smithy
shop. This can be done to produce different types of bent shapes such as angles, ovals and
circles, etc.
Any desired angle can be made through this operation. For making a right angle bend that
particular portion of the stock, which is to be subjected to bending, is heated and
jumped on the outer surface.

This operation is carried out on the edge of the anvil or on the perfectly square edge of a
rectangular block. After bending, the outside bulging is finished by means of a
flatter and the inside one by means of a set hammer.

Curved shapes of bends are formed on the horn of the anvil. For mass production of
articles made through bending, particularly when dimensional accuracy is a must, jigs and
fixtures are designed to help in performing this operation quickly and efficiently. This
results in a considerable saving of time and labour.

5. Punchin
g and
drifting

Punching and drifting are used for producing and finishing holes and preparatory for
producing other shapes.Punching should be done in two stages. In the first stage the work
piece is kept flat on the anvil and holes performed half way through. Then job is turned
upside down. The application of punching, producing the slot a number of holes
are punched and the remaining excess material is cut out using a chisel. The slot may then
be finished hot drifting or may be finished by filing when cold.

6. Setting
down

It is a localized drawing down or swaging operation. Usually the work is fullered at the
place where the setting down is effected by the set hammer.
5.5 Forging Processes
The processes of reducing a metal billet between flat dies or in closed impression dies to
obtain a part of predetermine size and shape are smith forging and impression die forging
respectively.Depending on the equipments utilized they are further sub- divided as
under.

5.5.1 Smith die forging

It is also known as flat die or open die forging. It is simple,relatively inexpensive and
allows the production of large verities of shapes.The final shape of the forging
depends largely on the skill of the smith.

A.Hand forging: Hand forging is employed only to shape a small number of light
forgings mainly in repair shops. This is done by hammering the piece of metal, when it is
heated to proper temperature, on an anvil. A hand hammer or a sledge hammer is used for
striking.

B.Power forging: Large machine parts which cannot be forged by hand forging, use of
power hammers and presses is employed to do the job.
i. Hammer forging: machines which work on forging by blow are called hammers.
The heavy falling part of the hammer is called the ram and the rigid support is in the form
of anvil block. The power hammer may be a gravity fall type or a higher striking velocity
type such as mechanical hammer,air and steam hammer etc. these hammers are available
with different ram weight and different blows rate per minute.

Press forging: Forging presses for smithy work are usually of the hydraulic type. In press
forging, pressure or squeeze is applied to the raw material and intensity of this pressure
increase as the plastic metal resists deformation. As the pressure applied squeezes
the metal slowly compared to blow hammer, more time is available for the flow of metal
being forged.

5.5.2 Impression die forging

It is employed for more complex shapes of greater accuracy, large quantities of

identical forgings as well as for special items with quality and economy reasons.

a) Drop forging: Three types of drop hammers are used in making drop forgings.
They are board or gravity type, air lift hammer and power drop hammer also,
called steam hammer.
 b) Press forging: It is done in presses rather than with hammers. The action is
relatively slow squeezing instead of delivering heavy blows. This allows the
gases to escape from the forging.

Machine or upset forging: Forging of the ring or rod types with all kinds of heads and
shoulder, such as bolts, nuts, washers, collers, pinions gear, blanks etc can be
conveniently produced in forging machines. Large number of small identical items
can be machine forged.

Module 4. Heat treatment process

Lesson 6
HEAT TREATMENT
PROCESS:HARDENING,
TEMPERING, ANNEALING AND
NORMALIZING
6.1 Introduction

Steel and other alloys have a

large number of applications
in engineering practice under
varying conditions, requiring
different properties in them.
At one place they may be
subjected to bending while at
the other to twisting. They may
be required to withstand
various types of stresses and as
tool materials to have hardness,
specially red hardness,
combined with toughness
along with anon-brittle cutting
edge. They may be required
to bear static or dynamic
loads,revolve at extremely
high speeds, operate in highly
corrosive media, carry an
extremely hard skin with a
1. Heating the metal to a predefined temperature. tough core, subjected to fatigue
and creep, etc.Such varying
condition of their applications
require these materials to
possess specific properties of
 2.Holding it at that temperature for sufficient time so that the structure of the metal
becomes uniform throughout.

3.Cooling the metal at a predetermined rate in a suitable media so as to force the

metal to acquire a desired internal structure and thus, obtain the desired
properties to the required extent. All this takes place because of the changes in
size,form, nature and the distribution of different constituents in the micro-
structure of these metals.

6.2 Purpose of Heat Treatment

Metals and alloys are heat treated in order to achieve one or more of the following
objectives:

1.To relieve internal stresses set up during other operations like casting,
welding, hot and cold working, etc.

2.To improve mechanical properties like hardness,toughness, strength, ductility, etc.

3.To improve machinability

4.To change the internal structure to improve their resistance to heat, wear and
corrosion.

5.To effect a change in their grain size.

6.To soften them to make suitable for operations like cold rolling and wire
drawing.

7.To improve their electrical and magnetic properties.

8.To make their structure homogenous so as to remove coring and segregation.

9.To drive out trapped gases.

In order to understand the complete mechanism of heat treatment it is essential to

know the internal structure, phase transformation, etc. fully. However, a brief review is
given:

6.3 Classification of Heat Treatment Processes

Various heat treatment processes can be classified as follows:

1. Annealing.
 2. Normalizing.

3. Hardening.

4. Tempering.

5. Case hardening.

6. Surface hardening.

7. Diffusion coating.

6.3.1 Annealing
Annealing is indeed one of the most important heat treatment processes. The internal
structure of the metal gets stabilized through this process. This heat treatment is given to
the metal so as to achieve one on more of the following objectives:

1. To refine the grains and provide homogenous structure.

2. To relieve internal stresses set up during earlier operations.

3. To soften the metal and, thus, improve its machinability.

4. To effect changes in some mechanical,electrical and magnetic properties.

5. To prepare steel for further treatment or processing.

6. To drive out gases trapped during casting.

7. To produce desired macro structure.

Different type of annealing processes can be classified as follows:

1. Full annealing.

2. Process annealing.

3. Spheroidise annealing.

4. Diffusion annealing.

5. Isothermal annealing.

1. Full annealing
The main objectives of this type of annealing are to soften the metal, relieve its
stresses and refine its grain structure. It is also known as high temperature annealing. In
this process complete phase recrystallisation takes place and,therefore, all
imperfections of the previous structure are wiped out. This involves heating of steel to a
temperature about 30o to 50oabove the higher critical point for hypoeutectoid steels, and
by the same amount above the lower critical point for hyperuectoid steels, holding it at
that temperature for sufficient time to allow the internal changes to take place and then
cooling slowly. The steel gets softened by this process,together with an
appreciable amount of increase in its ductility and toughness.

Table 6.1 Annealing temperatures for carbon steels

Cooling is done by allowing approximately 3 to 4 minutes time at elevated

temperatures per mm thickness of the largest section. High temperature cooling is
usually done in the furnace itself by lowering of temperature at the rate of 10 to 30o C
below the lower critical temperature. The specimen is then air cooled down to the
room temperature. This process makes a course pear litic structure which is quite soft and
ductile. An alternate method of cooling after soaking is to embed the metal in a non-
conducting material like sand, lime, mica, ash, etc.

2. Process annealing

The purpose of process annealing is to remove the ill effects of cold working and
often the metal so that its ductility is restored and it can be again plastically deformed or
put to service without any danger of its failure due to fracture. It is also known a slow
temperature annealing or sub-critical annealing or commercial annealing.The process
is extremely useful for mild steels and low carbon steels and is cheaper and quicker than
full annealing. Also, less scale is produced during this process. The main
out put of this process is increased ductility and plasticity, improved shock resistance,
reduced hardness, improved machinability and removal of internal stresses. During
cold working operations like cold-rolling, wire drawing, a metal gets severely strain-
hardened . Due to this, the metal is heated to a temperature, generally in the range of
550oC to 650oC, held there for enough time to allow recrystallisation of cold worked metal
and,thus, softening to take place and then cooled at a slower rate (normally in air).

3. Spheroidise annealing

The main purpose of spheroidise annealing is to produce a structure of steel which

consists of globules or well dispersed spheroids of cementite in ferrite matrix.
Following are the main methods through which the above objective can be obtained:

1.High carbon steels: Heating the steel to a temperature slightly above the lower
critical point (say between 730oC to 770oC,depending upon the carbon
percentage), holding it at that temperature for sufficient time and than cooling it in
the furnace to a temperature 600oCto 550oC, followed by slowly cooling it
down to room temperature instill air.

2.Tool steels and high-alloy steels: Heating to a temperature of 750oC to 800oC, or

even higher, holding at that temperature for several hours and then cooling
slowly.

4. Diffusion annealing

The purpose of diffusion annealing is to remove the heterogeneity in the chemical

composition of steel ingots and heavy castings This process is mainly used
before applying full annealing to steel castings. In this process , the metal is
heated to a temperature between 1100oC to 1200oC,where diffusion occurs and
grains are homogenized. The metal piece being treated is held at the diffusion
temperature for a short time to allow complete diffusion and than cooled down to
between 800oC to 850oC by keeping it inside the shut off furnace for a period of
about 6 to 8 hours. Then it is removed from the furnace and cooled in air down to
the room temperature. Then full annealing is performed.

