ARNe-_3 THROP

VERTI
MLLING IN THE
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Argus Books
Argus House
Boundary W ay
Hemel Hempstead
Hertfordshire HP2 7ST
Eng land
First publ ished 1977
Second im pression 1979
Sec ond edi ti on 1984
Rep rinted 1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991. 1993
Argus Books Ltd 1977
All r ights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced i n any f o rm by pri nt. photography, microfilm
or any other means wi thout written permission from t he
publisher.
ISBN 0 852 42 843 x
Phot ot ypesetti ng by Perf ormance Typesetting, Milton Key nes
Print ed and bound i n Great Br it ai n by
Biddies Ltd . Guil df ord and Kin g 's Lynn
CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapt er Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
EVOLUTION OF THE VERTICAL MILLER 12
Earl y history of industrial machines: mi ll ing in the
early small lathes: mi lling attachments for lat hes
ci rca 1920s: E.T, Westbury's experimental machine
1964: t he Dar e-Westbury machi ne 1968: currently
avail able sma ll machi nes and attachments,
MILLING FLAT SURFACES 27
Surf aces parallel to table: simple fixed-radi us
f1 ycutt ers: var iable-radius bor ing head flycutting:
multi ple -tooth face mi ll s: work hol ding: mult iple
pass mi ll ing: surfaces square wit h table : using side
of endmil l.
SLITTING AND CUTTING 35
Use of slitting saw for cutting through machinery
component bosses : eccentric sheaves and straps:
mar ine type big ends of connecting rods.
KEYWAY CUTTING 37
Endmill i ng round ended 'feath er' keyways : keyways
on taper shafts: use of disc tvoe cutters for plain
sunken keyways: \Noodruff keyways: making
Woodruff cutters in the home workshop : table of
suggested sizes of \Noodruff keys and kevvvavs for
model engineers,
FLUTING COMPONENTS OTHER THAN
TOOLS 43
Correct form of flutes ir loco connecting and
cou pling rods: mounting rods against angleplate for
flu ti ng: parall el flutes: taper flutes: preferred type of
cutting too l.
Chapte r Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
BORING 45
Dealing with parts too large to swing in lathe:
trepanning large holes.
'J I G- BORI NG' 46
Using the miller as a measuri ng machine: drilling
holes at one setting of work and precise cent res:
engine beam: back-lash pr ecauti ons: tri p gear com
ponent : multi-hole boi ler plates.
PROFILING 49
Curves on parts too large for lathe: loco frames :
smokebox castings: machine pad bolts: loco con
nec ting rod s and coupli ng rods.
END-ROUNDING 52
Use of hardened f iling gu ides deprecated:
mounting work on rot ary table: sta ndard size guide
plugs: anti-slip precau tio ns: direction of feed for
exte rnal and i nternal surfaces.
DIVIDING HEADS 54
Simple ungeared dividing heads : using change
wheels as index pl at es: examples of dividing wor k:
hexagons. squares. dog clutch teeth : avoiding odd
numbers: the Myford worm-geared dividing head :
avoiding back-lash erro rs : packing block for
bringing to lathe centre height : universal steady
stand for Myford head: three further dividing heads.
DIVIDING HEA DS AND GEAR- CUTT ING 62
Limitations to strai ght spur gears: simple head :
Myford worm-geared head: toot h cutt ing on
integral pi nion : use of home made I lvcut ters:
Brown & Sharpe disc type cutters: select ion of
cutter to suit number of teet h: cutting a large
coarse tooth gear: anti-slip back-up devices ,
Chapt er Twelve
Chapter Thirt een
Chapter Fourt een
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
DIVI DING HEADS AND TOOL MAKING 66
Fluting taps : example 5-flute Acme tap: producing
a small fine toot h mil ling cutter with ball end : use
of table stop blocks: combination of rotary tabl e
with main table movement: large 60 deg ree coun
tersink fluting.
DIVIDING HEADS AND GRAD UATED
SCALES 71
Cutti ng graduation marks: use of rotary 'engr avi ng'
cutters : use of non-r otating plani ng t ype tools : use
of table stops to control line lengt hs: graduating
cyli ndr ical scales: graduating flat angular scales :
checking correct way of figuring when stamping
scales,
CUTTER SPEEDS FOR VERTICAL MILLERS 74
Speeds affect ti me occupied on job: speeds too
high may cause excessive cutter wear and chatter :
rigi di ty of work, cutter and mac hine inferior as a
rule to i ndust rial condi t ions, dry cutting inst ead of
lubricated: Tabl e III gives speeds for cutters in
different kinds of tasks: machi ne speeds may not
alwa ys be suitable.
WORK -HOLDING WITH D IFFICULT
SHAPES 78
Comparison with full scale engi neering : use of
chucki ng pieces on components: thin components
and use of adhesives: advisability of making fixtures
for difficul t pieces : three-sided angleplates.
CHUCKS FOR MILLING CUTTERS 81
Never use taper shank tools or chucks without
drawbar: chucks for screwed shank self -tightening
collets : Clarkson chuck : Dsborn Titanic chuck:
Chucks for tee-headed locking cutters: Clare
chucks: use of small end mills and D-bits without
locking features : ph ilosophy of ' t hrow - aw ay'
cutters.
List of Illustrations
Fig.
1 Ab wood mi llin g attac hment of t he 1920s
13
2 E. T. Westb ury 's mill i ng machine
14
3 Dore-West bury machi ne
15
4 Dare-Westbury Mk II machine
16
5 Rodney att achment
17
6 Rodney machine
18
7 Amolco attachmen t
19
8 Amol co machine
20
9 Ment or machine
2 1
10 Maxi mat attachment
23
11 Astr a machi ne
2
12 Twin machi ne
22
13 Senior machine
26
14 Set of three fl ycutt ers
2 8
15 Flycutt i ng a bracket
28
16 Flycutti ng connecting rod ends
29
17 Flycutti ng t apered bar mat erial
29
18 Flycutting cylinde r soleplat e
30
19 Facemil l
3
20 Mil li ng f lywheel joint face
31
21 Mi ll ing crosshead sl ide
32
22 Mill i ng bear ing jaws i n bedpl at e
33
23 Slitting boss of cast ing
35
4 Milli ng feath er kevwav
3 7
25 Milling feather keyway on tapered shaft
38
26 Mil ling keyway wi th sl itting saw
39
27 Set of four Woodruff keyway cutters
39
28 Mill ing W oodruff kevwav
4 1
29 Fluti ng locomo tive connect ing rod 44
30 Drawing of steam hook (lever) 4 7
3 1 Phot ograph of st eam hook 48
32 Profiling pad bolt 50
33 Profil i ng coupling rods 50
34 End-rounding wi th rotary tabl e 53
35 Cutti ng t eeth in dog clutch par t 55
36 Drawing of st eady stand for Myford div iding head 56
37 St eady in use on a gear cutti ng opera tic 58
38 Thro p divid ing head 58
39 Thomas versat ile divid i ng head 59
40 Kibbey/M.E.S. dividl nq head 60
4 1 Close-up of f lycut ter and pi nion 63
42 Gearcutt ing wit h Brown & Sharpe cutter 63
4 3 Flycutt ing 10 d.p, gearwh eel. front view 64
44 Flycutt ing 10 d.p. gearwheel. rear view 6 5
45 Flut i ng Acme t hread tap 66
46 Cutt i ng teeth of ball-end cutt er 67
47 Cl ose- up of ball-end cutte r 68
48 Gashin g f lutes in l arge count ersi nking tool 69
49 Rear view showing steady stand in use 70
50 Cyli ndrical machine component being grad uated 72
5 1 Close -up of prev ious operat ion 72
52 Graduati ng part -ci rcul ar arcuat e scal e on fl at surface 73
53 Tape -held workpi ece being flycut 79
54 Hern inpwav three-sided angleplate 79
55 Two of the three sizes of Herni nqwav angleplates 80
56 Clare mi ll ing chuck 82
57 Clarkson mi ll ing chuck 82
58 Osborn mill i ng chuc k 83
Preface
In th e engineering industry the vert ical
mi ll er is very widel y used . not only for
batch product lorrbut also for tool making
and the ' one-off' jobs whi ch are so
common in general engineering. In the
home workshop. wher e most jobs are
'one-off' the versatility of th e machi ne
makes it an i mport ant comp anion to the
lathe. Thi s book des crib es many of the
infinitely wide range of oper ations wh ich
can be done. and all those described are
illustrat ed by photographs so that under
st andi ng of the methods is assured . These
cove r work on part s of model locomot ives.
stati onary engines machi nery . cutt ing
tools. gears, clutches, etc. Full informat ion
is given on the machine accessories wh ich
are requi red, suc h as var ious types of
cutters and t he chucks needed for t heir
mounting on the machi ne spindle. The use
of cheap home- made cutt ers i s shown
and encouraged. Guidance is also give n
on the work- holding dev ices such as
clamps. packings, vices. angle plates,
dividing heads. rot ary table s, and which of
these are needed for part icular kinds of
work .
CHAPTER 1
Evolution of the
Vertical Miller
The hori zontal mi lli ng machine evolved
natura lly fr om t he lathe i n t he fi rst or
second decade of t he nineteent h century.
Eli W hitney (U.S.A.) is said t o have had
one i n use about 18 18. and in Tools for
the Job t he lat e LTC. Rol t recount ed how
the young engi neer James Nasmyt h {later
to become famous as t he inventor of t he
stea m hammer and ot her appl iances l
fixed one up and milled t he flats on
hundreds of tiny hexagon nuts for a model
of a Maudslay marine engi ne. while
working for Henry Ma udslay . Drawi ngs of
the ear ly hori zont al mill ers show suc h a
resemb lance to t he lathes of t hat period
that al most certai nly t hey were in fact
lat hes which had been adapt ed to mil ling.
The cutters we re real ly f il es. made by t he
fi le makers of t he t imes, usi ng t he 'hand
cutt ing ' met hods (real ly a hamm er and a
special chisel) w hic h were the only
pract ice avai lable at t hat ti me.
The evolut ion of the verti cal miller
came nat ural ly after t he hori zont al
machi ne. I have not found any reli able
refe rence to a date by which the vert ical
mi ller had appeared i n i ndust ry, t houg h
this must have been we l l before 1900 .
When model engineering sta rted to
beco me an establ ished hobby at the t urn
of the cent ury quite a variety of small
12
lathes we re provided by di fferent makers.
and t he great ver sat ili ty of the lathe
created in it self a tendency to make the
lat he do every operation that arose. This
wa s enhan ced by the fact that many
modellers were working men with very
litt l e cash to spend on their hobby. Many
we re the inge nious attachment s devised
to enable the lat he to carry out work it had
never been intended to do. Such makers
as Drummond Brothers modified their
lathes wit h tee-slott ed boring tables to
help in this work. and even brought out
t he famous ro und- bed lat he. wh ich
although i nt ended for a cut -price market.
also had built into it the abi lity to do a lot
more than just simple turning. But as the
years wen t by it became ever more
appa rent somet hing better was needed
f or mi lling operat ions . None of the small
millers produced by the mac hine tool
indust ry we re oriented towards the home
workshop,
Then in the 1920s the Abwcod Tool
and Engi neeri ng Co. produced an excel
lent vertical mi lling at tachmen t for
mounting on smal l lathes. especially the
popula r 3t in. flat bed Drummond. though
adjustable features made it applicable to
other lat hes too . It had a No. 1 Morse
taper arbor which fitted into the lathe
[},'\
j:ig. t Abv/ood milling attachment of the
19205
13
spindl e. and bevel gear s with keywa yed
shafts took t he drive up to t he vert ical
cutt er spindle. whic h had a No. 1 Morse
internal taper. All t he gears were equa l
rat io mit re beve ls. so t he cutter rot at ed at
t he same speed as th e lat he spi ndle . and
all t he six speeds of t he lat he were usable.
The wor k wa s mounted on t he lat he
boring table. and power feedi ng i n one
direction came from the lat he screwcut
t ing gear. A phot ograph of this uni t set up
on a Myford Super 7 is shown in Fig. 1. It
wa s unfort una tely a low -vol ume. labou r
int ensive uni t wit h vee slides needing
hand scrapi ng. but was sell i ng i n 1930 for
7 guineas. about a quar ter of t he cost of
the Drummond lat he. Alt hough out of
producti on for many year s now. it was in
i ts time a courage ous effo rt . but belonged
to the age when most home l at hes were
driven by flat bel t fro m a treadle or cou n
tarshaft. and the cost of elect ric mot ors
made th e independent motor drive
uneconomic i n home hobby appli cati ons.
But th e need for a handy vertical
mil li ng machine had been recognised. and
in the ear ly 1960s t hat very good fri end of
model engineers. Edgar T. West bury.
compl ete d an exper i menta l machi ne.
wh ich he desc ribed wit h drawings and
pho t og raphs i n t he Model Engi neer
during 1964. That too wa s a very labour
Fig. 2 E.T. Westbury's
milling machine
ig, 3 Dore- West bury machine
intensive machi ne wi t h vee slides, and the
main cast ings were much t oo big to be
machi ned i n th e average home workshop.
At that ti me he was una ble to find any
engi neering fir m wi lli ng to take it over and
manufacture it. or even to do the machin
ing on a contract basis at such a price as it
was thought model engi neers would be
wl lli nq to pay.
Three years l ater I found myself with
the opportunity to take a fresh look at thi s
design, whi ch he had di scussed with me
during t he experi ment al period. I evolved
a new set of drawi ngs for a simil ar
machi ne, but using flat sl ideways more
economically const ructed. a reducti on
gear f or lower bottom speeds, holl ow
spi ndl e for a drawbar. and other changes
i nt ended to make economies or i mprove
the performance. This new design was
discussed with Edgar. who agreed to the
use of the name 'Dore-Westburv' , the
machi ne to be sold as a ki t of semi
fi ni shed components by my existing fir m
Dore Engi neeri ng, I was abl e to place the
machi ning of the components with a
number of firms al ready known to me. and
the fi rst sets of mat erial s began to go out
to custo mers early in 1968. Si nce that
t ime many hundreds of sets have been
distributed. all over t he wo rld . and are still
being made i n ever grea ter quant iti es by
Mo d el Eng i neer i ng Serv i ces. o f
Chest erf ield. who took i t over from me in
197 1, when I wa nted, on acco unt of age,
to reduce my commit men ts,
Castings to t he origi nal design are,
however, st ill available from Waking Pre
cision Models of 16 Dovecot Park.
