Hand Tools
HAND TOOLS The most casual observation reveals the fact that tools admit of certain broad classifications. It is apparent that by far the larger number owe their value to their capacity for cutting or removing portions of material by an incisive or wedge-like action, leaving a smooth surface behind. An analysis of the essential methods of operation gives a broad grouping as follows:
I. The chisel group . . Typified by the chisel of the woodworker.
II. The shearing group . scissors.
III. The scrapers . . cabinet-maker's
scrape.
IV. The Percussive and Destructive group
V. The moulding group . trowel.
The first three are generally all regarded as cutting tools, notwithstanding that those in II. and III. do not operate as wedges, and therefore are not true chisels. But many occupy a border-line where the results obtained are practically those due to cutting, as in some of the shears, saws, milling cutters, files and grinding wheels, where, if the action is not directly wedge-like, it is certainly more or less incisive in character.
Cutting Tools. The cutting edge of a tool is the practical outcome of several conditions. Keenness of edge, equivalent to a small degree of angle between the tool faces, would appear at first sight to be the prime element in cutting, as indeed it is in the case of a razor, or in that of a chisel for soft wood. But that is not the prime condition in a tool for cutting iron or steel. Strength is of far greater importance, and to it some keenness of edge must be sacrificed. All cutting tools are wedges; but a razor or a chisel edge, included between angles of 15 or 20, would be turned over at once if presented to iron or steel, for which angles of from 60 to 75 are required. Further, much greater rigidity in the latter, to resist spring and fracture, is necessary than in the former, because the resistance to cutting is much greater. A workman can operate a turning tool by hand, even on heavy pieces of metal-work. Formerly all turning, no matter how large, was done by hand-operated tools, and after great muscular exertion a few pounds of metal might be removed in an hour. But coerce a similarly formed tool in a rigid guide or rest, and drive it by the power of ten or twenty men, and it becomes possible to remove say a hundredweight of chips in an hour. Or, increase the size of the tool and its capacity for endurance, and drive by the power of 40 or 60 horses, and half a ton of chips may be removed in an hour.
All machine tools of which the chisel is the type operate by cutting ; that is, they act on the same principle and by the same essential method as the knife, razor or chisel, and not by that of the grindstone. A single tool, however, may act as a cutting instrument at one time and as a scrape at another. The butcher's knife will afford a familiar illustration. It is used as a cutting tool when severing a steak, but it becomes a scrape when used to clean the block. The difference is not therefore due to the form of the knife, but to the method of its application, a distinction which holds good in reference to the tools used by engineers. There is a very old hand too} once much used in the engineer's turnery, termed a graver." This was employed for cutting and for scraping indiscriminately, simply by varying the angle of its presentation. At that time the question of the best cutting angles was seldom raised or discussed, because the manipulative instinct of the turner settled it as the work proceeded, and as the material operated on varied in texture and degree of hardness. But since the use of the slide rest holding tools rigidly fixed has become general, the question of the most suitable tool formation has been the subject of much experiment and discussion. The almost unconscious experimenting which goes on every day in every workshop in the world proves that there may be a difference of several degrees of angle in tools doing similar work, without having any appreciable effect upon results. So long as certain broad principles and reasonable limits are observed, that is sufficient for practical purposes.
Clearly, in order that a tool shall cut, it must possess an incisive form. In fig. I, A might be thrust over the surface of the plate of metal, but no cutting action could take place. It would simply grind and polish the surface. If it were formed like B, the grinding action would give place to scraping, by which some material would be removed. Many tools are formed thus, but there is still no incisive or knife-like action, and the tool is simply a scrape and not a cutting tool. But C is a cutting tool, possessing penetrative capacity. If now B were tilted backwards as at D, it would at once become a cutting tool. But its bevelled face would rub and grind on the surface of the work, producing friction and heat, and interfering with the penetrative action of the cutting edge. On the other hand, if C were tilted forwards as at E its action would approximate to that of a scrape for the time being. But the high angle of the hinder bevelled face would not afford adequate support to the cutting edge, and the latter would therefore become worn off almost instantly, precisely as that of a razor or wood-working chise! would crumble away if operated on hard metal. It is obvious FIG. i.
A, Tool which would burnish F, G, H, Presentations of tools only. for planing, turning and B, Scrape. boring respectively.