5. Isothermal annealing
The isothermal annealing consists of heating steel to austenite state and then cooling it
down to a temperature of about 630oC to 680oCat a relatively faster rate. It is followed
by holding it at this constant temperature (i.e isothermal) for some time and
then cooling it down to the room temperature at a rapid rate. During the isothermal
holding full decomposition to pearlite structure takes place and that is why the
process is
known as isothermal annealing. Because of the two rapid coolings the total annealing time
is considerably reduced.

2. Normalizing
The normalizing process is similar to annealing in sequence but vary in the heating
temperature range, holding time and the rate of cooling. Heating temperature of steel is
40oC to 50oCabove the higher critical point, held at that temperature for a relatively very
short period of time (about 15 min.) and then cooled down to room temperature in still air.
This heat treatment is commonly used as the final heat treatment for such articles which
are supposed to be subjected to higher stress during operation. Due to this treatment
internal stress caused during previous operations are removed, internal structure is
refined to fine grains and mechanical properties of steel are improved. This process
also improves the impact strength, yield point and ultimate tensile strength of
steels. As compared to the annealed steels of the same composition the normalized
steels will be less ductile but stronger and harder. For improvement of the mechanical
properties normalizing process should be preferred and to attain better
machinability, softening and greater removal of internal stress annealing process
should be employed.

3. Hardening
This process is widely applied to all cutting tools, all machine parts made from alloy
steels, dies and some selected machine parts subjected to heavy duty work. In
hardening process steel is heated to a temperature within the hardening range, which is
30oC to 50oC above the higher critical point for hypoeutectoid steels and by the
same amount above the lower critical point for hypoeutectoid steels, holding it at that
temperature for sufficient time to allow it to attain austenitic structure and cooled
rapidly by quenching in a suitable medium like water, oil or salt both.

In the process of hardening the steel is developed in such controlled conditions,by

rapid quenching, that the transformation is disallowed at the lower critical point and by
doing so we force the change to take place at a much lower temperature. By rapid cooling
the time allowed to the metal is too short and hence transformation is not able to occur at
the lower critical temperature.

4. Tempering

A hardened steel piece, due to martensitic structure, is extremely hard and brittle, due to
which it is found unsuitable for most practical purposes. So a subsequent treatment is
required to obtain a desired degree of toughness at the cost of some strength and
hardness to make it suitable for use. It is especially true in case of the tools. This is
exactly what is mainly aimed at through tempering of steel. This process enables
transformation of some martensite into ferrite and cementite. The exact amount of
martensite transformed into ferrite plus cementite will depend upon the temperature to
which the metal is reheated and the time allowed for the transformation.

The process involves reheating the hardened steel to a temperature below the lower
critical temperature, holding it at that temperature for sufficient time and then cooling it
slowly down to the room temperature.

When the hardened steel is reheated to a temperature between 100oC to 200oCsome of the
interstitial carbon is precipitated out from martensite to form acarbide called epsilon
carbide. This leads to the restoration of BCC structure in the matrix. Further heating to
between 200oC 400oCenables the structure to transform to ferrite plus cementite.
Further heating to between 400oC and 550oC leads to the nucleation and growth of a new
ferrite structure, rendering the metal weaker but more ductile.If steel is heated above
550oC the cementite becomes spheroidised,and if heating is continued even beyond the
structure will revert back to the stable martensite. As such, if a good impact strength is
desired reheating should not extend beyond 300o to 350oC. The section thickness of
the components being treated also have a decisive effect on the results. Heavy
components and thicker sections required longer tempering times then the lighter and
thinner ones.

6.3.4.1 Types of tempering

On the basis of the ranges of temperatures to which the components are reheated for
tempering, the tempering procedures are classified as follows:

1. Low temperature tempering

This treatment results in reduction of internal stresses and improvement in toughness and
ductility without any appreciable loss in hardness. The heating range for this type of
tempering is from 150oC to 250oC. The different colours appearing on the surface of the
metal are indicative of the approximate temperature attained by it. Carbon tool steels, low
alloy tool steels, case carburized and surface hardened parts, measuring tools, etc
are tempered by this method. Approximate temperatures, corresponding colours and
the tools for whose tempering they are used are given in following table.

Table 6.2 Approximate tempering temperatures and temper colours for tools
2. Medium temperature tempering
This process involves reheating the component to a temperature range between
350oCto 450oC, holding at that temperature for sufficient time and then cooling it to
room temperature. This method of tempering is used to increase the toughness of steel
but reduces the hardness. It also increases the ductility and decresess the strength. It is
mainly used for articles where a high yield strength, coupled with toughness, is
a major requirement and subjected to impact loading, like coils and springs, hammers,
chisels, etc.

3. High temperature tempering

The process involves reheating the hardened steel to a temperature between 500oC to 650
o
, holding it there for a certain time and then cooling it down to the room
temperature.This process enables the steel attaining high ductility while retaining
enough hardness. This provides a micro-structure which carries a useful combination of
good strength and toughness with complete elimination of internal stresses
.E.g.Crankshafts, connecting rods and gears

6.3.5 Tempering bath

Mainly following three types of tempering baths are used for tempering of steel parts and
cutting tools:

Lead bath : Lead or lead alloy bath may be used for tempering steel parts. The parts are
preheated and then immersed in the bath, which is already heated to the tempering
temperature. Once the parts reach the tempesing temperature they are taken out and
cooled to attain the required temper.

Oil bath: Oil baths can be employed for various temperature ranges. Mineral oils are
commonly used for these baths. Light oil baths are used for temperatures upto 230 oC
only. Heavy oil baths can be used for heating range from343 oC to 370 oC. For oil
heating the bath temperature is first raised to the required tempering range and then
partially heated component is immersed in it. If the temperature of the bath falls
below the required level both the bath and the immersed component can be heated
together to the tempering temperature. After the component has reached the required
temperature it is removed and immersed in a tank of caustic soda, followed by
quenching in a hot water bath.

Salt bath : Salt baths, carrying liquid nitrates or nitrates plus nitrites, are used for
higher temperatures. The salts used for these baths are generally chlorides and
fluorides. These baths are very widely used for tempering of high speed steels.They can
be used for temperature range upto 540 oC to 600 oC. From efficiency and economy
points of view salt bath can not be used below 173o.

Module 4. Heat treatment process

Lesson 6
HEAT TREATMENT
PROCESS:HARDENING,
TEMPERING, ANNEALING AND
NORMALIZING
6.1 Introduction
Steel and other alloys have a
large number of applications
in engineering practice under
varying conditions, requiring
different properties in them.
At one place they may be
subjected to bending while at
the other to twisting. They may
be required to withstand
various types of stresses and as
these materials to possess specific properties of the required order to successfully
serve under these conditions. But, a material may lack in some or all of these
properties either fully or partially. These deficiencies are fulfilled through the process of
heat treatment. Generally all steels can be heat treated as per need. Aluminium is the only
non-ferrous metal which can be effectively heat treated.

The process of heat treatment involves heating of solid metals to specified

(recrystalisation)temperatures holding them at that temperature and then cooling them at
suitable rates in order to enable the metals to acquire the desired properties to the required
extents. All this take place because of the changes in size, form,nature and the
distribution of different constituents in the micro-structure of these metals. All heat
treatment processes, therefore, comprise the following three stages of
components:

1.Heating the metal to a predefined temperature.

2.Holding it at that temperature for sufficient time so that the structure of the metal
becomes uniform throughout.

3.Cooling the metal at a predetermined rate in a suitable media so as to force the

metal to acquire a desired internal structure and thus, obtain the desired
properties to the required extent. All this takes place because of the changes in
size,form, nature and the distribution of different constituents in the micro-
structure of these metals.

6.2 Purpose of Heat Treatment

Metals and alloys are heat treated in order to achieve one or more of the following
objectives:

1.To relieve internal stresses set up during other operations like casting,
welding, hot and cold working, etc.

2.To improve mechanical properties like hardness,toughness, strength, ductility, etc.

3.To improve machinability

4.To change the internal structure to improve their resistance to heat, wear and
corrosion.

5.To effect a change in their grain size.

 6.To soften them to make suitable for operations like cold rolling and wire
drawing.

7.To improve their electrical and magnetic properties.

8.To make their structure homogenous so as to remove coring and segregation.

9.To drive out trapped gases.

In order to understand the complete mechanism of heat treatment it is essential to

know the internal structure, phase transformation, etc. fully. However, a brief review is
given:

6.3 Classification of Heat Treatment Processes

Various heat treatment processes can be classified as follows:

1. Annealing.

2. Normalizing.

3. Hardening.

4. Tempering.

5. Case hardening.

6. Surface hardening.

7. Diffusion coating.

6.3.1 Annealing
Annealing is indeed one of the most important heat treatment processes. The internal
structure of the metal gets stabilized through this process. This heat treatment is given to
the metal so as to achieve one on more of the following objectives:

1. To refine the grains and provide homogenous structure.

2. To relieve internal stresses set up during earlier operations.

3. To soften the metal and, thus, improve its machinability.

4. To effect changes in some mechanical,electrical and magnetic properties.

5. To prepare steel for further treatment or processing.

 6. To drive out gases trapped during casting.

7. To produce desired macro structure.

Different type of annealing processes can be classified as follows:

1. Full annealing.

2. Process annealing.

3. Spheroidise annealing.

4. Diffusion annealing.

5. Isothermal annealing.

1. Full annealing
The main objectives of this type of annealing are to soften the metal, relieve its
stresses and refine its grain structure. It is also known as high temperature annealing. In
this process complete phase recrystallisation takes place and,therefore, all
imperfections of the previous structure are wiped out. This involves heating of steel to a
temperature about 30o to 50oabove the higher critical point for hypoeutectoid steels, and
by the same amount above the lower critical point for hyperuectoid steels, holding it at
that temperature for sufficient time to allow the internal changes to take place and then
cooling slowly. The steel gets softened by this process,together with an
appreciable amount of increase in its ductility and toughness.