Aberdour. Fife. Scot land KY3 OTA. and a
machine fro m t hese is shown in Fig. 2.
The Dare-Westbu ry mac hi ne is depicted
in Fig. 3 and t he similarity be tween them
wi ll be at once appa rent. Duri ng it s
ent ire lif e the Dar e-West bury has been
undergoi ng small i mprovement s. and the
present suppliers have now dec ided that
t he mod i f i c at i o ns are su ff icie n t ly
st abi lised for t he present version t o be
ti t led t he Mark II model. From now on all
machines supplied will be of t his form.
though st ill subj ect to certain optional
vari ations which customers wi ll be able to
select as t hey wi sh.
The more important changes incl ude an
increase in t he quill travel f rom 2i i n. to
4-1- in. Ext ra pull ey steps wit h a new type
of belt extend the speed rang e sligh t ly
from 32 to 1880 r.p.m. with more i nt er
mediat es. providing for boring head fl y
cutting on large radi i ri ght through t o
keyway cutt ing with 1/ 16 in. cutters. The
reduct ion gear system now fi tt ed has
hel i cal gears which run i n an oi l-bath.
14
15
Fig. 6 Rodney ma chine
sealed against leakage even when incli ned
away from the vertical, and is Quieter th an
former ly. A larger table, 20 i n. by 6 i n., can
be had as an optional al ternative to the
normal 16 in. by 5t in. The column and
cros s tube are steel. as always, but now t
i n. thick and enormously st iff . 2t in.
diameter micromet er dials are now
standard. The down-feed worm has for
conveni ence been transferred to t he right
hand side of the head, a coarser pitch rack
is now used. and ther e are a number of
oth er minor i mprovements.
Opposite, Fig. 7 Amolco attachment
18 19
Although colleges and commercial
workshops wil l probably wish to use the
all -over belt guard, it may be debatable i f
th e cost of this is j usti fied for the solit ary
mat ure model ler alo ne i n hi s home
workshop. An alternative belt gua rd wh ich
covers t he spi ndle pulley only and does
not impede belt changing so mu ch is
ava ilable and is shown on the Mark II
machine in Fig. 4 .
No do ubt the most important i mprove
ment is the (optional) provision of pow er
feed for the long movement of the table. A
small mot or wit h a 4-step pul ley and
enc lose d worm reduction gear provides
feed rates of .5 . .62 . .85 and 1.1 inches
per mi nute.
A number of attachments similar in
general concept , though much different in
detail. to t he old Abwood . have come on
Fig. 8 A mateo machine
<,
Fig . 9 Menror machine, now superseded by th e
FB2 and Maximal attachment
the rn ark et in recent year s. Tew
Machlnerv produce t he .Rodney' to suit
the Mvford ML7 and Super 7 l at hes. and
:hi s i s marketed by Myfords. It is shown in
Fig. 5 and t he complete vertica l mi ll er
based on t his attachment is that shown i n
Fig. 6.
Anot her attachment, t he 'Amolco is
supplied by N. Mol e & Co. Ltd . and
appears in Fig. 7 This has it s own motor
and attaches to t he top of t he lath e bed
also. It i s made as a compl ete ma chi ne.
snown in Fig. 8.
Fig. , t A stra machine
2 1
20
Fig. 12 Twin machi ne
Elliot machi ne Equi pment suppli ed a
continental mac hi ne, th e ' Mentor' wh ich
was available bot h in bench and fl oor
mounted forms. The bench machine is
shown in Fig. 9. They also have the
' Maximal' attachment to suit the lat he of
t he same name, whi ch f it s on t he back of
the lath e bed and has independen t motor
drive (Fig, 10). This is also avai lable as a
floor machi ne, t he FB2.
Ot her complete machin es include the
'Ast ra' suppli ed by Scot Urquhart, which
is really a horizont al mil ler wit h an ext ra
ver tical spindle with it s own motor . Made
in several sizes, the smal l one is shown in
Fig. 11.
Twi n Engin eering Co. i nt roduced a
bench machine il lustrated in Fig. 12 and
also a floor mounted machi ne of simi lar
size but slig htly di ff erent desi gn.
Finally the old established firm of Tom
Senior Ltd. now produce t heir type E
mach ine which is f loor mounted and
shown in Fig, 13.
So it will be seen that there are now
many machines and attachme nt s which
are of suit able dimensions for inclusion in
t he l i m it ed spac e o f mo st home
workshops. It would be useless to give
any detai ls of prices in a book of this kind,
as such informat ion would probably be
incorrect by t he ti me t he boo k was
printed, and readers are therefor e recom
mended t o enquire of the various adve r
t isers.
A summary of t he leading particulars of
all t hese machines etc. is given in Table 1
but agai n specifi cat ions are amended by
makers as t ime goes by, and it can be no
more tha n a general guide .
A bri ef word must be said about foreign
mac hines. part icularly those coming from
Far Eastern countries. I t wo uld appear
there are several facto ries producing
mac hi ne tool s and accessories. Some
appear to be quite good, but others are
definitely not good, and I do have personal
experience of some of these. I have not
had the chance to see one of the mill ing
machi nes working, but t hose I have
inspect ed i n exhibi t ions have some che ap
and nasty feat ur es, although t he mai n
items suc h as spindles, bear ings , and
slideways may be excell ent. Some of t he
machines are more suitable for com
merci al f act orie s th an home workshops
but there ar e others of modest dimen
sions. To anyone contemplat i ng buying
one of these one can on ly suggest that a
close i nspect ion should be made by a
knowl edgeabl e engineer , and that a
working demonstr at ion should be
requested, of th e actual machine which is
to be bought.
Fig. 10 Maximar ettscbrnent
22 23
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Fig. 13 Senior machine
CHAPTER 2
Milling Flat Surfaces
Of all met al-w orking operations the
production of true flat surf aces is perhaps
one of t he most di fficult if rel iance has to
be placed on hand t oo ls and hand
methods. for it depends just about com
pl et ely on the persona l ski ll of the
workman. But a poi nt offse t from the
spi nd le cent re of a vert ica l mill ing
machine must when rotated describe a
flat plane in space i f there is no axial
movement. Therefore. provided the
spind le is truly square to the table. an
offset cutting t ool must generate a flat
surface on a work- piece att ached to the
tabl e. Model engineering, just the same as
f ull size engineeri ng. demands the produc
tion of a great many flat surfaces. so the
ability of the machine to perform this task
in a simple way, without expensive
tooling, is extremely important to the
home worker.
FlYC UTTERS
The cheapest tool for t he purpose is the
flycutter. usualtv consist ing of a small
toolbit set i n some kind of holder. There
are commercially made holders avai lable.
but i t is quite easy to make satisfactory
holders at home. and they serve jus t as
well Three home- made flycutters are
shown in Fig. 14. Each is jus t a Morse
tape r arbor wi th an enl arged head having
a slanti ng hole dr illed in i t to take a cutt er
bit (t in. in these samples) wit h a screw to
lock i t in pl ace. The head diameters are 1t
i n.. q. in. and 2t i n. so th e face s that can
be mac hined at one pass are roughl y tin.
to 1- in. wider i n each case. They were
made by boring through short pieces of
st eel of these sizes to suit t he parallel
parts of Mor se taper arbor s. It is not
perhaps widely enough known t hat tool
merchants can. if th ey will , supply Morse
taper arbors of this ki nd. whi ch are a st ock
pr oduct of t he large dri ll makers. This
met hod of fabricat i ng flycutt ers by using a
ready made arbor wi t h a head Loct ited on
saves a good deal of time and some heavy
st eel. The effectiveness of to ols made in
t his way is beyond question. Fig. 15
shows a bracket cl amped agai nst a large
anglepl ate and being milled with one.
Fig. 16 shows one working on a steel
connecti ng rod which has to be reduced
from a circular section at each end. The
rod is about 9 in. long. so it is held i n two
vices at the same time. and each end is
taken down t o fin ished size before it is
tumed over. Packi ngs are used . different
at each end to ensure the finished-surface
i s above the vice jaws, to avoid cutting
27
26
Fig. ' 4 Set of three flycutters
i nt o them, and the se pack ings en sure the Owning two vi ces ali ke may at fi rst
rod is at t he ri ght att i tude fo r keeping t he t ho ught see m somet hi ng of a luxury, bu t
mi l led surf aces paral lel to the ax is, as soon as lon g art icles have to be deal t
Fig. '5 Fly cutt ing a bracket
Fig. 16 Flycutting connecting rod ends
with the benefit s ar e at once apparent. reduced t o a t apered sec tio n t o cu t up i nto
Anot her flycutt ing operat ion is shown wedge blocks for connec t ing rods or the
in Fig. 17 where a steel bar is being type in th e pr evious picture. These wedge
Fi g. 17 Flycutting tapered bar material
29
28
Fig. 18 Fl ycu tt i ng cyli nder soleplate
blocks are needed for adjust ing the
beari ngs in the rod ends. The rectangular
sect ion bar is held in a vice on a tilti n
angle-plate whi ch has been set at 6
degrees to the table of th e mil ler wit h a
St ar rett combin at io n pro t rac to r. The
tapered form wil l be seen on th e end of
t he compl et ed piece l yin g on th e
angleplat e. This is an easy way of getti ng
a speci al sect ion which cannot be bought,
and wh ich woul d, to say the least . be
tedious to make by fi li ng.
These flycutt er hol ders do not allo w
much adjust ment of t he radi us of the
cutte r bi t , but wit h some makes of boring
head there is quite a lot of adj ust ment . For
example the Dare boring head permi ts of
usi ng a cutt er in a fi n, dia m. bar at any
radius up to 2t in., and by sett i ng the
saddle in or out on the slide body the
radius can be adjusted by fi ne amo unts to
suit any job wit hin the range. Fig. 18
shows an old type, pre-war bori ng head
being used to face a cyli nder sole-p late for
a slide valve engine model of 2t in. stroke.
FACE MILLS
Of course, mult i-cutt i ng-edge face mi lls
permi t mac hi ning a surface quicke r tha n a
si ngl e point t ool can do, and with less
snat ch and j erki ng, but commercially
made they are very expensive, and i n the
home workshop the greate r product ivity is
not usuall y of much consequence. Never
thel ess, for anybod y will ing to spend the
time needed they can be made in the
home workshop , with several cutte r bi ts
mounted in one mi ld steel body . Fig. 19
shows a face mil l of t his kind , which was
made originall y to screw on t he spindle of
a Myf ord lat he to do some repeti tive
mi l ling of a fairly heavy nature, now no
longer required, but it is sti ll a good
general purpose tool. It has 12 tool bits :l
in. di am. set into flat bottomed holes, all
Fig. 19 Facemill
st ationary engi ne. The cast i ng is suppor
sharpened to a diameter of approx. 2t i n.
ted by a special angle plate typ e of fi xt ure,
In Fig. 20 it is shown mill ing the face of
ground off to th e same projection. and
the pattern for which was made in an
hour. Wi thout t his f ixt ure the operat ion
a half -flywheel iron cast ing for a model
31
30
Fig. 2 ' Milling crosshead slide
would be some wha t diff ic ul t. If th
casting was held in a vice on t he t able t he
point of cutti ng would be a long way from
the holding poi nt . and mo vement of the
cast ing under the pressure of cutti ng
would be not easy to prevent. Vibratio n
and chat ter would be more likely. It very
often happens that the only wa y to get a
satisfactory job is to make some equip
ment speciall y for it. This is not usuall y
wastef ul. especiall y jf a duplicate compo
nent is ever requi red. but t he equipment is
usually found adaptable for some ot her
job later. Doing met al cutti ng by 'knife
and-fork' methods can Soon lead to
disaster. The ot her half of t he wheel
cast ing. wit h the cast- in teeth for the
barring ' rack' , can be seen in t he bott om
half of the picture. The wheel is 9f in.
diameter and has 96 teet h.
Broad f lat surfaces can be. and some
ti mes have to be, produced by Success ive
par allel passes wit h an endmi ll much
narrower th an t he face requ ired . Apar t
from taki ng mor e ti me than a too l wit h a
wide sweep. minut e ridges tend to be left
where the passes overlap. and t hese may
have to be removed lat er by fil ing or
scrapin g. So whil e t his method is feasible
the f lyc utter or boring head is better
where t here is room to use it, and the
cutter bits are cheape r than endmill s and
easily sharpened li ke any l at he tool.
However. an example of work wh ere a
small Cutter and successive passes mus t
be used is shown i n Fig. 2 1 where a flat
bedpl at e sli de for the crosshead on a
model stat ionary engi ne is being milled.
The surface being cut is in a recess tin.
deep and t he Corners cannot be deal t wit h
by a tool cutt i ng the full Width. as the
radius left would be too great. Not e the
stop bar bolted to the table. Accurately
squared with the tabl e it provides not only
correct locat ion for the casti ng (wh ich was
follo wed by others) but also insurance
agai nst sl ipping .
In the full sized engi nes t hese slides
were always planed, and every engi ne
build ing shop had planers for thi s ki nd of
work. In the one wh ere I work ed t here
were several of diHere nt sizes. and t he
arqest , built by Joshua Buckt on of Leeds.
auld plane any cast i ng up to 20 ft. long.
12 ft. wide and 12 ft. high. It was said at
that time to be t he largest in Yorksh ire.
and certainly it often did cast ings for ot her
fi rms. Cutti ng coul d be done in bot h direc
tions of the tab le travel at equal speeds. or
in one di rection with a qui ck return the
other wa y. Each of t he four too lheads had
power operat ion independent of table
movement, so that cross-planing cou ld
be done through bearing recesses . etc.
One of the pictures shows this operati on
on a model bei ng done by mill i ng. Each
head could also be swivelled so t hat
angular faces could be planed also.