C, Cutting tool. J, K, L, Approximate angles of D and E, Scraping and cutting tools; a, clearance angle, or tools improperly presented. bottom rake ; b, front or top rake; c, tool angle.
therefore that the correct forirt for a cutting tool must depend upon a due balance being maintained between the angle of the front and of the bottom faces " front " or " top rake," and "bottom rake " or " clearance " considered in regard to their method of presentation to the work. Since, too, all tools used in machines are held rigidly in one position, differing in this respect from handoperated tools, it follows that a constant angle should be given to instruments which are used for operating on a given kind of metal or alloy. It does not matter whether a tool is driven in a lathe, or a planing machine, or a sharper or a slotter; whether it is cutting on external or internal surfaces, it is always maintained in a direction perpendicularly to the point of application as in fig. I, F, G, H, planing, turning and boring respectively. It is consistent with reason and with fact that the softer and more fibrous the metal, the keener must be the formation of the tool, and that, conversely, the harder and more crystalline the metal the more obtuse must be the cutting angles, as in the extremes of the razor and the tools for cutting iron and steel already instanced. The three figures J, K, L show tools suitably formed, for wrought iron and mild steel, for cast iron and cast steel, and for brass respectively. Cast iron and cast steel could not be cut properly with the first, nor wrought iron and fibrous steel with the second, nor either with the third. The angles given are those which accord best with general practice, but they are not constant, being varied by conditions, especially by lubrication and rigidity of fastenings. The profiles of the first and second tools are given mainly with the view of having material for grinding away, without the need for frequent reforgmg. But there are many tools which are formed quite differently when used in tool-holders and in turrets, though the same essential principles of angle are observed.
The angle of clearance, or relief, a, in fig. I, is an important detail of a cutting tool. It is of greater importance than an exact angle of top rake. But, given some sufficient angle of clearance, its exact amount is not of much moment. Neither need it be uniform for a given cutting edge. It may vary from say 3 to 10, or even 20, and under good conditions little or no practical differences will result. Actually it need never vary much from 5 to 7. The object in giving a clearance angle is simply to prevent friction between the non-cutting face immediately adjacent to the edge and the surface of the work. The limit to this clearance is that at which insufficient support is afforded to the cutting edge. These are the two facts, which if fulfilled permit of a considerable range in clearance angle. The softer the metal being cut the greater can be the clearance; the harder the material the less clearance is permissible because the edge requires greater support.
The front, or top rake, b in fig. I, is the angle or slope of the front, or top face, of the tool; it is varied mainly according as materials are crystalline or fibrous. In the turnings and cuttings taken off the more crystalline metals and alloys, the broken appearance of the chips is distinguished from the shavings removed from the fibrous materials. This is a feature which always distinguishes cast iron and unannealed cast steel from mild steel, high carbon steel from that low in carbon, and cast iron from wrought iron. It indicates too that extra work is put on the tool in breaking up the chips, following immediately on their severance, and when the comminutions are very small they indicate insufficient top rake. This is a result that turners try to avoid when possible, or at least to minimize. Now the greater the slope of the top rake the more easily will the cuttings come away, with the minimum of break in the crystalline materials and absolutely unbroken over lengths of many feet in the fibrous ones. The breaking up, or the continuity of the cuttings, therefore affords an indication of the suitability of the amount of top rake to its work. But compromise often has to be made between the ideal and the actual. The amount of top rake has to be limited in the harder metals and alloys in order to secure a strong tool angle, without which tools would lack the endurance required to sustain them through several hours without regrinding.
The too/ angle, c, is the angle included between top and bottom faces, and its amount, or thickness expressed in degrees, is a measure of the strength and endurance of any tool. At extremes it varies from about 15 to 85. It is traceable in all kinds of tools, having very diverse forms. It is difficult to place some groups in the cutting category; they are on the border-line between cutting and scraping instruments.
Typical Tools. A bare enumeration of the diverse forms in which tools of the chisel type occur is not even possible here. The grouped illustrations (figs. 2 to 6) show some of the types, but it will be understood that each is varied in dimensions, angles and outlines to suit all the varied kinds of metals and alloys and conditions of operation. For, as every tool has to be gripped in a holder of some kind, as a slide-rest, tool-box, turret, tool-holder, box, cross-slide, etc., this often determines the choice of some one form in preference to another. A broad division is that into roughing and finishing FIG. 2. Metal-turning Tools.
A , Shape of tool used for scrap- E, Diamond or angular-edge tool ing brass. for cutting all metals.
B, Straightforward tool for turn- F, Plan of finishing tool.
ing all metals. G, Spring tool for finishing.
C, Right- and left-hand tools for H, Side or knife tool.
all metals. J, Parting or cutting-off tool.
D, A better form of same. K, L, Round-nose tools.
