MARKING OUT

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 MARKING OUT
Marking out is the scratching of lines on the Surface of a
workpiece, known as scribing, and is usually carried out only
on a single workpiece or a small number of workpieces. The two
main purposes of marking out are:
to indicate the workpiece outline or the position of holes, slots,
etc.
to provide a guide to setting up the workpiece on a machine.
The workpiece is set up relative to the marking out and is then
machined.

It is important to note that the scribed lines are only a guide, and
any accurate dimension must be finally checked by measuring.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 DATUM
• The function of a datum is
to establish a reference
position from which all
dimensions are taken and
hence all measurements are
made.
• The datum may be a point,
an edge or a centre line,
depending on the shape of
the workpiece. For any plane
surface, two datums are
required to position a point and
these are usually at right angles
to each other.
SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3
 CO-ORDINATES
The draughtsman can dimension drawings in one of two
ways.
• Cartesian or rectangular co-ordinates – where the
dimensions are taken relative to the datums at right
angles to each other, i.e. the general pattern is
rectangular. This is the method shown in Figs 3.2 and
3.4. The possibility of error is less with rectangular co-
ordinates.
• Polar co-ordinates – where the dimension is
measured along a radial line from the datum. This is
shown in Fig. 3.1Polar co-ordinates – where the
dimension is measured along a radial line from the
SHOP datum. This is shown in Fig. 3.1
MARKING OUT Week No 3
 SURFACE TABLE & SURFACE
PLATE
• In order to establish a datum from which
all measurements are made a reference
surface is required. This reference
surface takes the form of a large flat
surface called a surface table (Fig.
3.6) upon which the measuring
equipment is used.
• Surface plates (Fig. 3.7) are smaller
reference surfaces and are placed on a
bench for use with smaller workpieces.
For general use, both surface tables and
surface plates are made from cast iron
machined to various grades of accuracy.
SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3
 PARALLELS
• The workpiece can be set on parallels to raise it off the
reference surface and still maintain parallelism.
Parallels are made in pairs to precisely the same
dimensions, from hardened steel, finish ground, with
their opposite faces parallel and adjacent faces square.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 JACKS AND WEDGES
• When a forging or casting has to be
marked out, which has an uneven surface
or is awkward in shape, it is still essential
to maintain the datum relative to the
reference surface. Uneven surfaces can be
prevented from rocking and kept on a
parallel plane by slipping in thin steel or
wooden wedges (Fig. 3.8) at appropriate
positions.
• Awkward shapes can be kept in the correct
position by support from adjustable jacks.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 ANGLE PLATE
• When the workpiece has to be positioned
at 90° to the reference surface, it can be
clamped to an angle plate (Fig. 3.10).
Angle plates are usually made from cast
iron and the edges and faces are
accurately machined flat, square and
parallel.
• Slots are provided in the faces for easy
clamping of the workpiece. Angle plates
may be plain or adjustable.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 VEE BLOCKS
• Holding circular work for marking
out or machining can be simplified
by using a vee block. The larger sizes
are made from cast iron, the smaller
sizes from steel hardened and ground,
and provided with a clamp.
• They are supplied in pairs marked for
identification.
• The faces are machined to a high
degree of accuracy of flatness,
squareness, and parallelism, and the
90° vee is central with respect to the
side faces and parallel to the base and
side faces.
SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3
 ENGINEER’S SQUARE

• An engineer’s square is used when setting

the workpiece square to the reference
surface or when scribing lines square to
the datum edge.
• The square consists of a stock and blade
made from hardened steel and ground on
all faces and edges to give a high

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 COMBINATION SETS

• The combination set consists of a

graduated hardened steel rule on which
any of three separate heads – protractor,
square or centre head – can be mounted.
• The rule has a slot in which each head
slides and can be locked at any position
along its length.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 PROTRACTOR HEAD

• This head is graduated from 0° to

180°, is adjustable through this
range, and is used when scribing
lines at an angle to a workpiece
datum.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 SQUARE HEAD
• This head is used in the same
way as an engineer’s square,
but, because the rule is
adjustable, it is not as accurate.
A second face is provided at 45°
• A spirit level is incorporated
which is useful when setting
workpieces such as castings
level with the reference surface.
• Turned on end, this head can
also be used as a depth gauge

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 CENTER HEAD
• With this head the blade passes through the centre of the
vee and is used to mark out the centre of a circular
workpiece or round bar.

SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3

 MARKING DYE AND SCRIBER
• On surfaces of metal other than bright
metals, scribed lines may not be clearly
visible. In such cases the surface can
be brushed or sprayed with a quick
drying coloured dye before marking
out.
• This provides a good contrast, making
the scribed lines easy to see.
• The scriber is used to scribe all
lines on a metal surface and is
made from hardened and tempered
steel, ground to a fine point which
should always be kept sharp to give
well-defined lines.
SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3
 CENTER PUNCH
• The centre punch is used to provide
a centre location for dividers and
trammels when scribing circles or
arcs, or to show permanently the
position of a scribed line by a row
of centre dots.
• The centre dot is also used as a start for
small diameter drills.
• Centre punches are made from high
carbon steel, hardened and
tempered with the point ground at
30° when used to provide a centre
location for dividers and at 90° for other
purposes.
SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3
 CLAMPS
• Clamps are used when the workpiece
has to be securely fixed to another
piece of equipment, e.g. to the face of an
angle plate.
• The type most used are toolmaker’s
clamps, which are adjustable within a
range of about 100 mm but will only clamp
parallel surfaces.
• Greater thicknesses can be clamped using
‘G’ clamps, so named because of their
shape. Due to the swivel pad on the end of
the clamping screw, the ‘G ’ clamp is also
capable of clamping surfaces which are not
parallel.
SHOP MARKING OUT Week No 3