After the planing of crosshead slides
t hey we re tackled by t he fi llers and
scraped to a portable surf ace plate. Thi s
was coated sparing ly wit h a mixture of
lamp black and oil. slid to and fro on t he
slide . li ft ed off. and then all the bl ack
marks scraped away. The surfa ce plat e
was then put on again and a fresh lot of
marks mad e. which i n turn were scraped
away. This work went on for many hours,
indeed on a big slide two men cou ld
spend two or three days. For such work
t he surface plat e wo uld be so large th at
two men cou ld not lift it wit hou t t he use
of the shop crane. Event uall y af ter a long
t ime t he fi ni sh obtained woul d be
regarded as acceptable. It then consisted
of a very large number of extremely
shal low depressions bet ween t he marks.
and each of these proved to be an oi l
Fig. 22 Milling bearing j aws in bedp late
33
32
pocket. When the engine was eventually
put to work, with the cross-head having
had similar treatment. the result was that
the cross- head ran to and fro on a film of
lubr ican t which reduced wea r to a very
small amount. Engines in textile mil ls
would run 60 years and at the end you
would find the scraper marks still there .
The oil was continuously renewed by
brass combs attached to the crosshead
which picked up oil from a well at each
end of the slide. An engine runni ng night
and day. as many of them did . with a
speed of about 80 r.p.m. would make
approx. 3600 million cross-head strokes
in t hat time! Not a bad performance?
When flat surfaces have to be produced
at right angles to the table it is necessary
to use the side of an endmill . This may be
quite unavoidable on some components,
such as t he model engine bedplate shown
in Fig. 22. There is not much choice about
milling out the jaws for the crankshaft
bearings. This is an operation wh ich t he
big planer used to do with the power drive
on the heads of t he cross -rail.
CHAPTER 3
Slitting and Cutting
It is common practice to design mac hinery
components wit h spli t bosses which can
be cont racted with a screw for tightening
purposes. The slitting can be done with a
hacksaw. bu t if done in unskilful fashion
will not look good when completed .
Slitting saws and many other disc type
cutters can be readi ly used on the vertical
miller by mounting t hem on a Mo rse taper
arbor having a parallel portion for the
cutter, and a nut to secure it . Its a good
t hing to put a pair of flats on the arbo r to
hold it by when turning the nut. Fig. 23
shows a slitting saw in use cutti ng
through one side of the boss of one of the
parts of the Quorn grinder. On t hat
machine there are several components
w ith this feature, so time will be saved if
they are all col lected and cut through
while the saw and vice are i n position.
Fig. 23 Slitting boss of casting
35
34
Many other jobs of si mila r nat ure wil l
come to mind, such as engi ne eccent ri c
sheaves, and especiall y eccent ric straps .
wh ich can be cast in one pi ece and then
cut thr oug h, leavi ng two surfaces t hat
need only a touch with a fi le to rem ov e
burrs to enabl e them at once to be bolted
toget her. Not only are castings involved
but also parts made from bar material.
Ma rine type connect ing rod ends are an
example. and this method can also be
used for producing bearings in hal ves.
CHAPTER 4
Keyway Cutting
Keys and keyways are a very commo n
feat ure of machi nery and naturally of
models too. The common round-e nded
keyway. for a ' feather' key . is easily
produced on a parallel shaft by hol di ng the
shaft i n the vice and using a small endmill ,
or two -f lute 'slot -drill' . Fig. 24 shows the
set up for t his ope ration.
Various parts of car and motor cycl e
engi nes. gearboxes, and other machi nery
components in t he past have had wheels
mount ed on tapered shafts wi th the
keyways foll owing the slope of the taper.
Modellin g one of these would i nvolve
followi ng the same proce du re. One way in
wh ich this can be done is shown i n Fig.
25. The vice hol di ng the shaft is set on a
tilting angleplate so th at the top of the
Fig. 24 Milling I eet her keywa y
37
36
Fig. 25 Milling feat her ke yway on t ap er ed shal t
tapered part comes parallel wit h the
machine t able. The shaft shown in t he
picture is a simple one and quit e short .
and could have been j ust t ilted in t he vice
i n a set-up like t hat of Fig. 24. But a long
shaft might wel l fo ul the t able at it s lower
end so t he elevation which t he anglepl at e
gi ves could in such a case prove essent ial.
Small endmill s are rather f rail tools at
best and li able to easy breakage. The di sc
type cutt er is more rob ust and a coll ecti on
of these acquired either as the need fo r
one crops up, or bought cheaply seco nd
hand, is wort h while. Of course the disc
cutte r cannot always go close to a
shou lder on t he shaft , and copying a
pro totype may i n some cases rule it out .
For the work do ne in t he home workshop
t here is no need to insist on the rel ativel y
expe nsive side - and-face cutt ers, (t hose
wit h teet h on t he f aces as well as the peri
phery ) because the sli tting saw, with teeth
only on t he periphery, wil l do qu ite wel l.
These are made i n a very great variety of
t hicknesses , and are always comi ng on
t he surp lus market at low prices. One of
t hese is shown in Fig. 2 6 mi lli ng an
ord inary sunken keyway, the shaf t bei ng
held in a vice wi th enough overhang t o
avoid t he cutt er t ouchi ng t he vice.
WOODRUFF KEYS
The Woodruff key is one w idely used in
ind ust ry. This is in effect a slic e off a round
bar, cut i n half and set into t he shaf t i n a
recess made by a sma l l diameter slitti ng
saw. Th is is rath er an oversi mplif ied
descr iption, but it wi ll serve we ll enough
as an int roduct ion to the Woodruff key for
those in home w o rks hop s w i t hou t
i ndust rial ex perience. Seriously. th e
Wood ruff key. which I t hi nk was of
American or igi n, has some very real
advant ages for th e mass pr oducti on
i ndust ry, and some of t hes e are of j ust as
gr eat import ance i n t he home workshop
and t he fi eld of light engineering.
Fig. 26 M illing keyway wi th sli tt ing saw
For a sta rt the key itsel f can be part ed ac curacy f rom t he bri ght ba r. The
off from a piece of round mi ld st eel or thi ckness needs caref ul cont rol, but if it
silver st eel. So it s diameter is sett led wit h com es off a bit t oo t hick i t can be rubbed
Fig. 27 Set 01four Woodruff keyway cutters
38
3 9
teet h can be cu t in two ope rations using
an ordinary end mi ll ; the re is no need for
angu lar cu tters. as t he diagra m on the
opposit e page indicates. The num ber of
teeth is no t importa nt, but six is a co n
venient numb er for small cutters. It is
possible to file t he teet h if you do not have
access to a div iding head. as the spacing
is not at all critical , but it's a little more
difficult . Fig. 27 shows a batch of cutters
made to the sizes i n Table II and Fig. 28
shows a keyway bei ng cut . There seems
to be no place where sizes of Woodruff
keys and cutters are disp layed for model
engi neers . Machinery's Handbook giv es
sizes wh ich are used in i ndustry. but the
sheer range of sizes is i tself conf using, and
of cou rse t he tables are libe rally sprin kl ed
wit h to lerances that model lers cou ld
neither follow no r wa nt . I have t herefore
picked ou t a few sizes wh ich I t hi nk wi l l
serve ou r pu rpo se. and as we don ' t have
to provide interchangeability i n our
products, if anybody w ant s t o depa rt a bit
41
Fig. 28 Milling Woodruff keyway
the diametra l li ne of t he shaft. the n th e
cutt er is fed in by a predetermined
amount.
The resulti ng keyw ay is deep enough to
give the key a good ho ld, so that i t cannot
roll over, and yet the shaft is no t unduly
wea kened. Norm all y th e t op of t he key is
just clear of the keyway i n the wheel or
lever wh ich is bei ng secu red , it s purpose
bei ng to provi de eit her tor qu e or angular
locat ion, and some mea ns such as a grub
screw may have to be used to preve nt
endwise movement.
W oodruff cutters are not very cheap,
but they can easi ly be made in t he home
workshop, f rom sil ver steel. The process is
reall y qu ite si mple. A blank can be t urned,
mak i ng a shank to sui t some sta nda rd
col let. t hen with t he shank held in the
colle t the working part of the cutter can be
turned to it s diameter, and th ickness. The
sides sho ul d be very sligh tly undercut by
setting a kni fetool a little off square. Using
a sim ple un-geared dividi ng head the
key is ma de, with an int egral shank of pre
ferably some sta nda rd di ame t er w hich can
be run true in a collet on t he mi ller. So the
shape of the keyw ay pro fi le - and its
w idt h - is settled by t he cutter form. The
cutti ng par t of the cutter is set in line w ith
2
TABLE II
3 F
~ x20 B.S.F. FOR
CLARKSON Be. OSBORN CHUCKS.
WOODRUFF
KEY S & KE.YWAYS CUTTERS
A B C D E F
G
~
I
'10 9
'030
44 -(6
'073 '037 '10 0
~ 6
.%
140 '/ 0 4 '03 7 '/04 '037
.6
3-'8
%2 '172 '/23 '053 -/ 29 '045
~
~ 2 -203 '155 '053 -1 87 '060
2
G ~
down on a flat file . It needs t o be cu t in
two on a line w hich is nearly a dia me ter,
but the cut edge can readily be filed to
br ing it to f ina l shape . The keyw ay is made
by a simple cutter like a slitti ng saw, of the
same diameter as the bar from wh ich the
40
from t hese di mensions he can certai nly do
so. Up to date of writing I have not seen
any spec ifica tion of Woodruff keys i n
met ric sizes.
The cutters shown in Table II have
screwed shanks to suit Clarkson and
Osborn chucks, which have collets that
close on t he cutter shank through end
thrust exerted by t he cutter agai nst t he
inside of the chuck. If you are maki ng
cutters for use in a Clare chuck or just to
use i n a 3-j aw. these thr eads are not
needed. It may be noticed that the cutters
shown in Fig. 27 are stamped with t hei r
size detai ls. It is a goo d plan to have a set
of small stamps. say 1/1 6 in. character s.
so that appropriate identity can be mar ked
on all home made tools. j igs. etc as we ll as
model compo nents. The hol es dr il led i n
these cutte rs were provided for the con
venien ce of the har dener . They were
harde ned for me by a f irm where liquid
salt bath s are used for heat ing and
quenching tools. A small hole enables the
tool to be hung on a wire i n t he bat hs
without damage to cutt ing edges.
CHAPTER 5
Fluting Components
other than Tools
Fluti ng of locomot ive connecti ng rods and
coupli ng rods is an operation very similar
t o keyway cutting so far as the removal of
metal is concerned. but t he lengt h of t he
flutes is usually greater, and the lengt h of
the pieces deman ds some well arrange
holding met hods. One occasionall y sees
rods which have been f luted wit h an
endmi ll by t he same metho d as shown in
Fig. 24. giving rounded end flutes l ike a
feather keyway. Thi s is ent irely wrong. no
full size rods were fluted thi s way. They
have flutes wi th rounded i nt ernal corne rs
in the bot tom. and wi t h swept out t er
minatio ns at the ends, whi ch is done to
avoid t he notch fatigue cracks which can
propagate fr om sharp corners. Fort unately
it is qui te easy to produce fl utes which are
i n accordance wit h full size pract ice. and
not even necessary to have a fancy mill ing
cutl er. A si mp le tool bit , gro und rat her like
a partin g too l. wi th the corners rounded
off. is put into a t ransverse hole in a cu tler
bar , and mounted in a chuck on the mil ler.
The rod to be dealt wit h is fixed edgeways
up, as it goes in t he loco. preferably
against a long angleplate. and the rotat ing
cutler is fed in like a Wood ruff cutl er
would be. Wh en i n to proper depth.
usually quite shallow, t he table movement
is started and the f lute is then made
progressive ly along th e rod, l eavi ng
behi nd t he swe pt end. Where the cut
fini shes there i s also a swept end,
automaticall y. Coup li ng rods usuall y have
flutes that are parallel sided, and so do
some t ypes of Canadi an and American
con nect ing rods. In t hese cases a single
pass wit h a cutler the right widt h wi ll
c omplete t he job. Most Bri t i sh
locomot ives. on the ot her hand, had
tape red connec ting rods wi th parall el
f langes. l.e. tapered fl utes. For these two
passes are needed. and this can be
achieved in a very si mpl e way.
In Fig. 29 the rod of a Canadi an engi ne
is seen fixed on the angleplate. In each
end is a screw with a head tu rned to the
size of the hole in the rod end. Thi s is a 12
i n. long angl eplate wi th no slots. as hol es
are dri ll ed and tapped just wherever they
are needed for each job. It will be many
years bef ore i t is so perforated as to be no
fur ther use. The two holes for the locating
screws are the same distance f rom the
table. and t hey only provide the locati on.
t he rod bei ng secured against t he cu tting
forc es by two small clamps as shown. For
this rod and for coupling rods t he set -up is
exactly as shown. But for Bri tish type
rods . the screw in the big end is made
smaller t han the hole in the rod by the
42
43
Fig. 29 Fluting locomotive conn ec ting rod
amount of the taper (at the hol e cent res)
and for t he f irst operat ion the rod can be
allowed to dro p down on t he screw whi le
the fi rst cut is t aken. Then for the second
cut the rod is lift ed up as far as the screw
will let i t go. and re-ctarnped. and a
second cut taken, The rod wi ll now fi nish
wit h a taper flute and two paral lel flanges.
This f luti ng is a very simple operat ion .
The angleplate is extremely rigid. The
machine i n t he pi cture is happily provided
wi th a t in. wide keyway along the cent re
of the table. only t in. deep . but a i- i n.
square bar can be dr opped int o it. That
enabl es fixtures to be instantly lined up
wi t h th e t abl e movemen t . incl udi ng
divi ding heads as we ll as angleplates. The
t hrust of t he cutte r in t his example tends
to move the anglepl ate awa y from the bar .
but it is secured wit h two good bolts in
t he t abl e sl ot s. not visi ble i n t he
photograph. It should not be forgott en
t hat locomotive rods which are fluted at
all must be done on bot h sides. but wi th a
set- up li ke t his the j ob is so si mp le it
would be a pity not to have it right.