M, Radius tool.
FIG. 3. Group of Planer Tools.
Planer type of tool, cranked E, Parting or cutting-off or grooving tool.
F, V tool for grooves.
G, Right- and left-hand tools for V-slots.
H , Ditto for T-slots. /, Radius tool held in holder.
to avoid digging into the metaj.
B, Face view of roughing tool.
C, Face view of finishing tool.
D, Right- and left-hand knife or side tools.
tools. Generally though not invariably the edge of the first is narrow, of the second broad, corresponding with the deep cutting and fine traverse of the first and the shallow cutting and broad FIG. 4. Group of Slotter Tools.
A, Common roughing tool. B, Parting-off or grooving tool. C, Roughing or finishing tool in a holder. D, Double-edged tool for cutting opposite sides of a slot.
FIG. 5. Group of Tool-holders.
A, Smith & Coventry swivelling holder. B, Holder for square steel. C, D, right- and left-hand forms of same. E, Holder for round steel. F, Holder for narrow parting-off tool.
traverse of the second. The following are some of the principal forms. The round-nosed roughing tool (fig. 2) B is of straightforward type, used for turning, planing and shaping. As the correct tool angle can only occur on the middle plane of the tool, it is usual to employ cranked tools, C, D, E, right- and left-handed, for heavy and moderately heavy duty, the direction of the cranking corresponding with that in which the tool is required to traverse. Tools for boring are cranked and many for planing (fig. 3). The slotting tools (fig. 4) embody the same principle, but their shanks are in line with the direction of cutting. Many roughing and finishing tools are of knife type H. Finishing tools have broad edges, F, G, H. They occur in straightforward and right- and left-hand types. These as a rule remove less than FIG. 6. Group of Chisels.
A, Paring chisel.
B, Socket chisel for heavy duty.
C, Common chipping chisel.
in. in depth, while the roughing tools may cut an inch or D, Narrow cross-cut or cape chisel, more into the metal. But the E, Cow-mouth chisel, or gouge. traverse of the first often exceeds F, Straight chisel or sett. C, Hollow chisel or sett.
an inch, while in that of the second J in. is a yery coarse amount of feed. Spring tools, G, used less now than formerly, are only of value for imparting a smooth finish to a surface. They are finishing tools only. Some spring tools are formed with considerable top rake, but generally they act by scraping only.
Solid Tools v. Tool-holders. It will be observed that the foregoing are solid tools ; that is, the cutting portion is forged from a solid bar of steel. This is costly when the best tool steel is used, hence large numbers of tools comprise points only, which are gripped in permanent holders in which they interchange. _ Tool^ steel usually ranges from about J in. to 4 in. square; most engineers' work is done with bars of from J in. to li in. square. It is in the smaller and medium sizes of tools that holders prove of most value. Solid tools, varying from 2\ in. to 4 in. square, a,re used for the heaviest cutting done in the planing machine. Tool-holders are not employed for very heavy work, because the heat generated would not get away fast enough from small tool points. There are scores of holders; perhaps a dozen good approved types are in common use. They are divisible into three great groups: those in which the top rake of the tool point is embodied in the holder, and is constant; those in which the clearance is similarly embodied; and those in which neither is provided for, but in which the tool point is ground to any angle. Charles Babbage designed the first tool-holder, and the essential type survives in several modern forms. The best-known holders now are the Tangye, the Smith & Coventry, the Armstrong, some by Mr C. Taylor, and the Bent. The Smith & Coventry (fig. 5), used more perhaps than any other single design, includes two forms. In one E the tool is a bit of round steel set at an angle which gives front rake, and having the top end ground to an angle of top rake. In the other A the tool has the section of a truncated wedge, set for constant top rake, or cutting angle, and having bottom rake or clearance angle ground. The Smith & Coventry round tool is not applicable for all classes of work. It will turn plain work, and plane level faces, but will not turn or plane into corners or angles. Hence the invention of the tool of V-section, and the swivel toolholder. The round tool-holders are made right- and left-handed, the swivel tool-holder has a universal movement. The amount of projection of the round tool points is very limited, which impairs their utility when some overhanging of the tool is necessary. The V-tooIs can be slid out in their holders to operate on faces and edges situated to some considerable distance inwards from the end of the tool-holder.