Table 6.1 Annealing temperatures for carbon steels

Cooling is done by allowing approximately 3 to 4 minutes time at elevated
temperatures per mm thickness of the largest section. High temperature cooling is
usually done in the furnace itself by lowering of temperature at the rate of 10 to 30o C
below the lower critical temperature. The specimen is then air cooled down to the
room temperature. This process makes a course pear litic structure which is quite soft and
ductile. An alternate method of cooling after soaking is to embed the metal in a non-
conducting material like sand, lime, mica, ash, etc.

2.Process annealing
The purpose of process annealing is to remove the ill effects of cold working and
often the metal so that its ductility is restored and it can be again plastically deformed or
put to service without any danger of its failure due to fracture. It is also known a slow
temperature annealing or sub-critical annealing or commercial annealing.The process
is extremely useful for mild steels and low carbon steels and is cheaper and quicker than
full annealing. Also, less scale is produced during this process. The main out put of this
process is increased ductility and plasticity, improved shock resistance, reduced hardness,
improved machinability and removal of internal stresses. During cold working
operations like cold-rolling, wire drawing, a metal gets severely strain- hardened . Due to
this, the metal is heated to a temperature, generally in the range of 550oC to 650oC, held
there for enough time to allow recrystallisation of cold worked metal and,thus, softening
to take place and then cooled at a slower rate (normally in air).

3.Spheroidise annealing
The main purpose of spheroidise annealing is to produce a structure of steel which
consists of globules or well dispersed spheroids of cementite in ferrite matrix.
Following are the main methods through which the above objective can be obtained:

1.High carbon steels: Heating the steel to a temperature slightly above the lower
critical point (say between 730oC to 770oC,depending upon the carbon
percentage), holding it at that temperature for sufficient time and than cooling it in
the furnace to a temperature 600oCto 550oC, followed by slowly cooling it
down to room temperature instill air.

2.Tool steels and high-alloy steels: Heating to a temperature of 750oC to 800oC, or

even higher, holding at that temperature for several hours and then cooling
slowly.

4. Diffusion annealing
The purpose of diffusion annealing is to remove the heterogeneity in the chemical
composition of steel ingots and heavy castings This process is mainly used
before applying full annealing to steel castings. In this process , the metal is
heated to a temperature between 1100oC to 1200oC,where diffusion occurs and
grains are homogenized. The metal piece being treated is held at the diffusion
temperature for a short time to allow complete diffusion and than cooled down to
between 800oC to 850oC by keeping it inside the shut off furnace for a period
of about 6 to 8 hours. Then it is removed from the furnace and cooled in air down to
the room temperature. Then full annealing is performed.

5. Isothermal annealing

The isothermal annealing consists of heating steel to austenite state and then cooling it
down to a temperature of about 630oC to 680oCat a relatively faster rate. It is followed
by holding it at this constant temperature (i.e isothermal) for some time and
then cooling it down to the room temperature at a rapid rate. During the isothermal
holding full decomposition to pearlite structure takes place and that is why the
process is known as isothermal annealing. Because of the two rapid coolings the total
annealing time is considerably reduced.

6.3.2 Normalizing
The normalizing process is similar to annealing in sequence but vary in the heating
temperature range, holding time and the rate of cooling. Heating temperature of steel is
40oC to 50oCabove the higher critical point, held at that temperature for a relatively
very short period of time (about 15 min.) and then cooled down to room temperature in
still air. This heat treatment is commonly used as the final heat treatment for such
articles which are supposed to be subjected to higher stress during operation. Due to this
treatment internal stress caused during previous operations are removed, internal structure
is refined to fine grains and mechanical properties of steel are improved. This
process also improves the impact strength, yield point and ultimate tensile strength
of steels. As compared to the annealed steels of the same composition the
normalized steels will be less ductile but stronger and harder. For improvement of the
mechanical properties normalizing process should be preferred and to attain better
machinability, softening and greater removal of internal stress annealing process
should be employed.

3. Hardening
This process is widely applied to all cutting tools, all machine parts made from alloy
steels, dies and some selected machine parts subjected to heavy duty work. In
hardening process steel is heated to a temperature within the hardening range, which is
30oC to 50oC above the higher critical point for hypoeutectoid steels and by the
same amount above the lower critical point for hypoeutectoid steels, holding it at that
temperature for sufficient time to allow it to attain austenitic structure and cooled
rapidly by quenching in a suitable medium like water, oil or salt both.

In the process of hardening the steel is developed in such controlled conditions,by

rapid quenching, that the transformation is disallowed at the lower critical point and by
doing so we force the change to take place at a much lower temperature. By rapid cooling
the time allowed to the metal is too short and hence transformation is not able to occur at
the lower critical temperature.

4. Tempering
A hardened steel piece, due to martensitic structure, is extremely hard and brittle, due to
which it is found unsuitable for most practical purposes. So a subsequent treatment is
required to obtain a desired degree of toughness at the cost of some strength and
hardness to make it suitable for use. It is especially true in case of the tools. This is
exactly what is mainly aimed at through tempering of steel. This process enables
transformation of some martensite into ferrite and cementite. The exact amount of
martensite transformed into ferrite plus cementite will depend upon the temperature to
which the metal is reheated and the time allowed for the transformation.

The process involves reheating the hardened steel to a temperature below the lower
critical temperature, holding it at that temperature for sufficient time and then cooling it
slowly down to the room temperature.

When the hardened steel is reheated to a temperature between 100oC to 200oCsome of the
interstitial carbon is precipitated out from martensite to form acarbide called
epsilon carbide. This leads to the restoration of BCC structure in the matrix. Further
heating to between 200oC 400oCenables the structure to transform to ferrite plus
cementite. Further heating to between 400oC and 550oC leads to the nucleation and
growth of a new ferrite structure, rendering the metal weaker but more ductile.If steel is
heated above 550oC the cementite becomes spheroidised,and if heating is continued even
beyond the structure will revert back to the stable martensite. As such, if a good impact
strength is desired reheating should not extend beyond 300o to 350oC. The section
thickness of the components being treated also have a decisive effect on the results.
Heavy components and thicker sections required longer tempering times then the lighter
and thinner ones.

6.3.4.1 Types of tempering

On the basis of the ranges of temperatures to which the components are reheated for
tempering, the tempering procedures are classified as follows:

1. Low temperature tempering

This treatment results in reduction of internal stresses and improvement in toughness and
ductility without any appreciable loss in hardness. The heating range for this type of
tempering is from 150oC to 250oC. The different colours appearing on the surface of the
metal are indicative of the approximate temperature attained by it. Carbon tool steels, low
alloy tool steels, case carburized and surface hardened parts, measuring tools, etc
are tempered by this method. Approximate temperatures, corresponding colours and
the tools for whose tempering they are used are given in following table.

Table 6.2 Approximate tempering temperatures and temper colours for tools
2. Medium temperature tempering
This process involves reheating the component to a temperature range between
350oCto 450oC, holding at that temperature for sufficient time and then cooling it to
room temperature. This method of tempering is used to increase the toughness of steel
but reduces the hardness. It also increases the ductility and decresess the strength. It is
mainly used for articles where a high yield strength, coupled with toughness, is
a major requirement and subjected to impact loading, like coils and springs, hammers,
chisels, etc.

3. High temperature tempering

The process involves reheating the hardened steel to a temperature between 500oC to 650
o
, holding it there for a certain time and then cooling it down to the room
temperature.This process enables the steel attaining high ductility while retaining
enough hardness. This provides a micro-structure which carries a useful combination of
good strength and toughness with complete elimination of internal stresses
.E.g.Crankshafts, connecting rods and gears

6.3.5 Tempering bath

Mainly following three types of tempering baths are used for tempering of steel parts and
cutting tools:

Lead bath : Lead or lead alloy bath may be used for tempering steel parts. The parts are
preheated and then immersed in the bath, which is already heated to the tempering
temperature. Once the parts reach the tempesing temperature they are taken out and
cooled to attain the required temper.

Oil bath: Oil baths can be employed for various temperature ranges. Mineral oils are
commonly used for these baths. Light oil baths are used for temperatures upto 230 oC
only. Heavy oil baths can be used for heating range from343 oC to 370 oC. For oil
heating the bath temperature is first raised to the required tempering range and then
partially heated component is immersed in it. If the temperature of the bath falls
below the required level both the bath and the immersed component can be heated
together to the tempering temperature. After the component has reached the required
temperature it is removed and immersed in a tank of caustic soda, followed by
quenching in a hot water bath.

Salt bath : Salt baths, carrying liquid nitrates or nitrates plus nitrites, are used for
higher temperatures. The salts used for these baths are generally chlorides and
fluorides. These baths are very widely used for tempering of high speed steels.They can
be used for temperature range upto 540 oC to 600 oC. From efficiency and economy
points of view salt bath can not be used below 173o.