CHAPTER 6
Boring
It is not uncommon t o have bor e holes in
components which are much too large to
swing around in t he lathes t hat are found
in most home workshops. But there is no
need in many cases t o resort to hand
too ls. even for holes where great accuracy
is not needed. The vert ical mil ler can be
used for bori ng (wit h a trepanning tool in a
bori ng head) such things as fi re- hole
door s i n boiler plates. bosses on casti ngs
such as long levers. and many ot her
objects. I n or der t o rnot ori se a shaper I
had to bore a hole through t in. of cast
iron t o mount a worm reduct ion gearbox.
and t his had to be a t rue round hol e. It
was done by fixi ng t he cast ing (15 i n. long
i n one direct ion f rom t he cent re of the
hole) on the mil ler tabl e and usi ng a cutt er
in a boring head. Wit h t he worm- act uat ed
down feed. and t he bot tom speed of the
Dare-Westbury machine. 34t rpm. an
excellen t hole wa s obtai ned four i nches
diameter. Wi t hout these facil i t ies t he work
would have been sent out to some
engineeri ng fi rm. The ampler space on t he
tables of mil li ng machines. compared with
what one can get on a lat he saddl e wit h
an angleplate. makes the mi ll er invaluable
for work of thi s ki nd and of cour se by
doing external turnin g wit h a boring head
one can deal wit h male regist ers as we ll
as hol es. This is a simp le operat ion too;
one j ust turns the cutt i ng tool inward
instead of outward.
44
45
47
.J.
/6
-+--II-- -005
.l
+
a
6+
,..,38
posit ion by usi ng t he table cross-screw to
provide the amount off th e main line.
W hen all t he ho les are finished t he beam
can be tu rned over and the bosses mill ed
on the other side .
Th e beam engine cast i ng is just one
example of how t his sort of t ask can be
handled. Fig. 30 is a draw ing of a compo
nent of th e t rip gea r of a model steam
engine. and t he holes w hich have to be
dri ll ed are in posi t ion s w hich w ou ld not be
easil y att ained by the co m mon marki ng
out and centr e punching proces s. Fig. 31
shows one of th e fi nishe d pi eces w it h one
only part-ma de, to show the me thod
adopted. One i nch diamet er bar wa s used .
as t hat gives th e outside prof il e needed.
Set true in th e fo ur- j aw chuck it was
bore d 9/ 16 i n., the n set out of true by
.047 in. and the ho le re-bored to t he same
sett ing. Next it was set well off centre to
dril l t he No. 38 drill hole. Th e correct
setting was established by measurements
Fig. 3 0 Drawing of stea m hook (l ever)
r - I
. ~ - - "
=::--
...,."
t - I
\ I ~ ~ :
~
~ : 7
w hen do ing an exercise of t his kind to
have a paper and pencil handy and w rit e
dow n the micromet er dial readings w hich
are th e st opp ing poi nts. This reduces t he
chances of acciden t al error. It is a method
used by men i n i ndust ry w ho are engaged
on delicat e w ork w here a momentary
in t erru pti on ca n be disast rou s. I have
my self used it for many year s. A t th is
stag e dri llin g can now sta rt . Each hol e
should be centred w it h a D-bi l groun d to
about 1 18 degrees, foll ow ed by the
app ropriat e dri ll. thoug h th e l arger holes
may need a pil ot dr ill put t i ng t hrough first .
As each hole is fi ni shed. w ith reami ng if
needed, move on to the next hole by the
table wi nd. and go th rough the procedu re
with th at . too. By this meth od all the holes
w il l be the right distance apar t , and w i ll al l
be paralle l to one another i n tw o plane s. It
w ill be clear th at if any holes are wanted
which are not on t he mai n centre l ine, it is
a si mp le mat t er t o drill these in an off-set
t he parall el motion, pump rods, etc. The
casti ng can be cl amped t o t he tabl e qu i te
firmly, rest ing on packaging of reason able
thic kness so t hat a penetrati ng drill do es
not dip in to the t able. A t th is stage all
bosses can be faced w it h an end mill ,
even if t hey are at differen t levels. The
centre lin e of t he cast i ng should have
been set paralle l w ith t he line of t he t able
movement . Put t he drill chuck in the
spind le. w ith a f ine poi nt ed du mmy dri ll
sim ilar to a ce ntre punch. and br ing t his
over t he fi rst boss cen tre . Then wi nd on
th e table t he amou nt t o t he next hole and
check if t he poi nt com es in t he ri ght place
over t hat boss. W ind on again to th e next
and so on checking at each boss. If all
come cen tra l. all is wel l. If one or mo re
don' t. then an allow ance w il l have to be
made as a co mprom ise. Ma ke a not e of
wha t i t is. re-start at the beginning, and do
another run t ill you are satisf ied you have
got t he rig ht starti ng point for t he best
results. If you happen to tu rn the ta ble
screw a bi t t oo far at one of the stopping
points, do n't worry, but do n' t turn it back a
bit as a correct ion , because th at way you
cou ld i ntroduce an error thro ug h back lash
(lost mot ion due to slackness) i n the
screw and nut. Go back to the very start
and come at it again. It's a good thing
CHAPTER 7
Jig-Boring
The ter m 'j ig-boring' is likely t o be
unfa mili ar to many readers of t his boo k,
and they may thi nk t hat w hateve r it
mean s it must be a long way removed
from model engineering. This is no t so, for
in model making pl enty of operations arise
th at can be don e by 'jig-bori ng' to adva n
t age. Basicall y it only means fixi ng a com
ponen t to t he machine tab le and th en
using the tab le screw s as measuring
devices to posit ion the spindl e over any
part of th e com ponen t that is desired
before dr i lli ng or boring a hole. I n many
ways t hi s meth od is better than marking
out, measu ri ng wi t h a rule, then centre
pu nch ing fo ll owed by dri ll ing on a drilli ng
machine. For one t hi ng th e wo rkp iece is
f i r m ly held , t he t ab l e screws are
reasonably goo d measuri ng devices, and
man y ho les can be made, of any diameter
needed. without losing the att i tude of t he
piece to t he tabl e, or one hole to another.
Let's take a fairly com mon componen t,
the beam cast i ng of a model beam eng ine .
This will have severa l holes to be dri lled ,
usual ly along one straight line. and rat her
importan t. all t hese shou ld be parallel wi th
one another if the finished engi ne is to run
smoothly. There will be one ho le at each
end, and a main trunnion ho le at the
middle, plus one or more for the links of
46
taken off the outside surface of t he 1 i n.
bri ght bar. Wit h t he pi ece st il l held. t he
chuck was removed from t he lath e and
bolt ed on t he mil ling machine tabl e. A
number 38 dr ill . runni ng i n a true chuck.
t hen ' picked up' the exist ing hol e and the
di al readin gs on both screws of the table
were noted {and wri tten down !' The drill
was chan ged for a very short st iff 1/ 16 in.
drill . t he t able screws were rot ated . to
bri ng t he fi rst 1/16 in. hol e posit ion under
it and t hat hole t hen dr i lled. Furt her
rotation of th e screws brought i n turn
each of the ot her holes into posit ion and
the drill ing wa s quickly completed. The
chuck was t hen returned to t he lat he. The
fi rst boss around the No. 38 hole was
t urned and t he piece parted off. care bei ng
taken to leave t he shall ow boss on t he
part ing side. Then t he second boss was
turned. anot her part i ng off . and the two
component s were th rough t hat part of t he
process. It remained only to cut the
desi red piece out of the ring and file up
the two ends t o t he rounded profil e. By
t hese met hods a component of a rather
compli cated shape was produced und er
complet e cont rol and exactly as specifi ed
on the drawi ng.
There are many ot her art icles in model
engi neering wh ich lend themselves very
well to the j ig-boring technique. Locomo
t ive boi ler t ube plates wit h a large number
of holes can be done t his way. and
because some of t he hol es may be t in. or
even mo re in di ameter it is vital to have
th e met al clamped do w n t o avoi d
personal inj ury. as copper is not one of the
kindest of mat eri als for machi ni ng. But if
cl ampe d on packi ngs on the mill er. any
large holes for which dr ills are not avai l
able can st ill be dealt wit h by using a
bori ng head. If a large dri ll is available. and
th e machi ne has a low enough speed t o
avoid chatter. t here will be no 't hree
cornered' hol es made to cause embarrass
ment when f itting fl ue tubes and sil ver
soldering them at a later st age. It wil l be
found t hat as fami liari ty wit h the vert ical
mi ll er develops. ot her exampl es wi ll arise
in which t his high- soun di ng but really
qui te si mple technique can
fr om i ndust ri al pract ice.
benefit s.
be bo rrowed
wi t h great
Fig. 3 1 Photograph of st eam hook

CHAPTER 8
Profiling
It is not unusual for large component s to
have porti ons which are ci rcular arcs,
Loco mot i ve f r ames ar e co m mon
examples. wit h cut -aways t o cl ear bogie
wheels. Such pi eces are much too large to
swing in the lat he. and wh ile t he bandsaw
if available can do a lot t o reli eve t he
tedi um of drilli ng. hacksawing and f ili ng.
the mill er can do a lot mor e. Usi ng a
t repanni ng cutt er i n a boring head it can
take away the unwant ed metal i n a single
operat ion to finished size on any arc.
Alternatively wit h a bor ing typ e tool it can
follow the bandsaw and j ust avoid th e
fi li ng.
Smokebox cast ings for locomotives
and tract ion engines. however, oft en have
circular arcs t o fit t he boiler shell. and t he
bandsaw can be nohelp wit h t hese. But if
they are set up on th e mi ller. the radi us
can be deter mined by the sett ing of a
boring head cutt er. and t raverse across
the wo rk provided by the downfeed of t he
spi ndl e. eve n t hough th i s i s usuall y
manual. That feed lengt h may not be
enough to cover t he f ace widt h, but aft er
going as f ar as the spindle wil l move. a
second cut can be taken by resetting th e
head of the mach ine.
I n mach i ner y de t ai l s t h e same
probl ems arise. Fig. 32 shows a pad bol t
for locki ng two machine parts together.
The two part s of the pad bolt which are
being pro fil ed t o suit a round col umn we re
made fro m one pi ece of steel. and cut
apart afte r th e profiling. A groove can be
seen wher e t he separating cut wa s to be
taken. The cutt er i n the bor ing bar was set
to t he fini shed radius. Only t he cross-feed
of the t able was used (to put t he cut on
bi t by bit) th e ot her slide being locked. The
tool was t raversed by t he down f eed. It is
not possible to tak e the full amount of
metal removal i n a singl e pass i n a job li ke
t his, but wit h successive cuts a perf ect j ob
is assured. Si milarly t he hol es for such pad
bol t s are ' part holes' and coul d not be
dril led i n the second st age to full size
without gui de bus hes for t he dril l. But
drill i ng under size and then open ing out
wit h a bori ng head get s t here j ust t he
same, a bit less quickly.
Prof i ling locomoti ve connect i ng rods
and coupli ng rods can be a somewhat
t i ri ng operat ion if one has t o do it by
sawi ng and filing. Trying to do this wor k
on the bori ng table of the lathe wi t h
vert ical sl ide or angleplate is not very
happy eith er. Usual ly the cross- sli de travel
i s much too short to comp lete the lengt h
i n one pass. so t hat re - sett i ng is
necessary. and the lathe does not have
48
49
the in-feed faci lities needed. Generall y
with a vertical sl ide t he poi nt at which
cutt ing is being done at t he ends of a long
rod is a very long way f rom the place
where the sli de is secured, so t hat apart
from 'spring' of the pi ece t here is danger
of slipping t aki ng place wit h dis astr ous
result s. Compare such attempts w ith the
Fig. 32 Profiling pad bolt
Fig. 33 Profiling coupling rods
set- up shown in Fig. 33. wher e a pair of
coupling rods . with 'chucki ng pieces' of
ext ra metal at each end , are clamp ed on
packings in a safe and rigid set-up.
Generally the di amet er of end mil l used
can be arranged to give the right radi us
where t he body of t he rod joins t he
boss es.
50
51
CHAPTER 9
End- Rounding
In model work, as in ful l sized machi nery,
many components such as crank webs,
connect ing and coupling rods , machi ne
li nks, etc. have to have rounded ends.
These can be produced by fili ng, and the
use of hardenerd steel coll ars and roller s
for guides has oft en been recommended
i n Model Engineer t o help the not-sa-good
f iler to achieve a good appearance. Even
wi th these, t his kind of filing demands a
skill wh ich many modellers jus t do not
have (and wi ll never acquire, for wa nt of
pract ice, if not hing else) so for that reason
alone it is not a good met hod. But it is
also rathe r severe on fi les, which are now
qui t e expensive too ls, and unli kely ever t o
get cheaper.
So where t here is a vert ical mill er avail
able, why not do t he job th e right way. as
it would be done in commercial engi neer
i ng? It means invest ing i n a rotary tabl e.
but these can be bought i n kit form as we ll
as comp let e ready for use. and if
machined and assembled by the home
worker hi mself. are not terribly expensive.
Presumi ng that the component has a
round hole at one end. a plug is needed in
t he table so as to locat e by that hol e. I
have a small rotary table with a t Whit.
hole in the cent re and have a number of
plugs of standard sizes to fi t that. But
anot her t able wh ich I have poss esses a
No. 2 Morse taper central hole and arbor s
can be put in t his for locat ion. It is. in fact ,
a Model Engineeri ng Services Type RT3
wh ich does not have a t ee-slott ed table,
but has a spi ndle screwed lik e the Myf ord
lat hes and will accept any chucks or
faceplates from the lat hes. This makes it
feasible to t urn, say, a cyl inder cover and
t ransfer it to a rotary table for dri l li ng t he
bolt hol es wi t hout losi ng t he accur acy of
setti ng, But that is not a feature of impor
tance for round endi ng operat ions. I have
used it for a number of engi ne cranks i n
the manner shown in Fig. 34. Each crank
was located on t he arbor but also clamped
with a slot plate resti ng on Picador
stepped packings, a pair of these being
also under the crank itself. The cutter is a
t in. end mill cutt ing on it s side.
In all rotary mil li ng of t his kind where
t he cutter is working on t he outside of the
component it is vit ally necessary to feed
the table cl ockwise seen from above. All
normal milling cutt ers rot at e the same
w ay as a twist dfl l l, so whichever side of
the work t he cutte r is touching, the work
must meet the cut ter. and t hat means
clockwise rotation is essenti al. Oth erwi se
if the cutt er is goi ng the same way at the
surface as the work i t is certa in to grab
hold and tha t means at least spoiled work.
probably a broken cutt er. and a lot of grief.