Box Tools. In one feature the box tools of the turret lathes resemble tool-holders. The small pieces of steel used for tool points are gripped in the boxes, as in tool-holders, and all the advantages which are derived from this arrangement of separating the point from its holder are thus secured (fig. 7). But in all other FIG. 7. Box Tool for Turret Lathe. (Alfred Herbert, Ltd., Coventry.) A, Cutting tool. B, Screw for adjusting radius of cut. C C, V-steadies supporting the work in opposition to A. D, Diameter of work. E, Body of holder. F, Stem which fits in the turret.
respects the two are dissimilar. Two or three tool-holders of different sizes take all the tool points used in a lathe, but a new box has tobe devised in the case of almost every new job, with the exception of those the principal formation of which is the turning down of plain bars. The explanation is that, instead of a single point, several are commonly carried in a box. As complexity increases with the number of tools, new designs and dimensions of boxes become necessary, even though there may be family resemblances in groups. A result is that there is not, nor can there be : anything like finality in these designs. Turret work has become one of the most highly specialized departments of machine-shop practice, and the design of these boxes is already the work of specialists. More and more of the work of the common lathe is being constantly appropriated by the semi- and full-automatic machines, a result to which the magazine feeds for castings and forgings that cannot pass through a hollow spindle have contributed greatly. New work is constantly being attacked in the automatic machines that was deemed impracticable a short time before ; some of the commoner jobs are produced with greater economy, while heavier castings and forgings, longer and larger bars, are tooled in the turret lathes. A great deal of the efficiency of the box tools is due to the support which is afforded to the cutting edges in opposition to the stress of cutting. V-blocks are introduced in most cases as in fig. 7, and these not only resist the stress of the cutting, but gauge the diameter exactly.
Shearing Action. In many tools a shearing operation takes place, by which the stress of cutting is lessened. Though not very apparent, it is present in the round-nosed roughing tools, in the knife tools, in most milling cutters, as well as in all the shearing tools proper the scissors, shears, etc.
Planes. We pass by the familiar great chisel group, used by woodworkers, with a brief notice. Generally the tool angles of these lie between 15 and 25. They include the chisels proper, and the gouges in numerous shapes and proportions, used by carpenters, cabinet-makers, turners, stone-masons and allied tradesmen. These are mostly thrust by hand to their work, without any mechanical control. Other chisels are used percussively, as the stout mortise chisels, some of the gouges, the axes, adzes and stone-mason's tools. The large family of planes embody chisels coerced by the mechanical control of the wooden (fig. 8) or metal stock. These also differ FIG. 8. Section through Plane. A, Cutting iron. B, Top or back iron. C, Clamping screw.
D, Wedge. E, Broken shaving. F, Mouth.
from the chisels proper in the fact that the face of the cutting iron does not coincide with the face of the material being cut, but lies at an angle therewith, the stock of the plane exercising the necessary coercion. We also meet with the function of the top or non-cutting B 'c 'D 'E^ " 'F' FIG. 9. Group of Wood-boring Bits.
A, Spoon bit. B, Centre-bit. C, Expanding centre-bit. Gilpin or Gedge auger. E, Jennings auger. ' F, Irwin auger.
FIG. 10. Group of Drills for Metal.
A, Common flat drill. 5, Twist drill. C, Straight fluted drill. D, Pin drill for flat countersinking. E, Arboring or facing tool. F.. Tool for boring sheet-metal.
iron in breaking the shaving and conferring rigidity upon the cutting iron. This rigidity is of similar value in cutting wood as in cutting metal though in a less marked degree.
Drilling and Boring Tools. Metal and timber are bored with equal facility; the tools (figs. 9 and 10) embody similar differences to the cutting tools already instanced for wood and metal. All the wood- working bits are true cutting tools, and their angles, if analysed, will be found not to differ much from those of the razor and common chisel. The drills for metal furnish examples both of scrapers and cutting tools. The common drill is only a scraper, but all the twist drills cut with good incisive action. An advantage possessed by all drills is that the cutting forces are balanced on each side of the centre of rotation. The same action is embodied in the best woodboring bits and augers, as the Jennings, the Gilpin and the Irwin much improved forms of the old centre-bit. But the balance is impaired if the lips are not absolutely symmetrical about the centre. This explains the necessity for the substitution of machine grinding for hand grinding of the lips, and great developments of twist drill grinding machines. Allied to the drills are the D-bits, and the reamers (fig. n). The first-named both initiate and finish a hole; FIG. II.