Module 4. Heat treatment process

Lesson 7 MEATL CUTTING

7.1 Introduction
All metal cutting operations
basically involve forcing a
cutting tool with one or more
cutting edges progressively
through the excess material on
the work piece. The work piece
and the tool are securely held in
a machine tool and its
accessories while power is
supplied to provide relative
motion between the tool and
the work piece. This results in
or surface finish depending upon their use. Since all machining involves considerable
amount of labour, cost and loss of material as chips, machining should never be
overdone to the extent of producing surfaces which are more accurate or better
finished than those required for proper functioning of the product.

7.2 The Machine Tool

Machining is done with the help of power driven non-portable machines known as
machine tools in order to perform its function. The machine tool must incorporate
means for holding the workpiece and the tools and for providing relative motion
between the tool and the workpiece. The form of surface produced in a particular
machine tool depends upon the shape of the cutting tool, the path of the tool as
it traverses through the material or both. If the tool moves past the workpiece in a linear
path as in shaping or vice versa as in planning a straight cut plane surface is produced. On
the other hand, if either the tool (boring) or workpiece (turning) is rotating and the other
unit is travelling in a definite path relative to the axis, a surface of revolution is generated.
Machining operations are named and classified according to the shape of the cutter,
nature of relative movement, shape of the generated surface and the type of finish.

Performance wise a machine tool is expected to satisfy the following requirements:

1.It must have a high efficiency.

2.It must be possible to produce the specified dimensional accuracy, surface

finish and form consistently and preferable independent of operator’s skill.

3.It should have a high enough production rate corresponding to latest

development in technology.

7.2.1 Types of machine tools

Machine tools of different types and sizes have been developed because of variation in
shape of the surface to be machined, size of the workpiece, surface accuracy
desired and quantity required to be produced.

Broadly speaking machine tools may be classified into three major categories:

1. General purpose machine tools.

2. Production machine tools.

3. Special purpose machine tools.

1. General purpose machine tools
General purpose machine tools are machine tools like lathe, drilling machine and
milling machine that are designed to deal with a variety of work and can perform a
reasonably large number of operations within their range. A lathe, for example, can be
used to do turning, knurling, threading or tapering on a job held between
centres, turning, drilling, boring or facing on a job held in a chuck, turning, boring or
facing on a job held on the face plate or boring in work held on the carriage using a
boring bar held in the spindle. It can also be used for milling, grinding ore relieving
with suitable attachments. Similarly a milling machine can be used for plain
milling, slotting, angular cutting, indexing or helical milling operations. General
purpose machine tools are useful in smaller machine shops and repair shops or for
small quantity production.

2. Production Machine Tools

Production machine tools are designed to increase the rate of production and to reduce the
manufacturing costs. Features like multiple spindle heads, multi-tool turrets and
specially designed fixtures are incorporated in these machine tools to reduce the non-
productive time or to combine more than one operation. Typical examples of
this category are capstan and turret lathes, automatic screw machines, multi-
spindle drilling machines and production milling machines. They are used for
medium size production and batch work.

3. Special Purpose Machine Tools

Special purpose machine tools are machines which have been designed for some
specific purpose and perform only one or a limited number of operations. Machines of
this category include cam shaft grinders, gear generators and piston turning
lathes. Special purpose machines, in most cases, perform operations that may be
done on basic machines but for larger quantities they are much more economical than
standard machine tools.

7.3 Cutting Tools

Metal cutting tools may be classified as single-point, double-point or multi-point tools
depending upon the number of active cutting edges on the tool. Tools used on lathe,
shaper or planer have a single cutting edge and are called single-point tools. Drilling
tools have two cutting edges while milling cutters, in general, have more than
two cutting edges. Grinding is a more general form of multi-point cutting in that
the abrasive grains taking part in cutting do not have any fixed geometry or
orientation. As far as their metal cutting action is concerned a double or multi-point
tool behaves just the same way as a combination of so many single-point tools. The
properties of
cutting tools are thus discussed with reference to single point tools of the type used on
lathe for turning.

Fig. 7.1 Twist drill nomenclature

7.4 Tool Materials

In order for a machining operation to proceed at a fast rate
with minimum tool and machining cost the cutting tool
material must satisfy certain basic requirements. The
more important of these requirements are given below:
1. Hot hardness
This represents the capacity of the tool to retain its cutting ability and hardness at the high
temperatures developed at the chip-tool interface. To be effective the tool material
must remain harder than the work material at all temperatures. Hot hardness of the tool
material becomes more significant as the cutting speed is increased or the hardness of the
metal to be machined becomes higher.

2. Wear resistance

The life of a tool is determined by the wear developed on its cutting face due to
motion of the chip and on its flanks due to contact with the machined surface. In order for
the tool to continue to perform its duties satisfactorily it is important that the wear
characteristics of its material relative to that of the work piece are such that excessive tool
wear does not occur during the machining process.

3. Toughness

Toughness is necessary to enable the tool to withstand cutting forces, to absorb shock and
to prevent the chipping of the cutting edge. The tool must not become so hard that it
becomes brittle. Toughness is particularly important for tools like milling cutters
which are subjected to impact loading due to interrupted cutting.

4. Low friction

The co-efficient of friction between the tool material and the chip should be low. This is
important for reducing tool forces, keeping chip-tool interface temperature low,
increasing tool life and improving surface finish.

5. Thermal conductivity

A material with a high thermal conductivity can conduct heat away from the chip tool
interface faster. This results in a lower chip-tool interface temperatures, less interface
welding and longer tool life.

6. Cost
This includes the cost of material, cost of grinding and the cost of replacement when the
tool is worn out. A cheap material that requires frequent stopping of the machine for tool
changing may prove much costlier in the long run compared to the one which has a higher
initial cost but can be operated for a longer time at a higher speed.

The properties of the tool material as outlines above are often contradictory and inter-
dependent. For example, a material that has a good wear resistance will not generally
have high toughness. There is no single tool material that satisfies all the requirements
specified above.

5.Commonly Available Tool Materials and Their Characteristics are Discussed

Below

1. Carbon tool steels

Carbon tool steels contain carbon in amount ranging from 0.90 to 1.20 percent. These
steels are relatively cheap and the tools are relatively easy to make and harden. With
proper heat treatment these steels can attain hardness as much as any of the high speed
alloys but they begin to lose their hardness at around 300oC. Cutting tools of carbon steels
are limited to show speeds and light duty work. Carbon steels are used for
machining soft materials like wood and for hand tools like files and chisels.
2. High speed steels

High speed steels were so named because they could cut at speeds higher than those of
carbon steels. The name is misleading because the speeds at which these materials cut are
actually much lower than those used for many other materials like carbides and stellites
that are now available.

High speed steels have excellent hardenability and can retain their hardness up to
650oC. They are relatively tough and moderately priced. They can be shaped easily. As
such high speed steels are commonly used for drills, reamers; counter bores,
milling cutters and single point tools. One of the oldest and the most common variety of
high speed steels is 18-4-1. It contains 18 percent tungsten, 4 percent chromium, 1 percent
vanadium and about 0.5 to 0.75 percent carbon. It is considered to be one of the best all
purpose tool steels. Many high speed steels use molybdenum to replace tungsten
partially or completely because one part of molybdenum can replace two parts of
tungsten. Molybdenum high speed steels such as 6-6-4-2 containing 6 percent tungsten, 6
percent molybdenum, 4 percent chromium and 2 percent vanadium with about 0.6
percent carbon have excellent toughness and cutting ability.

Cobalt is sometimes added to high speed steels to improve their red-hardness. These super
high speed steels are used for heavy cutting operations involving higher cutting pressures
and temperatures on the tool but are too costly for general purpose work. One
composition of these super high speed steel alloys contains 20 percent tungsten, 4 percent
chromium, 2 percent vanadium, and 12 percent cobalt.

High speed steels have one major disadvantage in that they require lot of care in heat
treatment. Rather complex heat treatment cycles are used to develop the most
favourable properties.
3. Cast non-ferrous alloys
These are alloys containing principally chromium cobalt and tungsten with smaller
percentages of one or more carbide forming elements like tantalum, molybdenum and
boron but no iron. They also contain 1 to 4 percent carbon. A typical alloy of this type
known as stellite contains 30 to 35 percent chromium, 43 to 48 percent cobalt, 17 to 19
percent tungsten and about 2 percent carbon.

Cast non-ferrous alloys are able to maintain good cutting edges up to 900oC.
Compared with high speed steels they can be used at twice the cutting speeds. They have
a good resistance to cratering. They can take a good polish which helps metal from
sticking on the tool face and forming the built-up-edge. They are also corrosion resistant.
But they are brittle, can be machined only by grinding and do not respond to heat
treatment. Intricate tools can only be made by casting and grinding.

4. Carbides
Carbide cutting tool inserts principally consist of tungsten carbide particles held
together by cobalt or nickel as binder. Straight tungsten carbide tools containing about 94
percent tungsten carbide and 6 percent cobalt are used for machining cast iron and most
other materials. They cannot be used for machining steel because the chips tend to stick to
the tool. Tantalum, Titanium carbides are added in steel cutting tungsten carbide
grades in addition to increasing their cobalt content to overcome this difficulty. A
typical analysis of a steel cutting grade may contain 82 percent tungsten carbide, 10
percent titanium carbide and 8 percent cobalt. Such a carbide has very low coefficient of
friction and thus has less tendency for sticking.

