Name: Siddharth Panpaliya ID No.

: 2017ABPS0995P
Name of the experiment: Study, Design and Analysis of Work rests.

1. Mechanisms: Mounting method and clamping mechanism

To mount a work rest, firstly, the tail stock must be removed from its position. Tail stock is removed by
using a spanner and loosening the bolt which fixes the tail stock. Upon loosening the bolt, slide the tail
stock so that it comes out and then slide in the work rest. Slide till desired location and then tighten the
bolt using the spanner and setup the tail stock by tightening the fixing bolt using a spanner. By this way,
the work rest is clamped on the lathe. To mount a cylindrical workpiece on it, place the workpiece
firmly between the three supports and mount the end of the workpiece on the dead center. By this
way, the middle region of the long workpiece is supported by the three supports of the work rest and
this would prevent wobbling of the long workpieces.
Long slender shafts that tend to whip and spring while they are being machined require the use of a
follower rest. The follower rest is fastened to the carriage and moves with the cutting tool. The
follower rest is often used when long, flexible shafts are threaded.

2. Process of loading and unloading:

To setup the rest and load the workpiece, first machine and polish the portion of the work that is to be
used as the bearing surface. Clean the portion of the ways where the steady rest is to be mounted,
place the steady rest on the ways and clamp loosely. Open the top of the steady rest and place the
workpiece in the chuck with the bearing surface over the adjustable jaws. Clamp the steady rest
securely to the ways. Close the top of the steady rest and adjust the jaws to the workpiece. Tighten the
locking screws on the adjustable jaws.
To unload/ remove the workpiece, open the top of the steady rest and then loosen the jaws of the
chuck on which the workpiece was mounted and firmly and securely remove the workpiece from the
rest.

3. Operation flow chart:

 Name: Siddharth Panpaliya ID No.: 2017ABPS0995P
Name of the experiment: Study, Design and Analysis of Work rests.

[Using spanner, unscrew the nut that fixes the tail stock][Slide the tail stock to the end of the lathe
and remove it from its position][Slide in the follower rest from the same location from where tail
stock was removed][Slide the follower rest to a desired location and tighten the nut using a
spanner][Fix the tail stock again at its position][To mount a workpiece, open the top of the rest,
and place the workpiece on two supports of the rest while clamping the end of the workpieces to the
chuck and dead center respectively][Close the top of the rest and tighten the fixing screws to
securely and firmly mount the job].

4. Time approximation for various activities:

Time to completely unmount and remove the tail stock ~ 110 seconds.
Time to slide in and fix the follower rest ~ 92 seconds.
Time to mount the workpiece on the chuck and to be supported by rest ~ 70 seconds.
Once the desired operation is performed, then
Time to remove the workpiece from chuck and rest ~45 seconds.

5. Types, sizes, and different work material to hold:

The primary usage of work rest is seen in those cases where the workpiece is very long and heavy. Due
to this nature of the workpiece, it tends to wobble because of cantilever effect if it’s mounted using
only a chuck. There would be significant wobbling even if a dead center was used. Thus to provide
support at the center of the workpiece, we provide work rest so that the middle portion of the work
rest can rest on the follower rest. This would ensure that the operator gets the required accuracy, since
he’s completely eliminated wobbling.
 Name: Siddharth Panpaliya ID No.: 2017ABPS0995P
Name of the experiment: Study, Design and Analysis of Work rests.
6. Alternative/modification for device: It was observed that the overall setup time was very large and thus
in turn would have a negative impact on productivity in large scale operations. A probable alternative
could be rather than fixing and clamping the rest by first removing the tail stock and then sliding in the
rest, since support at the middle portion is required, and since the cutting force acts in the direction of
depth of cut (perpendicular to direction of feed), we can add support from the opposite side at the
middle of the workpiece to counter the cutting force and provide stability. This would significantly
reduce the time to setup and increase the productivity.

7. Names of components:
 Steady Rest
 Follower Rest
 Cross Slide
 Tail Stock
 Spanner
 Lathe Bed
 Dead Center
 Tool Post

8. Design criteria (strength, Size, Weight, and finishing operation):

The design of the work rest should ensure that it can support the workpiece and prevent wobbling
while it’s being operated upon. For this, the supports must be rigidly fixed with the body of the rest
because it would be under constant shear stress due to rolling of the workpiece. Slight lubrication at
the interface between workpiece and support would prove useful or else due to subtle interferences,
there might be non-uniformity while performing the operation because the rpm of the chuck would
tend to rotate it at its natural speed but due to friction at support, it may generate heat and lead to job
losing its desired dimensions. The work rest must be strong enough to support the workpiece and to
absorb the vibrations that would generate.

9. Safety and precautions for device and process:

 Carefully remove the tail stock and mount the rest as they are very heavy. Dropping them on
your legs could cause serious injury to it.
 Name: Siddharth Panpaliya ID No.: 2017ABPS0995P
Name of the experiment: Study, Design and Analysis of Work rests.
 Ensure you tighten the fixing screws rigidly so that workpiece is not loosely held, this would
ensure firm support.
 Ensure a safe distance between range where you’ll provide feed and the placement of rest as
this would ensure that operator’s hand movement does not interfere with work rest.
 Ensure that work rest is firmly and rigidly clamped with lathe machine.

10. Possibility of automation:

A mechanism that could effectively remove the tail stock from lathe would prove useful as it would
reduce the setup time substantially. Automation is yet difficult because the only time consuming aspect
of work rest mounting is screwing and unscrewing of the bolt.

11. Can be used in any other machine tools:

Since, one purpose of the steady rest is to prevent springing or deflection of slender, flexible work, it
can be used in punching and blanking operations where a large thin and slender work is fed into the
punching machine to produce washers. This would increase the accuracy as this operation when
conducted manually would lead to slight deviation from original and desired position, thus changing
the dimensions of the washers.
Secondly, it can be used for supporting the work for drilling, boring and internal threading to improve
accuracy.

12. Any modification/ suggestion

Name: Siddharth Panpaliya ID No.: 2017ABPS0995P
Name of the experiment: Study, Design and Analysis of Work rests.

The time required for setting up the work rest needs to be lowered and optimized. This can be done
partially by automation. If automation seems uneconomical, then another probable alternative could be
rather than fixing and clamping the rest by first removing the tail stock and then sliding in the rest, since
support at the middle portion is required, and since the cutting force acts in the direction of depth of cut
(perpendicular to direction of feed), we can add support from the opposite side at the middle of the
workpiece to counter the cutting force and provide stability. This would significantly reduce the time to
setup and increase the productivity. This technique was suggested earlier as well.