But if one is worki ng on an i nt ernal profile,
such as trimming t he inside of the rim of a
flywh eel. then the forces are reversed and
the work needs rotat ing ant i-clockwise.
Now the t hreads of th e RT3 spi ndle are
like the Myf ord lat hes. right hand, so
wh en one is doing inside work a chuck or
facepl ate is t ight ened by t he t hrust of th e
cutter. But when doing t he. perhaps, more
normal mill ing on t he outside of a piece,
t he cutt er thrust tends to undo the
f aceplate. and unless the work is very light
cutti ng. this is what will cert ai nly happen.
The only sat isfactory answer to thi s
problem is to drill and tap a hol e t hrough
the boss of the f aceplat e. make a coned
di mp le i n th e t able spindle at the same
spot, and insert a screw with a cone poi nt
that fit s the dimple. Not a diffi cult mat ter
at al l. But if you are going to use a chuck
on the same table for the same kind of
work, then make a penci l mark to show
wh ere the dimple is for the faceplat e, and
Fig. 34 End-roundinq with rotary table
dri ll t he chuck boss well away fr om this,
so that you have two posit ively separated
dimp les, each for i ts own accessory .
I have used a 5/ 16 in. BSF sock et grub
screw for t his purpo se. wit h a point
modified (in t he lat he) to a longer cone.
But I found the or dinary hexagon key was
not really long enough to be conveni ent
wit h a standard 7 ins. Myford faceplate.
So I cut off th e shor t bent end of the key
and fi tt ed t he long part to an extension
made of 1 i n. bright mi ld steel. This was
dril led i n the lat he 3/ 16 in. deep wit h a
No. 16 drill wh ich is about t he across
corners size of th e hexagon, then 7/ 16 in.
further wit h a No. 22 drill wh ich is about
t he across-f lats size. The two pieces were
then pressed together in a big vice, t he
squared-off end of t he hexagon cutt ing i ts
way down t he hole i n t he mild steel. A
5/32 in. cross pi n was fitted. Loct it ed i n,
and now I have a Tee wrenc h long enou gh
to reach the screw in the boss without any
diffi culty. It took only five mi nutes to make
and is a convenience there for ever.
52
53
CHAPTER 10
Dividing Heads
For many products the use of a divid i ng
head is an absolut e necessity. Many home
workers, especially t hose wit hout any
engineering experience, regard them as
mos t myst eriou s devic es. al most border
ing on t he occ ult , and say wi t hout reall y
thinki ng, ' Oh. I could never use one of
those!' . We ll , a dividing head is real ly no
more than a headstock wit h a spindle on
which t he wo rk is mount ed, with some
means of turn i ng it t hrough positive
angular amou nts, and holding it t here
wh en each movement has been made.
Nat urall y th ere are many types of div idi ng
head and over t he years many designs
have appeared in M odel Engineer for
heads which can be made i n t he home
w o rksho p. A g r eat dea l o f qu i t e
sat isfactory work can be done wit h a
simple head of the type shown in Fig. 35.
On the spi ndle, provision is made for
mount ing a lat he change wheel. A spri ng
loaded plunger wit h a conical poi nt drops
into th e gap between two teeth of t he
wheel , and t hen t he spindle is locked by a
screw bearing on a pad i nside t he mai n
bearing. I t is advisable not to rely on t he
plu nger hol di ng the spi ndl e agai nst
rot at ion when screwing on chucks of
when fixi ng a component on an arbor by
means of a nut. If t he spindle t urns, t he
teet h of t he change wheel may be badly
damaged. I n fact when doing this sort of
f ixing I always disengage the plunger,
then if t he screwpad does not hol d. no
damage is done .
By selec ti ng a suit able change wheel it
is possible to get quit e a lot of divisions
very easi ly. For example a 60 toot h wheel
wil l gi ve 2. 3, 4. 5. 6. 10. 12. 15. 20 or 30
divisions. It will not gi ve 8. but a 40 toot h
wheel will do so. When doing dividing
with thi s kind of device it is a good t hing
t o have a bi t of chalk handy and mark the
appropriat e toot h gaps where t he plunge r
is going to have to drop in, before start ing
cutti ng, to avoi d i ncorrect sett ings which
would spoi l the wor k. Ma ny examp les of
machi nery parts to which a simple head of
this ki nd can be usefull y appli ed could be
given. Such it ems as cr ankc ase dr ain or
fill er plugs wh ich need hexagons. square
ends on shafts, tools like taps, reamers.
pa rallel fl at s f or spanners on round
art icles, all th ese can be formed so very
easily with an end mil l, w ith less phy sical
effort than fil ing, and wit h an accu racy
which enhances the appearance of the
arti cl e even if dimensional accuracy as
such is not i mport ant.
But t here are examp les where accuracy
is fai rly i mportant, and one which cou ld
hardly be don e at all wit h hand tools is
shown i n Fig. 35. This is one half member
of a dog clutch. The 12 teet h are bei ng cut
wit h a slitting saw which passes across
the work right on t he centre line. Aft er
each cut . the locki ng screw was eased .
t he plung er li fted out, th e wheel turned
five teeth . and t he plunger dropped in
agai n. The spi ndle was t hen locked and
the next too th gap cut. Really a very
si mple procedure. Now on the other half
member of t he cl utc h the teet h have to
have parall el sides, and t he gaps t hem
selves are t aper sided. This just involves
sett ing the cutt er wit h its bott om edge
above t he cent re line by half the thi ckn ess
of t he teet h left upstanding i n the fi rst
half. The same procedure of cutti ng right
acr oss is foll owed. and afte r six passes the
j ob is complete. It is feasible. if you are
wi l li ng to t ake the t rouble. to make a
clutch wi t h al l toot h sides t apered. so that
the two halves are ident ical. If maximum
strengt h was needed to transmi t a lot of
power thi s mig ht have to be done. but it is
a good deal mo re difficult and would
rarely be worth the t rouble. Unless you are
usi ng a we ll-established desi gn for wh ich
drawings are available. it is advisabl e to
layout t he toot h design on t he draw ing
boa rd, preferably at an enlarged scale. to
verify t he t hickness of cutters which wil l
produce the desired result . They may be
t he same thickness for bot h halves. but
maybe not . it depe nds on the t hickness of
toot h selected. It is also a goo d t hing to
avoid an odd number of teet h. because
the curve of the cutt er when going
through one side may be chewi ng int o t he
met al whi ch has to be left int act on the
opposite side to mak e the toot h. If your
design can arrange for an even number of
teet h this risk will be eli mi nated. Anot her
poi nt is to chec k t hat th e desi red number
of t eeth can reall y be s ecured wi t h t he
dividi ng head you int end to use.
Fig. 35 Cutt ing teet h in dog clutch part
55
54
I PIN %x4 I
STEADY STAND
I have found in using the Myford head
that it is a convenience to be able to set it
at lath e centre heigh t when fixed on the
boring table. If one wants to drill cylinde r
covers and simi lar work the radius of th e
row of holes can be readily obt ained by
the cross slide screw and the measure
men t is direct. So I have a packing block
of the right thi ckness whi ch I can place
under it for th is purpose.
There is one minor cr it icism of th e
Myford head which is never t heless impor
tant from a pra ctical point of view. The
single bolt wh ich holds it to a machine
57
w orm gea red di vidi ng head . When moving
from one position to t he next. always turn
the worm the same wa y, never go bac k. If
by chance you overshoot t he rig ht hole . of
course you have to t urn back. but go we ll
bac k. way beyo nd the hole you want by a
good margin. the n come up to it afr esh. If
you fai l to do t his you wi ll have an erro r i n
your dividi ng and a scrapped work-piece.
Our old enem y ' back- lash' wi ll see to t hat.
But it' s easy enough to avoid th is ki nd of
disaster. Th ere is provided on the head a
most impo rtant aid to correct counti ng of
t he number of holes needed w hen t urning
the worm. Two brass blades are fitted
around t he worm shaft . above t he divis ion
plate, and t hese can be moved relat ive to
one anot her, by looseni ng a screw, and
set to em brace th e num ber of holes
needed. Than afte r lockin g w it h the
screwdriver, they make a mask to show
just where the plu nger should be dropped
in. After each movement you rotate t hem
ti ll one blade comes agai nst the plunge r,
and yo u are t hen ready (afte r doi ng t he
cutting of cou rse) fo r the next move. In
t his part of t he procedure t he two blades
move together as if t hey were one piece of
met al.
Opposite, Fig. 36 Drawing of st eady st and for
M yford dividing head
The Myford dividing head is an exce l
lent piece of equ ipment, w ith a very w ide
range of divisions. The main spi ndle has a
60 tooth worm wheel on it. and a si ngle
start worm meshes with that. Concent ri c
with the worm there is provis ion for
mounting a mult i- holed division plate
which remains stationary and does not
rotate w it h t he wo rm . On the worm
spindle is f itted an arm carrying a spring
loaded pl unger wh ich has a po int of
paral lel shape t hat ente rs holes in t he
divi sion plat e. Thi s arm is slotted and can
be set to such a radius as w ill br ing the
plunge r in t he right place for any of the
row s of ho les t hat are already dri lled in the
plate. Having set t he arm. if one tu rns the
worm one w hole t urn and drops t he
pl unger bac k int o the same hole from
w hich it star ted , t he main spi ndle w i ll
have rot at ed one sixt ieth of a t urn. But if
one moves t he w orm and arm f ive
complet e tu rns befo re dropping i n, the
ma i n spindle will have turned one twelft h
of a tu rn. Basically. t hat is all there is to
getti ng any desi red number of divisions.
Hav ing got the right divisi on plate on t he
head one moves t he arm so many turns,
plus if necessary, a certa in number of
holes extra to the comp lete turns. A chart
supplied wit h the head giv es all t he avail
able combi nat ions. I n order to accomplish
all divisions up to 100 it is necessary to
have 4 plates . but two of these are needed
on ly for some rather out landish numbers
with whi ch few model engineers w ill ever
have to deal , so the two normal plat es w il l
serve. almost everyt hing. There is on e
point of practi cal imp ortance in using a
M YFO RD DIVIDING HEAD
:0
I
9
...1.."
3 2.
-Ic 3 " . /
STE A DY STAND fO R
MYFOR 0 Dlv'O'G HEAD
i
1
1. )( 3
4 4
1.
16


0

,
;5'
56
Fig. 37 Steady in use on a gear cutt i ng operation
Fig. 38 Author 's design for simple dividing head
tab le or vert ical slide , etc . does on
occasion come a long way from the poi nt
where cutt ing is being done . and accor
di ngly t here is danger of t he work being
spoilt by t he head sli ppi ng. To overcome
this I have made up a st eady stand from
mi ld stee l bar material wh ich bol ts on t h
table of the mill er, and clamps on the 1 in.
overarm bar of the head. The st and has a
vertic al t in. bar set i nto a fl at base with
slot for a table bolt . A two-way clamp
sli des on thi s vert ical bar, and anot her t
in. bar passes t hrough it horizont all y. At
the end of t his is a two- plate clamp
ri pping the t in. bar, wit h provision also
for gripping the 1 in. bar of the head. The
various clamp s can be moved separately
and make a pretty universal fi tt ing. The
wh ole t hi ng is shown in use in Fig. 37.
This f itting of my design is not on the
market , but it has proved so useful to me
that I am giv i ng a working drawi ng of it in
Fig. 36 and anybody who likes can make a
unit for hi msel f.
OTHER DIVIDI NG HEADS
Since t he last editi on of this book was
pri nted thr ee new divi din g heads have
appeared on the market. The fi rst. of my
Fig. 39 The George H. Thomas Versatil e Di vi di ng Head
\\
59
58
own desi gn, replaces that shown in Fig.
35, long out of production after the maker
died sever al years ago. It is essenti ally
similar wi t h detail i mprovements. It has a
tailstoc k for support ing long slender
piece s, and a pai r of raising blocks which
bring t he cent re height up to j ust ove r 3t
in. and t hereby all ow fo r rotat ing work up
to t he size of the 7" diameter Myford
facepl ate. It is shown in Fig. 38.
The second type is a much more
elabo ra t e and v er sati le appliance
desi gned by Mr Geo . Thomas, and
suppl ied, li ke t he f i rst one, by N.S. & A.
Hem ingway, 30 Links View, Hal f Acre,
Rochdal e. I n this head a 24-hole division
plate prov ides for si mple dividi ng wit h
those factor s associat ed wit h 24. A 40
tooth worm w heel and wor m can also be
engaged, w i t h a si x- row dri l l ed- hal
division plat e, givi ng much finer di visions.
This plate can be rotated by a subsidi ary
worm, t hereby permi tting very high
Opposite, Fig. 40 The Kibbey dividing head
numbers of divisions to be obtained. Most
peop le will need some help to make t he
f ull est use of t hi s device and the book by
Geo . Thomas himself on its construct ion
and use, (Dividing and Graduat ing , Ar gus
Books Ltd.) will be fou nd t he best source
of i nfor mat ion. Th is head is also availabl e
wit h tai lstock and rai sing blocks, but in
normal for m is shown in Fig. 39.
The third head is supplied also in kit
form by Model Engi neering Serv ices. and
was designed by Mr Ron Kibbey. It uses
sta ndard Myford cha ng e wheels as
division plates, but has a fork ed locki ng
plu nger whi ch can span over a tooth as
we ll as drop between t wo t eet h. Thus the
number of di vi sions increases to twice the
number of teet h i n any w heel. I n addition
it has a mount ing for a wheel- pai r to mesh
wi th t he spindle w heel. giving a gear ratio
to add to the basic divisions. It is not at
present provided with a tailstock or raising
bl ocks. The head, w ith ext ra gear pair i n
pos ition, is shown in Fig. 40.
6 1
CHAPTER 11
Dividing Heads and,
Gearcutting
The availabi lity of a di viding h e a ~ is again
essent ial for doing gearcutti ng on t he
mill ing machine. Of cou rse there are types
of gears one j ust cannot do, but ordinary
spur gears can be done perfectly wel l for
mod el engi neeri ng purposes. wh ere
nei the r high speeds. extre me si lence, nor
hi gh rates of power tr ansmission are
demanded. The desi gn of gear s is a
subj ect outside t he scope of t his book,
which i s i ntended to deal with workshop
operat ions. but there are plenty of sources
of inf ormat ion on gear design. The si mple
type of dividi ng head al ready illu st rated
wil l serve very well if the gears to be cut
have such a number of teet h as t he
i ndexi ng change wheels can deal wi t h.