Carbide tools are made by powder metallurgy techniques. They have a high initial
cost but can be used at speeds which are two-to-three times those for cast nonferrous
alloys. They can retain their cutting edges up to 1200 oC. They are very hard and have a
high compressive strength but they are brittle and cannot withstand impact loading.
Grinding is difficult and can only be done with silicon carbide or diamond wheels.
Because of these reasons carbide tools are generally used as brazed or throw-away
inserts. Even they have to be rigidly clamped. The need to provide high rotational
speeds and yet assure extreme rigidity has led to considerable improvement in the
design of machine tools used with these inserts.

5. Ceramics
Ceramics, sintered oxides, or cemented oxides are essentially aluminum oxide powder
along with additives of titanium, magnesium or chromium oxide with a binder
processed by powder metallurgy in the form of tool inserts. These inserts are either
clamped into a tool holder or bonded to it. Ceramics are harder than other materials
discussed so far and retain their hardness up to 1100 o C. They have a low coefficient of
friction and a good resistance to cratering. The surface finish produced by ceramics is
comparable with that produced by carbides but ceramics consume about 20 percent lesser
power. The use of ceramic tools is limited only by their brittleness and the lack of rigidity
and speed range on the conventional machine tools.

7.5.6 Diamond
Diamond is the hardest known material and can be used for machining at very high
cutting speeds up to 25 m/s. Because of its high cost diamond is justified only when
machining hard materials which are difficult to cut with other tool materials or for
applications where very high accuracy and surface finish are desired. Diamond is also
brittle, does not conduct heat well and can take only light cuts. Typical applications are
precision boring of holes and machining of highly abrasive materials like fiber
glass. Diamonds are also used for dressing grinding wheels and in finishing operations
like lapping, honing and super finishing. When uses as cutting tools diamonds must be
held very rigidly to avoid shock loading.

6. Cutting Parameters

Cutting speed, Feed and depth of cut:

Cutting speed, feed and depth of cut are the parameters which determined the relative
motion of the tool and work piece in a cutting operation and represent the rate at
which excess material is removed per unit time. A proper selection of these
parameters is essential for efficient machining.

1. Cutting speed

The cutting speed is defined as the surface rate of travel of the cutting edge relative to the
work piece. It is expressed in meters per second. The amount of heat generated at the
chip tool interface during a machining operation and the life of the tool are
directly influenced by the cutting speed.

The speed selected for any operation depends on the work material, cutting tool
material, cutting fluid used and the type of cut. Lower speeds are used for harder
materials and for heavier roughing cuts while finishing cuts in softer materials can be
taken at much higher speeds.

2. Feed

Feed is defined as the rate at which the cutting tool advances along or into the surface of
the work piece. For machines in which either the job or the tool rotates, feed is
expressed in millimeters per revolution of the rotating member. For machines in
which the work piece or tool reciprocates feed is expressed as millimeters per stroke.
Other methods of expressing feed include feed in millimeters per second or
millimeters per tooth of the cutter.

Feed has an important influence on the tool forces and surface finish. Lower feed
values have to be used when machining with higher speeds, harder work pieces, less rigid
machine tools, lesser supply of cutting fluid or a blunt tool.

7.6.3 23xDepth of cut

Depth of cut is the normal distance from the original surface to the surface being
exposed by the tool. It is measured in millimeters. Either tool or work piece may be
moved to give depth of cut depending upon the machine.

It must be pointed out that the direction of feed and depth of cut must be established
carefully with reference to the type of operation. On a lathe for example, the
longitudinal movement of the tool along the length of the bed constitutes feed motion in
plain turning but a depth motion in facing. Similarly the motion at right angles to the bed
axis with the help of cross slide constitutes a depth motion for turning but a feed motion
for facing.

7.7 Cutting Fluids

7.7.1 Functions of the cutting fluid

Cutting fluids are used in metal cutting primarily for two reasons:

1.To reduce friction at the tool work and tool chip contact zones lubricating
action.

2.To dissipate the heat generated during the cutting process – cooling action.

In addition, cutting fluids also help in washing away the chips from the cutting zone and
in lubricating some of the moving parts of the machine.
The lubricating action of the cutting fluids reduces forces, increase tool life, reduces the
tendency to form built-up-edge and improves surface finish. Since in metal cutting the
ratio of real area of contact to the apparent area of contact is very close to unity and
contact pressures are very higher, there is no possibility of fluid film existing
between the surfaces in contact. The lubricating action of the cutting fluid is primarily due
to the formation of a low shear strength film in the metal surface which can be easily
sheared. The formation of such films takes time. Therefore, lubricating action of cutting
fluids is not very predominant for high speed machining operations such as grinding.
Again, the chemical properties of the cutting fluid are more important than
its physical properties. Additives are often added to the fluids to improve their
lubricating properties.

The cooling action of the cutting fluid helps carry away the heat generated during
cutting and hence helps in retaining the strength of the tool. Cooling the work piece also
helps in maintaining the dimensional accuracy by reducing the distortion caused due to
heat. It also makes work handling easier. Amongst all the fluids, water based fluids are
the most efficient for cooling because of their high specific heat and thermal conductivity.
Compared to oils, water based fluids are two to three times faster. But water is likely to
cause corrosion of machine parts. Anti-corrosive additives are mixed with water based
coolants to control this corrosive action.

7.7.2 Types of cutting fluids

The cutting fluids commonly used may be divided into : (i) neat oils (ii) water soluble oils
(iii) synthetic coolants and (iv) gaseous fluids.

(i) Neat oils: Neat oils or straight cutting oils are mineral oils, vegetable oils or
combination of these two. Neat oils can be further divided into straight mineral oils,
compounded oils for E.P. oils. Straight minerals oils without any additives are
suitable only for light loads and hence are used for machining nonferrous
metals like aluminum and magnesium.

(ii)Water soluble oils: Water soluble oils are blends of mineral oils,
emulsifying agents, and coupling agents. For use these oils are mixed with water to
form a water emulsion. Water provides the cooling effect and the oil is used for its
lubricating properties.

(iii)Synthetic coolants: Synthetic coolants are non-petroleum products which

are blended with water in the ratio of 50 to 250 parts of water for each part of the
chemical. They have cooling properties better than soluble oils and are used
chiefly for grinding.

(iv)Gaseous fluids: One of the major problems in cutting fluid application is

the difficulty for the cutting fluid to actually reach the cutting zone during
machining. The effectiveness of the cutting fluid can be considerably increased by
supplying the cutting fluid in the form of a gas. Mist is the most commonly used
gaseous fluid. In a mist cooling system, compressed air is used to atomize the
coolant.

7.7.3 Selection of cutting fluids for different operations

The type of cutting fluid to be used depends upon the work material and the
characteristics of the machining process. No single cutting fluid can be specified as the
best of meet all requirements. The following general guide lines may be used.

a) Effect of work piece material

Cast Iron: Cast iron is generally cut without any cutting fluid. The graphite flakes in the
structure of cast iron help in its easy machining. Sometimes cast iron is also cut with
water soluble oils or using compressed air. The use of compressed air
necessitates and exhaust system to remove the dust caused by blowing of fine iron
particles.

Wrought iron: lard oil or water soluble oil

Steel: 1. Low and medium carbon steels: Water soluble oil

2.High carbon and nickel chromium alloy steel: Heavy duty soluble oils Stainless

steel: Heavy duty soluble oil or neat oil, with chlorine Aluminium: Soluble oil or

kerosene.

Brass, Bronze: Worked dry or with paraffin or lard oil.

Magnesium alloys: Low viscosity inactive fatty mineral oils.

Module 5. Welding

Lesson 8 ELECTRIC ARC WELDING

8.1 Introduction
Welding is process of joining similar metals by application of heat with or without
application of pressure and addition of filler material. Such a welded joint has
continuous homogeneous material of the similar composition and properties of the
parts being joined together. All the engineering branches and metal industries
extensively make use of welding processes in one or other form.
8.1.1 Types of welding

Welding methods may be broadly classified in two general groups.

I. Plastic welding: It is also known as pressure welding. Metal pieces to be

joined are heated to a plastic state and then forged together by external pressure
generally without addition of filter material.

a) Forge welding : heating by a forge

b) Resistance welding : heating by electrical resistance

c) Thermit welding : heating by chemical reaction (without filler metal)

II. Fusion welding : It is also known as non-pressure welding. Material at the

joint along with the filler metal, is heated to a molten state and allowed to
solidified. Filler metal is used.

a) Arc welding : Heating by electrical arc.

b) Gas welding : Heating by gases.

c) Thermit welding : Heating by chemical reaction & with filer metal.

Apart from the above processes,solid state welding, newer welding etc are also the
newly developed welding processes.

8.1.2 Electric arc welding

An electric arc is produced when two current carrying conductors are brought together
and then separated by small distance provided there is sufficient voltage available to
force a flow of current through the air gap. The arc produced is associated with a
bright glow and intense heat throughout its length and may have a temperature of the
order of about 5000oC to 5500oC. An arc is produced between a work piece and
a carbon electrode at a voltage of about 35 to 40 volts and that between a work piece
and a metal electrode at about 15 to 40 volts. Since most of the commercial circuits,
normally operate at much higher voltages it is necessary to use specially designed
equipment for producing arc for welding.

An arc suitable for welding may be struck in any one of the following ways.