A, D-bit. B, Solid reamer. C, Adjustable reamer, having six flat blades forced outward by the tapered plug. Two lock-nuts at the end fix the blades firmly after adjustment.
the second are used only for smoothing and enlarging drilled holes, and for correcting holes which pass through adjacent castings or plates. The reamers remove only a mere film, and their action is that of scraping. The foregoing are examples of tools operated from one end and unsupported at the other, except in so far as they receive support within the work. One of the objectionable features of tools operated in this way is that they tend to " follow the hole," and if this is cored, or rough-drilled out of truth, there is risk of the boring tools following it to some extent at least. With the one exception of the D-bit there is no tool which can be relied on to take out a long bore with more than an approximation to concentricity throughout. Boring tools (fig. 12) held in the slide-rest will spring and bend and chatter, and unless the lathe is true, or careful compensation is made for its want of truth, they will bore bigger at one end than the other. Boring tools thrust by the back centre are liable to wabble, and though they are variously coerced to prevent them from turning round, that does not check the to-and-fro wabbly FIG. 12. Group of Boring Tools.
A, Round boring tool held in V-blocks on slide-rest. B, C, Square and V-pointed boring tools. D, Boring bar with removable cutters, held straight, or angularly.
motion from following the core, or rough bore. In a purely reaming tool this is permitted, but it is not good in tools that have to initiate the hole.
This brings us to the large class of boring tools which are supported at each end by being held in bars carried between centres. There are two main varieties: in one the cutters are fixed directly in the bar (fig. 13, A to D), in the other in a head fitted on the bar (fig. 13, E), hence termed a " boring head." As lathe heads are fixed, the traverse cannot be imparted to the bars as in boring machines. The boring heads can be traversed, or the work can be FIG. 13. Group of Supported Boring Tools.
A, Single-ended cutter in boring bar.
B, Double-ended ditto.
C, Flat single-ended finishing cutter.
D, Flat double-ended finishing cutter.
E, Boring head with three cutters and three steady blocks.
traversed by the* mechanism of the lathe saddle. The latter must be done when cutters are fixed in bars. A great deal of difference exists in the details of the fittings both of bars and heads, but they are not so arbitrary as they might seem at first sight. The principal differences are those due to the number of cutters used, their shapes, and their method of fastening. Bars receiving their cutters direct include one, two or four, cutting on opposite sides, and therefore balanced. Four give better balance than two, the cutters being set at right angles. If a rough hole runs out of truth, a single cutter is better than a double-ended one, provided a tool of the roughing shape is used. The shape of the tools varies from roughing to finishing, and their method of attachment is by screws, wedges or nuts, but we cannot illustrate the numerous differences that are met with.
Saws. The saws are a natural connecting link between the chisels and the milling cutters. Saws are used for wood, metal and stone.
Slabs of steel several inches I in thickness are sawn through as readily as, though more slowly than, timber planks. Circular and band saws are common in the smithy and the boiler and machine shops for cutting off bars, forgings and rolled sections. But the tooth shapes are not those used for timber, nor is the cutting speed the same. In the individual saw-teeth both cutting and scraping actions are illustrated (fig. 14). Saws which cut timber continuously with the grain, as rip, hand, band, circular, have incisive teeth. For though many are destitute of front rake, the method of sharpening at an angle imparts a true shearing cut. But all crosscutting teeth scrape only, the teeth being either of triangular or of M-form, variously modified. Teeth for metal cutting also act strictly by scraping. The pitching of the teeth is related to the nature of the material and the for timber than for metal, AA7VAA nrtnnn FIG. 14. Typical Saw Teeth. Teeth of band and ripping saws. Teeth of circular saw for hard wood shows set. Ditto for soft wood.
D, Teeth of cross-cut saw.
E, M-teeth for ditto.
A B C, direction of cutting. It is coarser coarser for ripping or sawing with the grain than forVross' cutting,' coarser for soft than for hard woods. The setting of teeth or the bending over to right and left, by which the clearance is provided for the blade of the saw, is subject to similar variations. It is greatest for soft woods and least for metals, where in fact the clearance is often secured without set, by merely thinning But it is greater for cross cutting than for the blade backwards.
ripping timber. Gulleting follows similar rules. The softer the timber, the greater the gulleting, to permit the dust to escape freely. Milling Cutters. Between a circular saw for cutting metal and a thin milling cutter there is no essential difference. Increase the thickness as if to produce a very wide saw, and the essential plain edge milling cutter for metal results. In its simplest form the milling cutter is a cylinder with teeth lying across its periphery, or parallel with its axis the edge tnill (fig. 15), or else a disk with teeth radiating on its face, or at right angles with its axis the end mill (fig. 16). Each is used indifferently for producing flat faces and edges, and for cutting grooves which are rectangular in cross-section. These milling cutters invade the province of the single-edged tools of the planer, shaper and slotter. Of these two typical forms the FIG. 15. Group of Milling Cutters, mill, with A, Narrow edge straight teeth.