But if the number required cannot be got
f rom exi st ing wheels, t hen a more
complex head such as t he Myfo rd. will be
needed. Fig. 37 shows this in use cutti ng
the teeth of a pinion which are i ntegr al
wit h the shaft. The blank was t urne d to t
in. dia met er on the part t o be held and this
was gripped in the sta ndard Myford t i n.
coll et. whi le the other end of th e compo
nent bei ng centred was support ed by a
60 degree centre in t he overarm f itt i ng.
This picture shows the st eady bracket
descr ibed i n the last chapter in use. The
cutt er is a si mple flycutt er in a boring bar
held for conven ience in a boring head. It is
shown i n cl ose- up in Fig. 41 . The prof i le
was establi shed by gri ndi ng to suit a
wheel of the same pitch wi th slight ly mo re
teet h. The vari at ion is so small as to be of
no import ance. especial ly as the pi nion
rot at es at only a low speed.
But if several gears are to be made. and
especia lly if duplicat es may be want ed
lat er, it can be worth whil e to invest in one
or more prope r disc type gear cutt ers of
what is now universally known as the
' Brown & Sharpe' type, because they
we re deve lop ed by the famous fir m of
Brown & Sharpe in U.S.A. many years
ago. They are of course now made by
Britis h firms as well. and by others all over
the world. to an accu racy of internat ional
st andards. f ar better than anyt hing that is
needed for model engineering, and are
properly back ed off as well as bei ng made
f rom hi gh speed steel. No single cutt er
will properl y deal wit h al l number of teet h,
so t hey are made in set s. e a c ~ cutter
dealing wi t h a li mit ed range. and each
bears an ident ifying number. The range
runs as fo ll ows:
No.1 135 to a rack No.5 21 to 25
No. 2 55 to 134 No. 6 17 to 20
No.335 t05 No.7 14 to 16
No. 4 26 to 34 No.8 12 and 13
I
III
Fig. 4 1 Close-up of fl ycut t er and pinion
Fig. 42 Gearcutting with Brown & Sharpe cut t er
63
62
Fig. 43 Flycutting 10 d.p
These cutt ers can be bought singly at
any time from regular tool merchants and
I doubt if any discount would be giv en for
buyi ng a complete set of 8. So there is no
need to go to t he expense of acquiri ng a
compl ete set unless it is fir mly known
there wil l be a use for every one ! Fig. 42
shows one of these doi ng a si milar job to
t hat depicted in Fig. 37. The smoother
acti on of t he mul t i-tooth ed cu tter made it
possible to dispense wit h the use of the
steady stand. though care was taken not
to be too rough wi t h the feed. especiall y
at th e st art of each cut.
Going now from what might be called
the subli me t o t he ridiculous. or at least
f rom th e mi niature to t he outsize. t he next
photograph shows the cutting of a much
larger gear. act ually 9.600 i n. p.c.d. This is
a gunmetal gear needed as par t of a metal
pattern from which the fl ywheel of Fig. 20
was made. It is only 3/1 6 in. t hick but t he
. gearwheel, fron t view
t eet h are 10 d.p.. approx. 5/ 16 in. cent res.
so quite a lot of met al had to be removed
at each too t h. The cutting was done wi t h
a flvcut ter. ground up by hand to match a
si l ho ue tte of a 10 d . p . t oo t h i n
M achinery's Handbook. using a magnifi er,
this cutter bein g set in a boring bar of
rather excessive length in a boring head.
Two cuts were taken, but even t hen there
was a good deal of spring and noise. The
shape of t he bla nk casting wa s arranged
to provide for mo untin g by 8 bolt s on t he
large Myford faceplat e. (9 i n. diameter!
and this wa s fi xed on t he mi ll er t able so as
to overhang the side. That permittgd fixi ng
a standard angleplat e on t he table too.
just to uchi ng the back of t he facepl at e,
which reduced t he spri ngi ness of that. and
provided a back -stop against t he danger
of sl ippi ng. It would have been asking a lot
of t he single bolt of the divi di ng head to
prevent movement, under the condit ions
Fig. 44 Fl ycutt i ng 10 d.p. gearwheel, rear view
prevai li ng. but using t his safeguard all
w ent w ell.
It is well worth keepi ng i n mind in th e
home wor kshop that this method of
back-up is wi dely used in t he engi neeri ng
in dustry. espe ci al ly i n t he heav ie r
sect ions, on plani ng machi nes and ot hers
where t here is eit her high thrust or high
impact,' sometimes both, because it can
avoid damage to machi nes and work. as
well as possible i nj ury. Fig. 43 shows t he
front of the gear disc. and i n this view t he
di viding head is not visibl e. But i n Fig. 44
both th e angleplat e and t he dividing head
are seen. The gear blank would only j ust
swing in t he gap of t he Myf ord lath e so
without rai si ng block s it repres ents about
t he largest job t hat can be t urned .
65
64
CHAPTER 12
Dividing Heads and
Tool Making
There are many occasions i n tool making rough and ready methods j ust will not do.
when divi di ng is necessary. Multiple and as i n t he next example t he physical
edged cutt ing too ls like taps. reamers, di fficulty of getti ng at the metal t hat has
milli ng cutters, countersi nks. et c. all really to be taken away mo re or less sett les t hat
need divi di ng devi ces to produce t he best mechanical divi di ng must be employed.
results, even though some of the simple Fig. 4 5 shows t he fl uti ng of a long-thread
cutters can we ll be made by f iling or Acme t ap whi ch is held in a col let in t he
free hand gr indi ng. However, the f orm of spi ndle of a si mple dividi ng head, using
the teet h or flut es somet imes sett les that change wheels for t he dividing. I n order to
Fig. 45 Fluti ng Acme thread tap
obtain t he maximum swa rf clea rance this
Anot her example of the use of the
tap has five fl utes. The head has no
dividing head, this t ime cou pled with the
tailstock so the outboard end of t he tap is
use of a small rotary table, is shown i n
rested on a pai r of Picador blocks and the
Figs. 46 and 47 . The wo rkpiece to be
clamp rests on anoth er pai r. These are
produced was a fi ne tooth mill ing cutter
very usefu l accessories for mi lli ng opera
wit h a roun d end for routing or hand
tions. Of course each time t hat a flute is
milli ng on t he li ght al loy cylinder head of a
completed the clamp has to be released
car engine. The commercial ly avai lable
bef ore the work can be rot at ed to the
cutters for use in elect ric drills had such
posi ti on for the next fl ut e. A sui table
coarse teet h t hat once they touched the
tailstcck. were it available, woul d obv iate
surf ace of t he alloy t hey we re uncontroll
the need for this. The 5 flu tes are obt ai ned
able and pulled sideways so violent ly that
by mo vi ng 12 teet h at a ti me on a 60
damage to the cyli nder head was al most a
tooth wh eel. The cutte r being used is a
cert ain ty. So as fine pi tch cut t ers
commerci al t ap-f lut ing cutte r picked up
appea red to be not purchasable it was
cheaply at a sale. These cutters are made
decided to make one. The blank, of a
wit h a somewhat lop- sided rounded
carbon st eel si mil ar to si lver st eel but
prof i le speci ficall y for t his duty, but if it
somewhat lower in carbon, wa s made to
had not been avai lable, a flycutt er woul d
hold in a collet and was give n a small
have been gro und up to the profil e of a
recess in t he end for t he flut ing cutte r to
si mil ar tap. The prof ile is not desperat ely
run into. The div idi ng head , with a 50
impor t ant and a small error would not
to ot h change wheel an its spi ndle . was
mount ed on a stee l plat e so that t he end
matt er.
Fig. 46 Cut ti ng teeth of ball -end cut ter
66 67
Fig. 4 7 Cl ose-up of ball-end cutter
of the wo rk- piece was beyond the centre
table t raversed along br ingi ng the cutter
of t he rotary t able by half its diamet er. In
int o operation cutting along th e cylindrical
other words, t he centre of t he ball end
port ion. When the tabl e was arrested by
was over t he centre of the rot ary table.
the te mporary stop block, t he rotary table
The axis of t he work was on the rot atio n
wa s t urned by means of it s wor m, so t he
cent re. This is not apparent fro m th e
dovet ail cutt er cont inued cutting round
pho tog raph, but was an essent ial feat ure
t he ball end of the work. When the culler
of the set- up. A stop block wa s clamped
ran i nto t he recess, the feed was reversed
to the underside of the mi lling machine
fi rst wi th t he rot ary table, then wit h t he
table with a tool maker 's clamp, visi ble in
main t abl e, back to the st art ing poi nt ,
t he pho to graph , to l i mi t t he ta bl e
wher e the cutt er was cl ear of the work
movement positive ly to this posit ion. In
sha nk , The di vi di ng head was t hen
t he ot her direct ion the movement of the
indexed one toot h on t he wheel. and a
table brought the cutt er to a part of the
new cut st arte d, Eventuall y all 50 cuts
too l shank smaller than the diameter at
we re comp leted as shown in Fig. 4 7.
the bottom of t he flutes so that indexing
The working' diameter of this tool is f
could be done wit h th e cutter in the clear.
in. and tlgere are 50 perfect teet h. The too l
The cutter used was a carbon steel one
was hardened and tempered, and when
made origi nall y for produci ng locomot ive
put to use in an electric dri ll was found to
lubricator ratchet wheels, wit h a 60
be ent irely sat isfactory, It worked com
degree singl e angle. W ith t he axis of t he
pletel y chatt er-free, wi t h no tendency to
work parall el to t he tabl e a cut was
run away, and in spite of its fine and
started at t he requ ired full depth, and the
shallo w t eeth, removed metal at a very
Fig. 48 Gashing fl ut es in large countersinki ng tool
gr ati fyin g rat e. The work on the ports in this was to use a vertical sli de. There was
the alloy head wa s comp let ed t o the great quite a lot of metal to be t aken out of the
sati sfaction of the user, leaving a beaut if ul 25 f lutes in this deci dedly tough steel , and
smoot h surfa ce for t he gas flo w. as usual the cutt ing wa s a long wa y f rom
Anot her example of cutti ng tool making t he anchorage poi nt, so t he st eady stand
is shown i n Figs. 48 and 49. A large 60 was brought i nt o use at the back of t he
degree count ersi nk was needed for a head, as it proved too diff icul t t o set it at
com mercial operati on on steel tubes, the the same side as t he cutt er. Howe ver, it
tool being about 2 -!- in. diamete r. It wa s served quite well in that posit ion and
made with an internal form ident ical wit h t her e w as never any suggest ion of
the Myford lat he spi ndles from a carb on insecuri ty.
ma nga nese ch rome all oy of known The main gashes for the flut es were
identity, so that subsequent hardening taken out first, wit h two cut s down each
coul d be done without risk of fai lure i n a flu t e. Then t he head wa s t il ted to a new
co mmercia l est ab li shmen t wit h angl e and anot her series of cuts take n to
knowledge of this st eel. I n t he pictu re it is accomplish t he rel ief. Because of the
shown moun ted on t he Myford dividing coni cal shap e of the work the vert ical slide
head having th e f lut es cut wi th a specia l had to have it s base set at an angle to the
angle form di sc type cutt er. Because of mill er table. All these appa rently com
th e peculiar angl es which are invol ved it plicated setti ngs had to be established
was necessary to be able to set the head experi ment ally (t hough possibly with a lot
with it s axi s at an i ncli nat ion to t he table, of effort they mig ht have been calcul at ed)
and it proved that the si mp lest way to do to give the desired for m of t he cutt ing
69
68
Fig. 49 Rear view showing s teady stand in use
edges of the count ersi nk and the rake
angles desired in two direct ions. The small
division plate in use is one wh ich had
been made some ti me pr eviously for doing
12 5 division micrometer dial s. for which
unfo rt unatel y t he st andard Myford plates
do not provide, or did not at t hat t i me.
However, with this set -up and not too
many hours wor k it proved possible wit h
home workshop equipment to produce a
very suitable specia l countersink which
would inev itably have cost a small fortune
if it had had to be made in a commercial
factory.
It is hoped that these exampl es of
too l maki ng wi ll encourage al l who need
non- standard t ools, and wh o know of no
firm th at would take t hem on, or are
det erred by the high cost of labour
int ensive specials. Who knows, somebody
in a home workshop might t ake on the j ob
of hel ping out some tool fact ory t hat
would not wa nt to be diverted from its
normal wor k by job s of t his kind?
CHAPTER 13
Divi ding Heads and
Graduated Scales
In the construction of smal l machi ne tools
and access ories it is ofte n desirable to
have gradua ted sca les for t he co n
venience of precise measurements, and
the cyli ndr ical micrometer dia l is undoub
tedly t he commo nest type . Dependi ng on
the number of graduations required the
engraving or cutt ing of t he li nes can be
done wit h eit her a simp le head or the
worm geared type. There is a choice
between using a non-rot ati ng cutte r of t he
plani ng or slott ing type, and using a
rot at ing cutt er like t hose employed on
pantograph engraving machi nes. In each
case the work is mounted on the dividi ng
head and t he table screw is used t o move
the work against the too l. It is advisable to
clamp stops to t he table . if the mac hi ne
does not have st op devices bui lt in. so as
to positively li mit the t abl e movement an
keep the li nes the correct l ength. Where
there are li nes of mor e t han one lengt h on
t he same di al, one or more slips of sheet
metal can be i nserted i n front of the stop
to obtai n t he short lines . The cu tting tool
can be gro und to an i ncluded angle of
about 50 degrees, Few modellers have
access to an engraving cutter gr i nder.
which is the ideal machi ne for grindi ng the
D-bit type cutters with conical end which
are neede d. but t hey can i n fact be ground
on t he Quorn gri nder. whic h is becomi ng
more and more popul ar wi t h model
engi neers. Those who do not possess one
of these versatile mac hi nes may have
some friend who can hel p out by grindi ng
an occasiona l cutter. For my par t I pr efer
t he rotating cutter but t hen I do have the
machine to grind them. Wi thout thi s a
slotting tool can easily be ground and if
ri gidly held wi ll also do a good job,
Fig. 50 shows a cylindrical scale being
engraved on the mill er with a rot at ing
tool. This is not a loose collar, the scale is
on the co mponent itself. act ually par t of a
Quorn gri nder, but a separate collar would
just be mount ed on an arbor and treat ed
in t he same way. Fig. 51 is a close- up of
this operation,
Some art icles need the scale on a flat
surface but sti ll in a curve, One of t hese is
needed on t he Ouorn gri nder, and Fig, 52
shows t his set on a rotary table on t he
mill er and being dealt with by a rot at ing
cutte r as the last example. The M. E.S.
table in the pict ure has a 90 tooth worm
wheel. so one revolut ion of the worm
gives 4 degrees movement and each
division on its 16- line micrometer collar
gives one quarter of one degree, The scale
being eng raved i s one specified i n
degrees, as it is an angle-setting scale.