1. Between consumable metal electrode and the work piece.

2. Between a non-consumable electrode and the work piece.
3. Between two non-consumable electrodes.
4. Between two work pieces.
An arc between a consumable filler metal electrode and the workpiece is extensively
used in many of the welding processes today. When the arc is of the intense
heat produced, quickly melts the work piece metal under the arc and produces a
molten metal. Simultaneously the end of the electrode melts and the molten metal is
carried by the arc into the metal pool on the workpiece to provide a filler to the
joint. A proper arc length is important for sustaining the arc and producing a good weld.
The processes which use an arc produced between a consumable electrode and the
work piece include metal arc welding.

Gas Metal Arc (GMA), earlier known as Metal Inert Gas (MIG) welding and
Tungsten Inert Gas (TIG) welding using inert gases for the shielding are also widely
used.

Fig. 8.1 Electric arc welding

8.2. Arc Welding Equipment
Arc welding equipment:

1. AC or DC machine 2. Electrode

3. Electrode holder 4. Cables, cable connections

5. Chipping hammer 6. Earthing clamps

7. Wire brush 8. Helmet

9. Safety goggles 10. Hand gloves

8.3 AC or DC Machine
An arc suitable for welding can be either with AC or DC source. The voltage ranges from
15 to 45 volts depending on the welding process. The current for welding may range from
30 to 600 amperes depending on the process and the thickness of material to be welded.

Ordinary electrical loads like heaters and motors work with, steady voltage and
current but the welding arc is highly unsteady in both these parameters. The nature of the
welding process itself results in frequent short circuits.

ADC arc is more stable because of the unidirectional flow of current and finds
specific applications in cast iron and non ferrous welding. AC welding has the
obvious advantage of lower power cost, low equipment cost and easy maintenance
due to the absence of moving parts. AC welding is becoming more and more
common.

Table 8.1 Comparison between AC and DC arc welding

8.4 Electrode
It is filler metal in the form of a wire or rod used as a terminal in an electric current
for the purpose of producing an electric arc. The electrodes are classified as
consumable electrode and non-consumable electrode.A consumable electrode is
similar in composition to the metal being welded and it melts to become a part
of weld.

Anon-consumable electrode may be made of carbon, graphite or tungsten, which do

not consume during the welding operation. When the core of the bare metallic wire is
provided with a covering or coating of some fluxing materials it is known as coated
electrode. The slag forming constituents are silicate;manganese oxide and iron oxide are
used for coating. The advantages are to facilitate the establishment and
maintenance of arc, to protect the molten metal from the oxygen and nitrogen of the
air by producing a shield of gas around the arc and welding pool, to provide the
formation of a slag so as to protect the welding seam from rapid cooling and to
provide a means of introducing alloying elements. The coated electrode may be light
coated or heavy coated. Both bare and coated electrods for hand arc welding are
made up to 12mm in diameter and 450mm long.

8.5 Chipping Hammer

A chipping hammer is used for removing slag and spatter. It is advisable to wear
chipping goggles while using chipping hammer so that particles of slag may not strike the
eyes .

Fig. 8.2 Chipping hammer

6. Wire Brush
Wire brush is a cleaning tool. It is used for removing loose slag,spatter and oxides.

7. Helmet

A helmet is used by the welder for protection of his eyes, face and the throat from
harmful rays of electric arc and from the hot flying particles or spatter.

8. Hand Gloves
For protection of wrist and hands, gloves are worn by the welders.They are made of
leather or asbestos. They should be as flexible as possible.Gloves provide protection
against.

9. Types of Welded Joints

The common joints used in forge welding may be lap joint, butt joint, T joint and V joint.
The relative positions of the two pieces being joined determine the type of
joint.The following are the five basic types of joints commonly used in fusion
welding.

1. Lap joint
This is used to joint two overlapping plates so that the edge of each plate is welded in the
other. The lap joint is obtained by over lapping the plates and then welding the edges
of the plates. These joints are employed on plates having thickness less than 3 mm.

2. Corner joint

It is used to joint two edges of two plates whose surfaces are at right angles to each other.
The corner joint is obtained by joining the edges of two plates whose surfaces are at an
angle of approximately 90 ° to each other. It is used for both light and heavy gauge sheet
metal.In some cases corner joint can be welded, without any filler metal, by melting off
the edges of the parent metal.

3. Butt joint

The butt joint is obtained by welding the ends or edges of the two plates, which are
approximately in the same plane with each other. In butt welds, the plate edges do not
require beveling if the thickness of plate is less than 5 mm. On the other hand, if the plate
thickness is 5 mm to 12.5 mm,the edges should be beveled to V or U-groove and plates
having thickness above12.5 mm should have a V or U-groove on both sides

4. T-joint

The T-joint is obtained by joining two plates whose surfaces are approximately at
right angles to each other. It is widely used to weld stiffeners in aircraft and other thin
walled structures. These joints are suitable up to 3 mm thickness.

5. Edge joint

It consists of joining the edge of parallel plate by means of weld. The edge joint is
obtained by joining two parallel plates. It is economical for plates having thickness
less than 6 mm. This joint is unsuitable for members subjected to direct tension
or bending.
 Fig. 8.3 Types of welded joint
10. Welding Positions

The welding positions are

classified as follows:

11. Flat position (F)

In this position, the filler metal is deposited from the upper side of the joint with the face
of the weld horizontal.

Fig. 8.4 Welding position

8.12 Horizontal Position(H)

In this position, the weld is deposited upon the side of a horizontal and against a verti- cal
surface.
13. Vertical Position(V)

In this position, the line of welding is in a vertical plane and the weld is
deposited upon a vertical surface.

14. Overhead Position(O)

In this position, the weld is deposited from the under side of the joint and the face of the
weld is horizontal. It is the reverse of flat welding.

15. Resistance Welding

In resistance welding the metal parts to be joined are heated to a plastic state over a
limited area by their resistance to the flow of an electric current and mechanical
pressure is used to complete the weld. Here two copper electrodes are incorporated in a
circuit of low resistance and the metals to be welded are pressed between the
electrodes. The circuit is thus completed and electricalresistance at the joint of metal is so
high in comparison with the rest of thecircuit and if the current is heavy enough the
highest temperature will beproduced directly at the joint.

Fig. 8.5 The electric circuit of a resistance welder

Resistance welding which is used with sheet metal from 0.5 to 3.2mm thick and with
steelpipe tubing is employed mainly for mass production. Metals of medium and
highresistance such as steel, stainless steel, monel metal, silicon bronze etc areeasy to
weld. The resistance welding can be subdivided in number of processesbut the
important are :

1) Butt
 2) Spot

3) Seam

4) Projection

5) Percussion welding

Lesson 9 GAS WELDING

1. Introduction

In gas welding the heat required for heating and melting the parent and filler metals is
obtained by the combustion of a fuel gas with oxygen. Fuel gases used in commercial gas
welding practice are acetylene, hydrogen and natural gas.
Acetylene is the most widely used because the temperatures obtained by combustion
of acetylene are much higher than those obtained by combustion of hydrogen or
natural gas. Oxy-hydrogen flame may be used for welding thin sheets of steel and low
temperature melting materials and alloys.

2. Supply of Oxygen and Acetylene

Oxygen is industrially produced by electrolysis of water or by liquidation of air and

separating oxygen. The gas produced is compressed and charged into cylinder with 40
liter capacity to a pressure of about 15.4MPa at 21ºC temperature.
Commercial acetylene is produced by the action of water on calcium carbide. High
pressure storing and distribution of acetylene in cylinder is done by dissolving the gas in
acetone. The steel cylinder used for storing acetylene is first packed with 80%
porous material such as asbestos, or charcoal. Acetylene cylinders contain 1.7 to 9
cubic metres of free acetylene at a pressure of 1.7 MPa and a temperature of 20oC.

3. Oxyacetylene Flame

The oxyacetylene flame, like all other flames, is produced when the two gases meet and
undergo combustion with the evolution of heat and light. With commercially pure
oxygen and acetylene the hottest known flame is produced with an estimated
temperature around 3500 oC.

The flame temperature obtained depends on the relative proportion of the fuel gas and
oxygen drawn in the pure form. Since temperature is not the only requirement in
commercial application of the oxyacetylene flame varying ratios of oxygen and
acetylene have been found suitable for different applications.

Types of flames:
Flames can be classified into three categories:

1.Balanced or neutral flame.

2.Reducing or carburizing flame.
3.Oxidising flame.

Balanced or neutral flame: The balanced or neutral flame is produced by burning a

one-to-one mixture of oxygen and acetylene at the tip of the torch nozzle. This flame is
characterized by a well defined luminous cone gradually rounding off towards the tip.

Fig. 9.1 Neutral flame

The intermediate zone is slightly reducing in nature and cannot be distinguished from the
inner cone and the outside envelope. Welding is done using the flame in this zone. The
envelope is neutral in nature and provides a protective atmosphere around the weld.
The neutral flame is the most generally used flame for all heating and welding
applications.
Oxidizing flame: The oxidizing flame is produced by burning acetylene with excess
oxygen. The inner cone becomes short and pointed. The envelope also is shortened
due to intense oxidation. The envelope is blue and the inner cone has reduced.