B, Wide edge mill with spiral teeth.
C, Teeth on face and edges.
D, Cutter having teeth like C.
E, Flat teeth held in with screws and wedges.
F, Large inserted tooth mill; with taper pins secure cutters.
FIG. 16. Group of End Mills.
/ cV Wlth stra 'g h t teeth. B, Ditto with spiral teeth.
C, bhowing method of holding shell cutter on arbor, with screw and key. D, T-slot cutter.
changes are rung in great variety, ranging from the narrow slitting tools which saw off bars, to the broad cutters of 24 in. or more in width, used on piano-millers.
When more than about an inch in width, surfacing cylindrical cutters are formed with spiral teeth (fig. 15, B), a device which is A, Straddle Mill, cutting faces and edges.
B, Set of three mills cutting grooves.
FIG. 18. Group of Angular Mills.
A, Cutter with single slope.
B, Ditto, producing teeth in another cutter.
C, Double Slope Mill, with unequal angles.
essential to sweetness of operation, the action being that of shearing. These have their teeth cut on universal machines, using the dividing and spiral head and suitable change wheels, and after hardening they are sharpened on universal grinders. When cutters exceed about 6 in. in length the difficulties of hardening and grinding render the " gang " arrangement more suitable. Thus, two, three or more similar edge mills are set end to end on an arbor, with the spiral teeth running in reverse directions, giving a broad face with balanced endlong cutting forces. From these are built up the numerous gang mills, comprising plane faces at right angles with each other, of which the straddle mills are the best known (fig. 17, A). A common element in these combinations is the key seat type B having teeth on the periphery and on both faces as in fig. 15, C, D. By these combinations half a dozen faces or more can be tooled simultaneously, and all alike, as long as the mills retain their edge. The advantages over the work of the planer in this class of work are seen in tooling the faces and edges of machine tables, beds and slides, in shaping the faces and edges of caps to fit their bearing blocks. In a single cutter of the face type, but having teeth on back and edge also, T-slots are readily milled (fig. 1 6, D) ; this if done on the planer would require re-settings of awkwardly cranked tools, and more measurement and testing with templets than is required on a milling machine.
When angles, curves and profile sections are introduced, the capacity of the milling cutter is infinitely increased. The making of the cutters is also more difficult. Angular cutters (fig. 18) are used for producing the teeth of the mills themselves, for shaping the teeth of ratchet wheels, and, in combination with straight cutters in gangs, for angular sections. With curves, or angles and curves in combination, taps, reamers and drills can be fluted or grooved, the teeth of wheels shapeo!, and in fact any outlines imparted (fig. 19). Here the work of the fitter, as well as that of the planing and allied machines, is invaded, for much of this work if prepared on these machines would have to be finished laboriously by the file.
There are two ways in which milling cutters are used, by which their value is extended; one is to transfer some of their work proper to the lathe and boring machine, the other is by duplication. A good many light circular sections, FIG. 19.
A, Convex Cutter.
B, Concave Cutter.
C, Profile Cutter.
as wheel rims, hitherto done in lathes, are regularly prepared in the milling machine, gang mills being used for tooling the periphery and edges at once, and the wheel blank being rotated. Similarly, holes are bored by a rotating mill of the cylindrical type. Internal screw threads are done similarly. Duplication occurs when milling sprocket wheels in line, or side by side, in milling nuts on an arbor, in milling a number of narrow faces arranged side by side, in cutting the teeth of several spur-wheels on one arbor and m milling the teeth of racks several at a time.
One of the greatest advances in the practice of milling was that of making backed-off cutters. The sectional shape behind the tooth face is continued identical in form with the profile of the edge, the outline being carried back as a curve equal in radius to that of the cutting edge (fig. 20). The result is that the cutter may be sharpened on the front faces of the teeth without interfering with the shape which willbe milled, because the periphery is always constant in outline. After repeated sharpenings the teeth would assume the form indicated by the shaded portion on two of the teeth. The FIG . 2 o. Relieved Teeth of Milling limit of grinding is reached Cutter, when the tooth becomes too thin and weak to stand up to its work. But such cutters will endure weeks or months of constant service before becoming useless. The -/.CD FIG. 21. Group of Scrapes.
A, MetaJ- worker's scrape, pushed D, Diamond point used by straightforward. wood-turners.
B, Ditto, operated laterally. E, F, Cabinet-makers' scrapes.