71
70
Fig. 50 Cyl indrical machi ne component being graduate d
Fig. 5 T Close-up of previous operation
Fig. 52 Graduating part- circul ar arcuat e scale on fla t surface
Conical mi crometer collars are somet i mes
required, but t hey are more diff icult to
prod uce and should be avoided i n the
designi ng if at al l possible. For graduat ing
one of t hese the dividing head woul d need
to be t i lted aft er the fashi on of th at in Fig,
48. but possibly i n t he other di rection.
dependi ng on t he actual design of the
collar.
One point in making scales of any ki nd.
The fig uring should always be done so
that the figures are t he right way up as
seen in usi ng t he scale. The f igures may
need to have ri sing value . . . 10, 20, 30
. . . to t he right hand f rom t he zero mark,
but quite possibly, depe nding on circum
stances they may need to be the opposit e
way. It is as wel l t o get t his t horoughly
sorted out before starting to use marking
punches to put the figures i n. because it
can be very di fficult t o ret ri eve the sit ua
tion if the start was made the wrong wa y.
73 72
CHAPTER 14
Cutter Speeds for
Vertical Milling
In gene ral I a ~ af raid model engineers do
not have very clear ideas about how fast
they should run t heir lath es, dri l ls or
mi lling machines. To run t oo slowly
extends the wor king time unnecessarily,
but to run t oo fast will soon blunt a cutter
and may also cause poor work finish
t hrough cha tter. The wear on mil ling
cutters (apart f rom flyc uttersl is quite
important because of t he trouble of
sharpening t hem, and broken cut ters can
be quite an expense. The pri nciples which
govern the speeds of cutting metal in
othe r mac hines such as the lat he and dri ll
can be taken as a usef ul guide, in the
sense t hat any speed which an a part icular
material wi ll blunt a lat he tool or drill wil l
li kewise blunt a mill i ng cutter. But on t he
vertical mill er there are other problems
too. Generall y t he point of cutting i s much
further from the supp ort than t hat of the
lathe t ool. It wi ll also be a long wa y com
paratively from t he spind le beari ngs. The
work may be much further from the
slideways t han it would be from the bed of
the lathe. The cutt ing tool is normally
unsupport ed at it s cutting end, and it s
own elasticity is added to that of the
chuck, spindle, work, etc . So speeds
which might be feasible on the l at he may
well be fou nd much too high on t he mi ller.
As an exampl e, t urni ng back to Fig. 20 wi ll
show how elevated t he surface of the
wor k is f rom t he t able slides, and in this
example low speed s were essential t o
obtai n a reasonably goo d fi nish.
The rat es of feed and dept h of cut
which are commonp lace on i ndustrial
machines are quite out of order i n t he
home workshop. Not only are industrial
machines heavy and rigid, so are t he wo rk
holdi ng dev ices, and the work it self is
much more robust and rigid. Also, and this
applies particularly when cutting stee l ,
t hese machi nes can usuall y flood t he
cutter wit h coolant , t aki ng away the heat
generated i n t he cutt i ng ope ration, and
that is not normally possibl e on machi nes
in t he home wo rkshop. So Table III has
been compiled to give some guidance i n
the kind of opera t ions which have been
described i n the boo k. It is based on usi ng
speeds which wi ll conserve t he sharpness
of the cutters likely to be used. For f lycut
ters, commercially made endrni lls. and
Brown and Sharpe gear cutters, t he tools
t hemselves wil l be properly hardened high
speed stee l. For the Woodruff cutters it is
based on these being home made cutt ers
produced from carbon stee l or ' silver' st eel
(whi ch is a carbon stee l with about 1.2%
carbon and no alloy) . More t han one
article in Model Engi neer in years past has
descri bed met hods for maki ng gea r
cutters of t he Brown and Sharpe type. and I
have some of these mysel f , made from
plai n carbon st eel of about 1% carbon.
Such cutters must be run more slowly
t han the hi gh speed steel cutters of com
mercial make, but it is possi ble that a
wider var i ety of tools wil l in fut ure be
made i n t he home workshops, as a bett er
understa nding of too l maki ng and th e con
t ribution which t he vert ical mill er can
provid e comes t o be recognised. The
cutti ng speeds t o be used with such tools
will need to be arranged t o sui t t he tool
materi als and t he work t hey are doing.
The proper mount i ng of tools in the
miller is a matter of grea t import ance.
Ref erence has already been made to t ools
which screw di rect ly on t he spind le nose,
and anothe r chapter in this boo k w ill give
descriptions of the milling chucks w hic h
are currently available.
It will be foun d that some of t he mi llers
at present on offer have speed ranges
wh ich do not go low enough to mat ch the
bottom end of the recommended speeds
on Table II I. This is unfort unate, but it is a
fact of life, and one must do t he best one
can wit h it, even it it means occasional ly
bor rowing t he use of a friend 's machi ne.
Nat ural ly it will t end to influ ence the
decision when t hi nki ng of purchasing a
machine.
74
75
TABLE III
FLYCUTIING. Flat surfa ces as in Fig. 16, H.S.S. cutters, easil y sharpened.
Dep th of cut :
Mild steel .030 i n.
Brass .04 5 i n.
Light Alloy .060 i n.
(inches)
Diameter of
cu tt ing : 1 I t 2 2
l
2
3 31 4 4 t 5
Speeds r.p.rn.:
Mi ld Stee l 150 100 75 60 50 45 38 34 30
Brass 230 150 115 90 75 65 57 50 46
Light alloy 57 0 380 28 5 230 190 165 14 5 125 115
Speeds may well be l imit ed by the extent t hat swarf thrown about the workshop can be
accepted.
ENDMILLING . Spiral fl ute H.S.S. endmill s. Dept h of cut up to ~ of cutter diame ter up
to 3/ 16 in., then up to -i- of diameter. Width of step being cut up to } of diameter.
(inches)
Cutt er diamet er 1/1 6 3/32 1/8 3/16 1/ 14 3/8 1/ 2 5/8 3/ 4
Speeds r.p.m.:
Mild steel 18 00 1500 1200 800 65 0 450 3 50 2 50 180
Brass 2500 2000 1600 11 50 850 650 450 350 250
Light al loy 3500 3000 2500 1700 1400 1200 900 800 700
KEYWAY CUTIING. H.S.S. spi ral fluted endmill s or slot dr ills. Fig. 24.
(inches)
W idth of keyway 1/ 16 3/ 32 1/ 8 3/ 16 1/4 3/8 1/ 2 5/8 3/4
Depth of cut: (thousandt hs of an i nch)
Mi ld steel 10 15 25 30 4 5 70 100 200 250
Brass 12 17 27 40 60 100 140 250 300
Light all oy 15 18 30 45 65 110 135 300 3 50
Speeds r.p.rn.:
M ild steel 1800 1500 1200 800 65 0 450 350 250 180
Brass 2500 2000 1600 11 50 850 650 450 350 250
Light alloy 3500 3000 2500 1700 1400 1200 900 800 700
TABLE III (continued)
KEYWAY CUTIING. With H.S.S. disc cutter Fig. 26, or slitt ing Fig. 23.
(inc hes)
Cutter diameter. 2 2t 3 3
' 2
4
Speeds r.p.m.
Mild stee l 65 55 45 38 33
Bras s 115 9 5 75 65 55
Light Al loy 190 155 125 110 95
GEARCUTIING. Commercial H.S.S. Brown & Sharpe cutters 2 ~ in. di ameter. Fig. 42.
Speed s r.p.rn.
Mil d steel 48
Brass 80
Light Alloy 110
' Home-made' cutters produced from 'sil ver steel' ,
(inches)
Cut ter diameter, 1t
1
2
t
2 2}
Speeds r.p.m.:
Mild st eel 60 50 38 30
Brass 120 100 75 60
Light Alloy 180 150 110 90
WOODRUFF KEYWAYS. Usi ng 'home- made' silver steel cu tters, Speeds may be
increased by one thi rd for commercial H,S.S. cutters.
(inc hes)
Cutter diameter. 1/4 5/ 16 3/8 1/2
Speeds r.p.rn.:
Mi ld steel 380 300 250 200
Brass 700 580 450 350
Light All oy 1000 900 800 650
Cast ir on, unless exceptiona lly hard, may be cu t at the same revs. as mi ld steel, but for
work on carbon stee l ('sil ver steel'). alloy steels, and free CU ll ing stainless reduce revs.
by one third. For non - magnetic stainless reduce by half.
77
76
CHAPTER 15
Work-holding with
Difficult Shapes
Problems do arise f rom time to time
regarding t he meth ods of holding work i n
the milling machi ne. In ful l scale engi neer
ing these problems are not nearly so acut e
as components are mor e solid and clamps
can be app lied without crus hi ng the
pieces. Oft en wi t h model parts it is
di ff icu lt to get a hold sufficient ly fi rmly
wit hout more or less mutil at ing t he piece.
One method I often use bot h for cast ings
and bar material is to arrange for an
accurate chuc ki ng piece to be left on t he
co mpone nt unti l all operati ons are
co mplete and th en t o remove th is.
Gener all y this piece is made to suit one of '
the Myf ord coll et s, from t i n. diamet er
downwards, since the collets do hold the
part w it h great accuracy, and after turn ing
operations it can be tra nsferred to t he
miller wit h t he coll et pl aced in a di viding
head; even if no indexing has to be done ,
t he head act s as a very effec tive vice.
Some times t hi n components prese nt
problems i n holdi ng on t he mill i ng
machine. If one side is al ready fl at one can
use double- side d sticky tape, available
from drawing off ice supply shops and
some stat ioners. If two or three strips can
be used , an astonishing ly fi rm grip can be
obtained, w hich w ill stand up t o shear
forces induced by milling. I have also i n an
i ndust rial plant stu ck down met al which
had to be tooled all th e way across the
piece, on a fal se base wit h woodwork er' s
gl ue and a sheet of newspaper. Afte r t he
operati ons are complet ed a f ine chisel is
knocked in between t he part s and t he
paper t ears wi thin its t hick ness, so the
pieces come apart wit h some paper
st icking to each. This can then be washed
off wit h hot wat er. There is not hing very
origi nal abo ut t his, of course, it is an age
old pat ter nrnakers' meth od of produci ng a
patt ern wh ich has eventua lly to be i n
hal ves , but it is a sound met hod not nearly
so wel l known as it sho uld be. Fig. 53
shows a light alloy cast i ng being faced
right across w it h a fl ycutter, the casting
bei ng stuck to t he t able wi th sticky tape
and nothi ng else.
However, t he var ious exampl es given
t hroughout the book shou ld serve to show
how to undert ake a really wide range of
jobs . At the ri sk of seemi ng repe ti tive I
would agai n st ress th at it is often wort h
while to make a ji g fo r hol ding or locat ing
th e work, j ust to make sure i t can be held
fi rmly enough without damage i n the rig ht
attitude. The ki nd of ji gs and f ixt ures
needed in modelling seldo m involve mo r
t han a few mi nutes or perhaps an hour to
make, and if this safeguards the compo-
Fig. 53 Tape- held workpiece bei ng fly cut
Fig. 54 Three-f ace anglepl at e used to align vee-blocks
79
78
Fig. 55 Three-face angleplat es used as mai n packi ng
nent , as wel l as t he tool s and machine. it an g l epl at es, wh i ch ar e sent out
is ti me we ll spent. If a dupl icate compo unmachined in lig ht all oy, are in t hree
nent is ever needed t hat wi ll be produced sizes very convenient for use i n home
expedit iously wit hout risk t oo. workshops and can easily be f aced up on
the Myford lat he boring t able or faceplat e.
Angl eplates Fig. 54 shows one of them set across a
A new type of anglepl at e has been mil ler tabl e t o locat e the two vee-block s in
int roduced by Hemingway. This has three which th e work is rest ing. Fig. 55 shows
faces machi ned at 90 degrees to one anot her pai r used as main packings wit h
anothe r. I have found over many years Picador st epped blocks on t op t o give the
that cast - in slot s i n angleplates never last bi t of hei ght adj ust ment for t he cl amp
seem to be in the ri ght place for any j ob, pl at es. So many sizes are availab le by
and it seems bet t er to just dri ll a hole selecting di ffer ent atti tudes of the se blocks
wh ere i t happens to be needed. These tha t they are very usef ul indeed.
CHAPTER 16
Milling Chucks for
Safe Cutter Holding
The newcomer to vert ical milli ng may
wo nder why there shoul d be any need for
special chucks for milli ng cutters, and
especially when he sees t hat these are
fairly expensive accessories. may be
tempted t o make do without one. But first
of all it i s nece ssary to realise th at t he
forces acti ng upon mil li ng cutters in use
are generall y quit e di ff erent from those
act ing on dr il ls i n a dri ll i ng machine or
lat he. The dri ll is usuall y subj ect ed, except
at t he mo ment of compl et e penet ration, to
axial forces only, whi ch press it mo re and
more fi rmly int o t he Morse t aper hole i n
t he spi ndle. Even if it is held in a drill
chuck and has a parall el shank, t he same
t hi ng applies.
But th e mil ling cutt er is subject ed to
t ransverse for ces, across th e axis, and
unless it is screwed on the spi ndle, t hese
forces have a component which i s
pressing against t he i nsi de of t he Morse
tap er hol e, and thereby try ing to cause the
cutter to slide out of the spindle . Each
ti me t he spindle rota tes the pres sure is
transferred to t he opposite side of t he
hol e. and this waggl es t he tool out of t he
spi ndle. So fi rst of all , any tool mounted
by a t aper shank, whet her it is a chuck or a
solid endmill with taper shank, MUST be
provided with a drawbar t hrough the
spindle to stop this ten dency to work out.