Fig. 9.2 Reducing or carburising flame

The intermediate zone contains some free oxygen from the torch. It may also contain
some carbon dioxide and is oxidizing in nature. This flame being the hottest of the
oxyacetylene flames is used where the maximum flame temperature is desired. The
oxidizing flame is used as a preheating flame in many oxyacetylene cutting
operations. It is also used in the fusion welding of nonferrous metals, particularly,
brass and bronze. The intense heat of the flame also takes care of the greater loss of heat
associated with high thermal conductivity of non ferrous metals.
Reducing or carburising flame: This type of flame is obtained by burning an excess
amount of acetylene. It is characterized by a secondary luminous intermediate zone
surrounding the inner cone. The luminous cone is not so well defined as in the
balanced flame. The intermediate or excess acetylene zone is not clearly demarcated from
the outside envelope. The envelope takes on a reddish tinge and may carry some
soot.
 Fig. 9.3 Reducing or carburising flame

The intermediate zone contains free carbon along with carbon monoxide and
hydrogen.

It is reducing as well as carburizing in nature. If too much of acetylene in proportion to

oxygen is supplied by the torch the envelope may also carry some carbon. The
reducing flame finds applications where the highly reducing nature of the flame is
conductive to welding as well as in cases where the carburizing nature offers an
advantage.

It is used in the welding of metals like nickel, alloy steels and many of the non-ferrous
hard surface materials. The carburizing nature of the flame is taken advantage of in the
welding of low carbon steels to increase the rate of welding.

9.4 Flame Temperature

Temperature is one of the important characteristics of the flame. Higher the

temperature more efficient is the heating and melting of the metal. The temperature of the
flame is not constant. It varies along and across the flame and depends on the
composition of the flame.
Welding is done using the flame in this zone. It decides the nature of the flame-
reducing, carburizing or oxidizing. The flame temperature depends on the oxygen to
acetylene ratio and increases with increase in this ratio upto a certain point. The
limiting values are 1.2 to 1.9 with corresponding temperatures of 3300 to 35000C. The
maximum temperature obtained in a reducing flame is about 29000C, that in a neutral
flame about 32500C and for an oxidizing flame about 35000C.
9.5 Oxy-Acetylene Welding Equipment

Majority of the oxy-acetylene welding is done manually. The commonly used oxy-
acetylene welding set up consists of a welding torch with a set of tips, hoses, pressure
regulators, cylinders containing oxygen and acetylene under pressure and accessories such
as goggles, friction lighter and gloves. The basic set up is mounted on a trolley making it
portable so that it can be readily taken to the job site.

Fig. 9.4 Oxy-acetylene welding set

9.6 Welding Torch

The oxyacetylene welding torch is a device used for mixing the two gases in
proportions, burning the mixture at the end of the tip and moving and directing the
flame. The torch has a handle at one end of which are the inlet connections for the
gases and valves for controlling the quantity of the gases. At the other end of the
handle are the mixing chamber followed by the tip. The oxyacetylene flame is
produced by lighting the mixture at torch tip.

Welding torch tips are made of a nonferrous metal such as copper because of its high
thermal conductivity. High thermal conductivity of the tip material permits the tips to run
cool and reduces the danger of their burning at high temperatures. Larger tip sizes, which
release more gas mixture and produce more heat are used for welding thicker pieces of
metal.

7. Pressure Regulators

The functions of pressure regulators are to reduce the high cylinder pressure to
the desired working pressure, and to maintain a constant working pressure and volumetric
rate of gas flow regardless of the gas source pressure variations.

Two pressure gauges are provided on the regulator, one to read the cylinder pressure and
the other to read the pressure at which the gas is delivered to the torch. The
desired working pressure is adjusted by a hand screw. When this screw is turned
counter clock-wise till it runs free the valve in the regulator is closed and no gas can pass
through. When the hand screw is turned clockwise the valve in the regulator opens
and the gas passes through to the torch. The desired pressure is set by turning the screw
handle till the pressure gauge reads this pressure.

8. Hoses

Hoses used for gas welding torches should be strong, non-porous, flexible and light.
Reinforced rubber hoses specially made for the purpose are employed. Care should be
taken to see that the hoses are not interchanged.
Colour code and safety.

Green or black colour is used for oxygen cylinders, hose and knobs on torches and
maroon or red for acetylene cylinder, hoses, and knobs. All oxygen connections have
right hand threads and acetylene connections left hand threads. This is done for proper
identification and to avoid possible mistake in connections which may lead to
dangerous consequences.
9. Welding rods

The properties and composition of a weld should match those of the base metal
closely. For this reason different types of welding rods have been developed for
welding of various ferrous and non ferrous metals.

The molten filler metal must flow smoothly and freely and unite with the base metal to
produce sound, clean welds. Welding rods for ferrous metals are designed for
producing welds of high tensile strength and ductility. Some of the rods are alloyed with
silicon, manganese, nickel, chromium, vanadium, molybdenum and other metals to suit
different welding requirements. Stainless steel is welded with rods containing chromium,
nickel and titanium, molybdenum or niobium.

Welding rods are produced in a variety of diameter sizes ranging from 1.5.mm to 10 mm
and in standard length of about 1 meter.

10. Oxyacetylene Welding Techniques

In oxyacetylene welding, the weld is started by preheating the base metal and
producing a small puddle of molten metal.

In forehand welding the rod leads the torch in the direction of welding and the flame is
directed forward in the direction in which weld is progressing. This technique
produces good looking neat welds and is used for welding thin metal sheets up to 4 mm
thick. Forehand welding as defined for a right hander with torch in right hand and filler
rod in the left hand is leftwards and is also called leftward or forward welding.

In the backhand welding the torch leads the rod in the direction of travel and the flame is
directed back at the molten metal puddle and the completed weld. This is a great help
while welding in position like vertical or overhead where the molten metal
otherwise may easily flow out of the weld. More heat is concentrated at the weld zone
making the process suitable for welding of thicker work pieces. For a right hander
backhand welding proceeds rightwards and hence is also called rightward or
backward welding. Backward welding is used in pipe and plate welding.

Related Process

11. Oxygen Cutting

Oxygen cutting is a process of controlled oxidation of ferrous metal. It is used
extensively for cutting large metal pieces in the fabrication industry. For plain carbon
steels the kindling or ignition temperature ranges from 750 to 8500C. This
corresponds to a bright red colour in day light. If a starting spot, normally at the edge of
the piece, is heated to the kindling temperature and a jet of commercially pure
oxygen is directed at the spot a very active chemical reaction results leading to
oxidization or burning of steel. The iron oxide formed is very brittle and a narrow slot
with uniformly smooth parallel walls is formed along the path of the jet. With skilled
workmanship and mechanically guided cutting torches deep cuts with close tolerances and
alignment can be made.

12. Gas Cutting Equipment

Gas cutting equipment is similar to the gas welding equipment except for the torch
and the specially designed cutting oxygen regulator. The cutting torch heats the steel to
kindling temperature with a number of small preheating oxyacetylene flames. These
surround the central hole for the stream of oxygen which will do the cutting. Cutting
oxygen pressure regulators are specially designed to deliver oxygen in large volumes and
at higher pressure. They are fitted with working pressure gauges with a range up to 300
KPa. Cutting torches may be operated by hand or by machine. Machine operated
oxygen cutting torches are manipulated mechanically, but the basic elements remain
unchanged.

13. Soldering

Soldering is a process in which two or more metal items are joined together by
melting and flowing a filler metal into the joint, the filler metal having a relatively
low melting point than the melting point of metals to be joined.

a)Soft soldering is characterized by the melting point of the filler metal, which is
below 400 °C. The filler metal used in the process is called solder , is an alloy of tin and
lead. It is used extensively in sheet metal work for joining parts that not exposed to the
action of high temperatures and are not subjected to excessive loads and forces. A
suitable flux to prevent oxidation of the surfaces to be soldered is used. Zinc
chloride is the most common soldering flux.
b)Hard soldering employs solders which melts at high temperatures and are stringer
than the soft soldering. The temperature of various hard solders vary f rom 600 to
900°C. When silver alloyed with tin is used as solder to join the parts, it is
known hard soldering.
A soldering iron is a device for applying heat to melt solder for attaching two metal
parts. A soldering iron is composed of a heated metal tip and an insulated handle.
Heating is often achieved electrically, by passing a current, supplied through an
electrical cord or a battery, through a heating element. Another heating method
includes combustion of a suitable gas, which can either be delivered through a tank
mounted on the iron (flameless), or through an external flame.

Fig. 9.5 Soldering

Advantages of
soldering
• Low power is required;
• Low process temperature;
•No distortions and residual stresses in
thermal
the

joint
• Microstructure is not affected by heat;
• Easily automated process
;
• Dissimilar materials may be joined;
• High variety of materials may bebe joined;
•• Moderate skill
Thin wall of the operator is required.
parts may joined;
c) Brazing
The joining of two metal pieces by means of heat and a special filler metal having a
melting point above 400ºC but lower than the melting point of the parts of be joined, is
called brazing. The copper base and silver alloys are commonly used as filler metals for
brazing. In brazing, the two metal pieces to be joined are, first of all, cleaned to remove
all grease and oxide. The parts are fitted together along the line of joint and held in
that position by some clamp. Borax is widely used flux. Many other proprietary
brands are also available. The filler metal used for brazing is known as spelter.
The actual heating may be done in different ways and accordingly the brazing methods
are classified as torch brazing, furnace brazing, resistance brazing, immersion
brazing etc.

Lesson 10 INTRODUCTION TO LATHE MACHINE

1. Introduction
The main function of a lathe is to remove metal
from a piece of work to give it the required shape and
size.This is accomplished by holding the work securely and
rigidly on the machine and then turning it against a
cutting tool which will remove metal from the work in the
form of chips.