C, Round-nosed tool used by wood-turners.
chief advantage of backing-off or relieving is in its application to cutters of intricate curves, which would be difficult or impossible to sharpen along their edges. Such cutters, moreover, if made with A, Warding.
B, Mill.
C, Flat.
D, Pillar.
E, Square.
F, G, Swaged reapers. H, Mill.
FIG. 22. Cross-sectional Shapes of Files.
J, Topping.
K, Reaper.
L, Knife.
M, Three-square.
N, Cant.
0, Slitting or feather-edge.
ordinary teeth would soon be worn down, and be much weaker than the strong form of teeth represented in fig. 20. The relieving is usually done in special lathes, employing a profile tool which cuts the surface Round.
Pit-saw or frame-saw. R, Half-round. 5, T, Cabinet. U, Tumbler. V, Crossing.
H Ij UK L A , Parallel or blunt.
B, Taper bellied.
C, Knife reaper.
D, Tapered square.
E, Parallel triangular.
FIG. 23. Longitudinal Shapes of Files.
F, Tapered triangular. K, Tapered half- G, Parallel round. round. H, Taper or rat-tail. L, Riffler. /, Parallel halfround.
of the teeth back at the required radius. Relieved cutters can of course be strung together on a single arbor to form gang mills, by which very complicated profiles may be tooled, beyond the capacity of a single solid mill.
Scrapes. The tools which operate by scraping (fig. 21) include many of the broad finishing tools of the turner in wood and metal (cf. fig. 2), and the scrape of the wood worker and the fitter. The practice of scraping surfaces true, applied to surface plates, machine slides and similar objects, was due to Sir Joseph Whitworth. It superseded the older and less accurate practice of grinding to a mutual fit. Now, with machines of precision, the practice of grinding has to a large extent displaced the more costly scraping. Scraping is, however, the only method available when the most perfect contact is desired. Its advantage lies in the fact that the efforts of the workman can be localized over the smallest areas, and nearly infinitesimal amounts removed, a mere fine dust in the last stages.
Files. These must in strictness be classed with scrapes, for, although the points are keen, there is never any front rake. Collectively there is a shearing action because the rows of teeth are cut diagonally. The sectional forms (fig. 22) and the longitudinal forms (fig. 23) of the files are numerous, to adapt them to all classes of work. In addition, the method of cutting, and the degrees of coarseness of the teeth, vary, being single, or float cut, or double cut (fig. 24). The rasps are another group. Degrees of coarseness are designated as rough, middle cut, bastard cut, second cut, smooth, double dead smooth; the first named is the coarsest, the last the finest. The terms are relative, since the larger a file is the coarser are its teeth, though of the same name as the teeth in a shorter file, which are finer.
Screwing Tools. The forms of these will be found discussed under SCREW. They can scarcely be ranked among cutting tools, yet the best kinds remove metal with ease. This is due in great measure to the good clearance allowed, and to the narrowness of the cutting portions. Front rake is generally absent, though in some of the best screwing dies there is a slight amount.
Shears and Punches. These maybe of cutting or non-cutting types. Shears (fig. 25) have no front rake, but only a slight clearance. They a slight shearing cut, because the blades do not FIG. 24. File Teeth.
A, B, Float cut. Double cut.
C, Rasp cut.
generally give _ _^_ lie parallel, but the cutting begins at one end and continues in detail to the other. But strictly the shears, like the punches, act by a I. I FIG. 25. Shear Blades.
a, a, Blades.
b, Plate being sheared.
FIG. 26. Punching. a, Punch, b, Bolster. c, Plate being punched.
severe detrusive effort; for the punch, with its bolster (fig. 26), forms a pair of cylindrical shears. Hence a shorn or punched edge is always rough, ragged, and covered with minute, shallow cracks. Both processes are therefore dangerous to iron and steel. The metal being unequally stressed, fracture starts in the annulus of metal. Hence the advantage of the practice of reamering out this annulus, which is completely removed by enlargement by about an f in. diameter, so that homogeneous metal is left throughout the entire unpunched section. The same results follow reamering both in iron and steel. Annealing, according to many experiments, has the same effect as reamering, due to the rearrangement of the molecules of metal. The perfect practice with punched plates is to punch, reamer, and finally to anneal. The effect of shearing is practically identical with that of punching, and planing and annealing shorn edges has the same influence as reamering and annealing punched holes.