For cutt i ng tools which i n operat ion
produce no end forces that precaution is
suff icient. But all the spiral fl uted endmill s
and slot dr i lls do generate end forc es,
tending to screw t hem out of the holding
device. (St rict ly speaki ng t his applies to
cutt ers with ri ght hand rot at ion, li ke a drill,
and ri ght hand f luti ng, also like a drill. But
as it woul d be remarkable for any ot hers,
tho ugh manuf act ured, t o be fou nd in a
home wo rkshop, the ot hers can we ll be
disregar ded.) So spiral flut ed cutt ers will
t ry t o work out of a chuck, if parallel
shanked, and must be forci bly prevented.
It i s not good enough to hold th em i n a
thre e-jaw lat he chuck, especiall y since
most of th ese exert more pr essure at t he
inner end than th e out er, through wear
exi st i ng in t he jaw sli des, in eff ect givi ng
t hem a slight t aper.
This is where the speci all y designed
mill ing chuck comes i nt o its own. There
are two basi c types, but each is arranged
to grip t he cutter fi rmly on it s paral lel
shank by a split coll et clo sed by a screw
thread forcin g t he collet i nto a conical part
of t he chuck. I n addition one typ e uses
cutt ers formed wit h a special shaped end ,
81
80
Fig. 56 Clare milling chuck
and t he ot her type uses cutt ers wit h a
collet is not only retai ned in the chuck
short screw thread at t he end of t he
body by all int ernal ly screwed cap which
shank. The first of t hese, the Clare, has a
fit s on t he body , but is al so closed on t he
rect angular end for t he cutt er, and this
shank by it. The col let screws i nt o anot her
end is undercut by mil ling. After passi ng it
th read in t he cap, which ensures t hat it
t hrough a rect angular slot in the coll et , t he
loosens when requi red, a small spanner
cutter is t urned t hrough a smai l angle, so
being provided by the makers for t hi s
the part not und ercut overhangs t he end
pur pose. This type of chu ck w ill in fact
of the coll et , and cannot slide out. The
hold cutters whi ch do not have the 'tee'
Fig. 5 7 Clar kson milling chuck Fig. 58 Osborn mill ing chuck
end, and have jus t a plai n rou nd shank, hand wit hout the use of a spanner. There
t hough of cou rse t he security feature is is provision wi t h each of t hese for usi ng
t hen non-exist ent . But f or small cutt ers 't hrow - away' cutters, w hich are made
and light duty it w ill serve very we ll. cheapl y in sizes up to :l- i n. These have a
The ot her type of chuck, made both by plai n shank. unsc rewed, of t in. di ameter
Clarkson and Osborn, uses only a screwed w hate ver the size of the cutt ing portion.
shan k typ e of cutt er and cannot be used
which has a sma ll f lat in one place . They
except wit h t his. Th e screw th read on the
are set in an adaptor w ith a smal l screw at
shank, w hen subjected to the torque
the side, whic h bears on the fl at , and t his
necessary to dr ive the cutter, provides t he
is sufficient to prevent t heir working out of
force t o clos e the collet and thereby gr ip
t he chuck. The idea of these cutt ers is tha t
the t ool shank. A cent re device i nside t he
t hey are made so cheaply t hat in a com
body engag es wit h t he centre dimple i n
mercial engineeri ng shop it wi ll cost more
the end of t he cutt er to reduce fr iction
t o re-sharpen one than to replace it by a
forces that would hamper rot at ion of the
new one. Whet her or not t hat is really t rue
cutter. The Clarkson chuck needs a
will depend on t he par t icular establ ish
spanner, provided wit h th e tool. to release
ment in which t hey are being used, but i n
t he co l let for changi ng cutt ers. The
the home workshop, if the re is a Quam
Osborn e uses a finer t hread on t he
grinder. it will be feasible t o re-sharpen
secur i ng sleeve . t oget her wi t h some lost
them at a wort hwhi le cost in ti me and
mot ion provisions. and can be released by
t roubl e, for a whi le, unti l a cert ai n amount
82 83
of shortening has taken place.
All the cutters with screwed ends to
suit the Clarkson and Osborn chucks have
Whitworth form threads 20 per inch
irrespective of diameter. On t in. shanks
this conforms to B.S.W. and on t in.
shanks to B.S.F. for both of which dies can
be readil y obtained . But fo r other
diameters, if one needs to make a special
cutter in the home workshop. screwing a
shank 20 t hreads per inc h is not a difficult
task. Making the specia l ends for the Clare
cutlers is not quite so easy in my view. but
the Clare chuck has t he advantages of a
short overhang and a small er diamet er of
body, This is part icularly useful when
holding wo rk in a 3 or 4- jaw chuck on a
divi di ng head, when somet imes i t is
difficult to clear the chuck jaws. But al l
these chucks can be fully recommended
as being good precision tools which
provide complete security against cutters
worki ng out in use. If an accident of tha t
kind happens due to not having a security
chuck. a spoi led component is certain, a
broken Culler is possible. and I have seen
t his happen on a numbe r of occasions, So
do be warned, and don' t think the cost of
a proper chuck is too high to face.
Phot ographs of the t hree chucks
mentioned are shown in Figs. 56 , 57 and
58. The Clarkson Autolock chuck shown
here, as we ll as in pict ures in the text , is
f itt ed wit h a damping ring . After t he
chuck is f ixed in t he Morse taper, t his ri ng
can be scr ewed up to cont act t he end of
the machi ne spindle, giving extra support
agai nst vibrati on.
84
ARNOLD THROP wa s an apprentice then
an Outside Erector wit h t he famous
engineer s Cole. Marchent & Morley.
Bradford. Yorks. Produc t s: compound
engines to 250 0 hp, Uniflows t o 1500 hp.
Di esel oi l engi nes, condensers for largest
power stations. Lat er he held t echnical
admi nist rat ive po st s i n high- t ensio n
swi tchqear. mi ni ng machin ery. st ainless
fabricat ion. mac hi ne tools, and marking
devices. At hi s ret ireme nt he was th e
Dir ector of Engineering, Edward Pryor &
Son. Sheffield.
He has been an I.Mech.E. in mo unting
seniori ty over 50 years, serving on several
committ ees and one of B.S.1. He has read
papers t o I.Mech.E. and t he Newcomen
Society of whi ch he is a member. He has
worked for half a dozen years as demon
st rator on the Workshop Stand of S.M. E.E.
at Mod el Engi neer Exhi bi t io ns, con
tributed art icles to Model Engineer f rom
1932, and having been i n Sheff ield
S.M.E.E. f rom 1937 has been it s Presi
dent for. some year s.
Founding Dore Engineeri ng i n 19 63 . he
redesigned Edgar Westbury 's vertic al
miller and sold i t as the Dore-West bury
unti l tra nsfer t o Model Engineering
Services in 19 71.
His present interests are stationary
engi nes. wo rkshop equ ipment , gardening
and phot ography.
The author
86
87
Index
Abwood mil ling attachment
12
Amo lco mi ll i ng atta ch men t and
machi ne
21
A ngleplat es
80
Angleplate used as backst op
27, 29
Arbors for sli tt ing saws and disc cutters
35
As tra milli ng machine
22
Boring operations
45
Bori ng heads
30
Chucks, Clare, Clarkson, Osborn
82
Clutch teeth
55
Connecti ng rods
43
Crosshead slides , engine bedp late
30
Divid ing heads. descr iption an d
principle
54
Plai n typ e. change wheel
indexing
55
Myford worm-geared type
57
Use of division plat es
57
Use of locating blades
57
Packing block for centre height
57
Steady stand for extra rigidity
56
Di viding heads and gear-cutting
62
Plain type
62
Pinion cutt ing
62
Large gear cutti ng
64
Divi ding heads and graduated scale s 71
Plani ng/ slotti ng and rotating too ls 71
Tabl e stop s and li ne length co ntrol 7 1
Cutti ng/engraving cyli ndrical scale 72
Cutt ing/ engraving flat arcuate scale 73
Conical micromet er di als 73
Markin g fig ures of scales right way 73
Dividi ng heads and tool-m aki ng 66
Fluti ng screwing t ap 66
Cutt ing f ine tooth mil li ng cutter 6 7
Cutting large counter sink 69
Specia l di vision pla te. 2 5 hole 70
D-b it fo r hol e cen tri ng to start dri lls 47
Dor e-W est bury mill ing machin e 14
End-roundi ng :
Fil ing coll ars and roll ers 52
Using rotary tab le 52
Fittings for rot ary tabl e 52
Rounding engi ne cranks 52
Direc tion of table rotation 52
Lock ing pre cauti on s f o r ex te rna l
work 53
Engine bedpl ate bearing j aw s 33
Engi ne cyli nder solepla te 30
Evolut ion of ver t ical mi ll er 12
Flut i ng operat ion s. l ocom ot ive rods,
cor rec t f lut e form 4 4
Rods for Briti sh engines 43
Rods for Canadian and Am erican
engines 43
89
88
Flywheel (in hal ves) j oi nt face 3 1
Gear cutt ing 62
Grinder f or engraving cutlers and o
bits 7 1
Identi fication of cutters etc. by mark ing
when made 42
Jig-boring:
Meas uring by t able screws 46
Wri tten recor d of measurem ent s 47
Example of beam for model engine 47
Trip gear lever of model engine
Boiler t ube plates
Avoi dance of back-l ash erro rs
Jigs for milli ng operat ions
Keyways for plain sunk keys:
Endmilling feather keyways on
shahs
Keyways on taper shafts wi th
angleplate
Disc cutter milling of keyways
Locti t ing for permanent assembly
Long components, holding problems
Machi ne specificat ions. table of
Maximat milling attachment
48
48
46
78
plain
37
t ilti ng
38
41
27
38. 49
24
22
Me ntor mi lli ng machine
22
Mill ing cutters. mu lti -toot h:
Early (19t h century) 'fil e-cut' cutters 12
Facemills
30
Endm ills
38
Sli tti ng saws
Disc cutters
3 5
40
Woodruff cutt ers
40
Brown & Sharpe cutters
62
Tap flut i ng cutters
67
Angle cutt ers
69
Milling cutters, single toot h:
Flycutters
Connecti ng rod fl ut i ng cutt er
27
43
Profi led gear tooth cutters
62
Engraving cutters
71
Mill i ng operat ions:
Flat surf aces parallel
to table
32
Flat surfaces square
to table
34
Slitting and cut ti ng
35
Com ponent f l ut ing
43
Tool fluting
End rounding
Gear- cutti ng
67
52
62
Keywaying
39
W oodruff keys and
keyw ays
Bor ing
Jig-boring
38
45
46
9 1
90
Profili ng 49
Engraving 71
Myford-Rodney milli ng attachment and
mach ine 21
Myford collets 62
Myford dividing head 57
Profiling :
Circular arcs 49
Locomot ive frames 49
Smokebox and cyli nder saddl es 49
Pad-bolts 49
Sma l l ar cs der i ved f rom curve of
endmills 51
Quorn grinder for t ool sharpe ning 83
Quorn gri nder , parts of 35 ,71
Rotary tab les 52
Rotary tabl e. M.E.S. 52
Senior milli ng machine 22
Security of mill i ng cutters:
Forces act ing upon drills and cutters 81
Use of drawbars i n machine spindles 81
Positive lock ing of screwed cutters in
chucks 82
Posit ive locking of Tee cutters in
chucks 82
Slitting and cutti ng operations 35
Speeds of mi lling cutters 74
Tapered sections 29
Throw-away' cutte rs 83
Twi n mil li ng machine 22
Vic es. use of two tog ethe r 27
Westbury, Edgar T. 14
Westbury mi ll i ng machi ne 14
Woodruff keys and keyways 38
Work holdi ng for difficult shapes:
Use of chucking pieces lat er
discarded 78
Sticky tape for t hi n art icles 78
Glue and paper for t hin articles 78
Specia lly made jigs for di ff icult
shapes 78
92
93
",on't let
e" thepressure's on
4" MODEL
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WOR HO PRACTICESERIES
3 9525 00 117696 6
1. Hardening. Tempering and 8. heet Meta! Work 15. Workholding in the i.athe
Heat Treatment R.E. Wakeford Tubal Cain
Tubal din
2. vertical Milling in the Homo
9. Soldering and Brazing
Tubal Cain
16 . Electric Motor"
V.1. Cox
Workshop
Arnold Throp
J . Screwcutting in the Lathe
Milflin Cleeve
4. Foundrywork tor the Amateur
B.T. Aspin
5. Milling Operations in the Lathe
Tubal Cai n
6. Measu ring and Ma rking
10. Saws ami SawlI1g
Ian Bradley
1I . Electroplating
I. Poyner
12. onn is ,md Dies
Tubdl Cain
I J . Workshop Drawing
Tubal Cain
17. Gears and Gear Cutting
I. Law
18. B""ic Benchwork
Les Oldridge
19. Spring De'ign and 1\t.mutocture
Tubal ain
20. Mt' t,l/work and Machining
Hint and Tip
Ian Bradley
Ivan LdW
14 . Mak ing mall Workshop
21. Adhes ives and Sea lants
7. The Art of Welding Tools
David Lamm as
W.A. Vause S. Bray
2. Vertical Milling in the Hom Worksho
The increasing appearance of vertic, I mil ling machines in model
engi neers' and other smal l workshops has brought the versati lit y of thi s
type of machine to the notice of a large and growing group of pot ntial
users, but until the fi rst edition of the book was publi shed i n 197 7 there
was little easily avai lable guidance for the average amateur or smal l user.
This third, revi sed edition incl udes descriptions of many of the very wide
range of operations possibl e, wi th photographed examples, plus i nfor
mat ion on machines, acce sories, cutters, chucks, r quirement s and
methods of work-holdi ng.
Arnold Throp enjoyed a long and successful engi ne ring care r
start i ng with very larg steam and oil engi nes and including high tension
switchgear, mining machinery and machine tool s. He has a hi eved over
55 years' membership of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
ISBN 0-8 5242-843-X
I I
IIII II1 I
6.50 net UK
9 78 085 2 428 436