2. Types of Lathes
1. Speed lathe 5. Tool room lathe

2. Engine lathe 6. Special purpose lathe

3. Bench lathe 7. NC and CNC lathe

4. Production lathe (Automatic lathe, capstan and turret lathe)

1. Speed lathe

A speed lathe derives its name from the fact that very high spindle speeds are used in this
machine. This is the simplest of all lathes.

It consists of a bed supported on legs, a head stock, a tail stock and an adjustable slide for
supporting the tool. There is no feed box, carriage or lead screw.

The workplace is held between centres or attached to the face plate.It may be driven from
a variable speed motor. The tool is fed and controlled by hand while being
supported on the tool slide.

The speed lathe is used principally for turning of wood for small cabinet work.

2. Engine lathe
Engine lathe is the most important member of the lathe family and the most
commonly used. This lathe differs from a speed lathe in that a much larger number of
speed steps are available on this machine.

The power to the engine lathe spindle may be given with the help of a belt drive from an
overhead line shaft but most modern machines have a captive motor with either a cone
pulley drive or an all geared head stock arrangement. The work piece may be
supported between centres. The tools are held generally in the tool post on the
carriage but sometimes in the tail stock.

3. Bench lathe
It is a small lathe that is mounted on a work bench. It is used for small work pieces
having a maximum swing of 250 mm at the face plate. Lathes of this type are used for
precision work on small parts for instrument making.

4. Production lathe
Production lathes are machines designed to produce large number of duplicate parts
faster and with less skill and labour. They employ faster work holding devices and
may have two or more tools operating simultaneously. The supervision is simplified and
much less skill is needed except for setting the machine. These machines may also
be made partially or fully automatic with the operator being needed only for
loading the bar stock and removing the finished workpieces. Depending upon the
complexity, production lathes may be divided into automatic lathes, capstan and turret
lathes.

10.3 Lathe Construction

The machine essentially consists of the following major units:

1. Bed
2. Head stock
3. Tall stock
4. Carriage assembly

Fig. 10.1 A geared-head lathe

10.3.1 Bed
The bed of the lathe forms the base of the machine. It is supported on two legs at a
convenient height. It carries the head stock and the tail stock for supporting the work
and provides a base for the movement of the carriage assembly which carries the tool.

To ensure accurate machining work it is necessary that the bed has enough rigidly and
torsional stiffness to withstand the action of cutting forces.
The bed of the lathe is sometimes made with a small gap in front of the head stock to
accommodate short jobs which need a swing larger than that available on the rest of the
bed.

2. Head stock
The head stock houses the spindle and the means for supporting and rotating the
spindle. It is rigidly fixed on the bed. The spindle which is made of steel is
made hollow so that long bars which are being machined at the end may pass through
it. The right hand end of the spindle which projects out of the head stock body
has a threaded outside and a tapered bore. For turning between centres a carrier plate may
be mounted on the threaded end. In larger lathes instead of the threaded end, a flange is
provided over which the dog plate, chuck or face plate as the case may be, are
located and bolted. The tapered end and the hollow spindle also permit mounting of a
draw-in collect chuck when designed.

3. Tail stock

The tail stock is for the purpose of primarily giving an outer bearing, support for work
being turned on centres. It can be adjusted for alignment or non-alignment with
respect to the spindle centre and carries a centre called dead centre for supporting one end
of the work. Both live and dead centres have 60 conical points to fit centre holes in the
work, the other end tapering to allow for good fitting into the spindles. Now-a- days, the
dead centre is mounted in ball bearing so that it rotates with the job avoiding friction of
the job with dead centre. This is specially necessary with heavy jobs.

4. Carriage Assembly

The carriage assembly of the lathe comprises of a number of components which

support, move and control the tool. The carriage assembly consists of a saddle, cross slide,
compound rest, top slide, tool post and apron. Movement of the entire carriage assembly
along the bed provides feed for the tool parallel to the lathe axis: movement of the cross
slide along its guides on the saddle provides feed of the tool across the lathe axis and the
movement of the top slide along its guide over the compound rest provides motion to the
tool along a direction set by the compound rest. The movement of the carriage and cross
slide may be by hand or by power but the movement of top slide is only by hand.
Fig. 10.2 Carriage assembly
10.3.5 Lathe accessories

Lathe accessories include centres, catch plates and carriers,

chucks, face plates, angle plates,mandrels, and rests. They
are used either for holding and supporting the work or for
holding the tool.

Lathe centres: The most common method of holding the

work in a lathe is between the two centres –live centre and
dead centre. They are made of very hard materials to resist
deflection and wear.

Carriers and catch plates: Carriers and catch plates are

used to drive a work piece when it is held between two
centres.
Chucks: A chuck is one of the most important devices for holding and rotating a piece of
work in a lathe. Work pieces of short length, and large diameter or of irregular
shape which cannot be conveniently mounted between centres are held quickly and
rigidly in a chuck.

The different types of chucks are :

(1) Four jaw independent chuck 4. Magnetic chuck

(2) Three jaw universal chuck 5 Drill chuck

(3) Combination chuck

4. Lathe operations
With suitable attachments and modifications a lathe can be made to perform any
machining operation done on a number of general purpose machines. Operations
commonly performed on a lathe include turning, facing, form turning, grooving,
drilling,boring, knurling, taper turning and thread cutting.

1. Turning

Turning is the operation in which a cylindrical surface is produced. The work piece is
supported between centres or in any other work holding device, and rotated at the
desired speed. The tool is first given a depth of cut by using the cross slide motion of the
carriage and then given an axial feed by hand or power. Which can be made to overlap
to produce a cylindrical surface on the work piece by adjusting the feed and having a
large nose radius. Repeated cuts may be necessary to obtain a desired reduction of
size. A final finishing cut may be given to the work piece with low depth of cut and feed
but high speed to attain the desired degree of surface finish.

2. Facing
Facing is an operation used to produce a flat surface at right angles to the rotational axis
of the job. In this case tool is fed at right angles to the job while the depth of cut is
provided by the axial motion of the carriage. The job may be held in a chuck or
between centres. In this centre about half of the front cone is removed to give access to
the tool.

3. Drilling
The work piece is held in a chuck or on a face plate and the drill is held in the tail stock
quill or in a drill chuck held in the quill. The taper in the quill ensures that the axis of the
drill is concentric with the rotational axis of the spindle. Feeding is done by
movement of the tail stock quill. Reamers, counter bores and other cutting tools may also
be used similarly in place of drill.

Fig. 10.3 Drilling operation

10.4.4 Boring

Boring is the process of enlarging a hole produced by

drilling, casting, punching or forging with the help of a
single point tool. Boring cannot originate a hole.In boring
the job is held in a chuck or face plate and a boring tool
held on the tool post are fed into it. The operation is similar
to external turning in that the feed and depth of cut are
given by the longitudinal and cross motions of the tool
respectively. Since the enlarged hole is being generated
with a motion of the work piece about an axial
motion of the tool.
 Fig. 10.4 Boring operation
10.4.5 Knurling
Knurling is the process of embossing a diamond shaped pattern on the cylindrical
surface of a work piece. Knurling is done on the work piece so that it does not slip when
held and operated by hand. The work piece is supported in the chuck but since quite
heavy forces are involved in the knurling process an additional support is generally
provided at the free end with the tail stock centre. Knurling is done with two serrated
hardened steel rollers pressing into the work piece. (Fig. 10.5)

The roller serrations are at 45 degrees to the horizontal but 90degrees to each other so that
a diamond shaped pattern is produced by amechanical working process. No
cutting is involved in the knurling process. Acomplete knurling tool head consists of three
pairs of knurling rollers withdifferent depth and spacing of serrations to give fine,
medium and coarse knurling.

10.4.6 Taper turning

Taper turning isthe process of producing external and internal conical surfaces by
combiningthe rotation of the job and the relative angular feed of the tool. Tapers
areused on many tools and machine components for alignment and for easy holding.
Suchas the shank of twist drills, end mills and reamers, spindles of lathe anddrilling
machine.

Thread cutting

Difficult forms ofthreads can be cut on a lathe by making certain adjustments and/or
proving someattachments for the purpose.

Fig. 10.6 Lathe operation

 Lesson 11 INTRODUCTION TO DRILLING
MACHINE
11.1 Introduction

The drilling machine is one of the most important

machine tools in a workshop. As regards its importance, it is second
only to the lathe. In a drilling machine holes can be drilled quickly and
at low cost. The hole is generated by the rotating edges of a cutting tool
known as the drill which exerts large force on the work clamped on the
table. As the machine tool exerts a vertical pressure to originate a hole
it is loosely called a drill press. Drilling machines are made in many
types and sizes, each is designed to handle a class of work or specific
jobs to the best advantage.

1. Portable drilling machine Types of drilling machines :

2. Sensitive drilling machine
3. Upright drilling machine
4. Radial drilling machine
5. Gang drilling machine
6. Multiple spindle drilling machine
7. Automatic drilling machine
8. Deep hole drilling machine
11.2 Sensitive Drilling Machine

It is a small machine designed for drilling small holes at high speeds in light jobs. It may
be bench or floor mounted. It consists of a base, a vertical column, horizontal
table, a head supporting the motor and driving mechanism and a vertical spindle for
driving and rotating the drill.Total drilling operation is manually controlled.
The machine is capable of drilling holes from 1.5 to 15mm diameter.