Hammers. These form an immense group, termed percussive, from the manner of their use (fig. 27). Every trade has its own peculiar shapes, the total of which number many scores, each with its own appropriate name, and ranging in size from the minute forms of the jeweler to the sledges of the smith and boiler maker and the planishing hammers of the coppersmith. Wooden hammers are termed mallets, their purpose being to avoid bruising tools or the surfaces of work. Most trades use mallets of some form or another. Hammer handles are rigid in all cases except certain percussive tools of the smithy, which are handled with withy rods, or iron rods flexibly attached to the tools, so that when struck by the sledge they shall not jar the hands. The fullering tools, and flatters, and setts, though not hammers strictly, are actuated by percussion. The dies of the die forgers are actuated percussively, being closed by powerful hammers. The action of caulking tools is percussive, and so is that of moulders' rammers.
A, Exeter type.
B, Joiner's hammer.
JW KW I), FIG. 27. Hammers.
F, Ditto, straight pane.
G, Sledge hammer, straight C, Canterbury claw hammer pane.
(these are wood-workers' H, Ditto, double-faced, hammers). /, K, L, M, Boiler makers' ham- D, Engineer's hammer, ball pane. mers.
E, Ditto, cross-pane. N, Scaling hammer.
Moulding Tools. This is a group of tools which, actuated either by simple pressure or percussively, mould, shape and model forms in the sand of the moulder, in the metal of the smith, and in press work. All the tools of the moulder (fig. 28) with the exception of the rammers and vent wires act by moulding the sand into shapes FIG. 28. Moulding Tools.
/, Button sleeker. K, Pipe smoother.
A , Square trowel. E, Flange bead.
B, Heart trowel. F, Hollow bead.
C, D, Cleaners. G, H, Square corner sleekers.
by pressure. Their contours correspond with the plane and curved surfaces of moulds, and with the requirements of shallow and deep work. They are made in iron and brass. The fullers, swages and flatters of the smith, and the dies used with hammer and presses, all mould by percussion or by pressure, the work taking the counterpart of the dies, or of some portion of them. The practice of die forging consists almost wholly of moulding processes.
Tool Steels. These now include three kinds. The common steel, the controlling element in which is carbon, requires to be hardened and tempered, and must not be overheated, about 500 F. being the highest temperature permissible- the critical temperature. Actually this is seldom allowed to be reached. The disadvantage of this steel is that its capabilities are limited, because the heat generated by heavy cutting soon spoils the tools. The second is the Mushet steel, invented by R. F. Mushet in 1868, a carbon steel, in which the controlling element is tungsten, of which it contains from about ;> to 8%. It is termed self-hardening, because it is cooled in air instead of being quenched in water. Its value consists in its endurance at high temperatures, even at a low red heat. Until the advent of the high-speed steels, Mushet steel was reserved for all heavy cutting, and for tooling hard tough steels. It is made in six different tempers suitable for various kinds of duty. Tools of Mushet steel must not be forged below a red heat. It is hardened by reheating the end to a white heat, and blowing cold in an air blast. The third kind of steel is termed high-speed, because much higher cutting speeds are practicable with these than with other steels. Tools made of them are hardened in a blast of cold air. The controlling elements are numerous and vary in the practice of different manufacturers, to render the tools adaptable to cutting various classes of metals and alloys. Tungsten is the principal controlling element, but chromium is essential, and molybdenum and vanadium are often found of value. The steels are forged at a yellow tint, equal to about 1850 F. They are raised to a white heat for hardening, and copied in an air blast to a bright red. They are then often quenched in a bath of oil.
The first public demonstration of the capacities of high speed steels was made at the Paris Exhibition of 1900. Since that time great advances have been made. It has been found that the section of the shaving limits the practicable speeds, so that, although cutting speeds of 300 and 400 ft. a minute are practicable with light cuts, it is more economical to limit speeds to less than 100 ft. per minute with much heavier cuts. The use of water is not absolutely essential as in using tools of carbon steel. The new steels show to much greater advantage on mild steel than on cast iron. They are more useful for roughing down than for finishing. The removal of 20 tb of cuttings per minute with a single tool is common, and that amount is often exceeded, so that a lathe soon becomes half buried in turnings unless they are carted away. The horse-power absorbed is proportionately large. Ordinary heavy lathes will take from 40 to 60 h.p. to drive them, or from four to six times more than is required by lathes of the same centres using carbon steel tools. Many remarkable records have been given of the capacities of the new steels. Not only turning and planing tools but drills and milling cutters are now regularly made of them. It is a revelation to see these drills in their rapid descent through metal. A drill of I in. in diameter will easily go through 5 in. thickness of steel in one minute.
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
