Tools jigs and Die Design

(MEng5323)
BY FISHA BIRUK (M.Sc.)

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 CHAPTER ONE
1. JIGS AND FIXTURES
1.1: introduction
 jigs:
 its is defined as the device which holds and positions the workplace,
locates or guides the cutting tool related to the workplace and usually is not
fixed on the machine table.
 Jigs are usually fitted with hardened steel bushings for guiding drills or other
cutting tools.
 The primary purpose of a jig is for repeatability and exact duplication of a
part for reproduction.
 The most-common jigs are drill and boring jigs.
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 fixtures:
 is a device for locating, holding and supporting a workpiece during a
manufacturing operation.
 These work holders are designed for applications where the cutting tools
cannot be guided as easily as a drill.
 With fixtures, an edge finder, center finder, or gage blocks position the
cutter.
 A fixture should be securely fastened to the table of the machine upon
which the work is done.

 Purpose Of Using Fixtures And Jigs:

For a machining work, like drilling a through hole of given diameter eccentrically
in a pre machined mild steel disk as shown in Figure below:

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 conventional drilling machine without using any fixture or jig, the following
elementary steps are to be sequentially followed:
 cleaning and de-burring the blank (disc)
 marking on the blank showing the location of the hole and its axis on the
blank.
 punch the centre at the desired location and prick punch the periphery of
the hole to be made in the disc.
 mount the blank in a drilling vice using parallel block, a small Vee block etc.
to provide support and clamp the blank firmly. 4
  position the vice along with the marked blank to bring the hole axis in
alignment with the drill axis.
 after fixing the blank, vise and the table, alignment is checked again.
 if error, like eccentricity, is found to occur then readjustment of location of
the hole axis is to be done before and even after starting drilling.
 drilling is accomplished.
Therefore it appears that so many operations are needed to be carried out
carefully and skillfully by the machinist or operator for such a simple job.
 The basic purposes of developing and using suitable jigs and fixtures for batch
production in machine shops are:
 to eliminate marking, punching, positioning, alignments etc.
 easy, quick and consistently accurate locating, supporting and clamping the
blank in alignment of the cutting tool.
 guidance to the cutting tool like drill, reamer etc.
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  increase in productivity and maintain product quality consistently.
 to reduce operator’s labour and skill – requirement
 to reduce measurement and its cost
 enhancing technological capacity of the machine tools
 reduction of overall machining cost and also increase in interchangeability.

1.2: Design Considerations For Jigs And Fixtures

 jigs and fixtures are comprised of several elements (as indicated in the
following Figure):
 base and body or frame with clamping features.
 locating elements for proper positioning and orientation of the blank.
 supporting surfaces and base.
 clamping elements.
 tool guiding frame and bushes (for jig)
 indexing plates or systems, if necessary. 6
 auxiliary elements.
 fastening parts.

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1.2.1:Principles And Methods Of Locating, Supporting And
Clamping Blanks And Tool Guidance In Jigs And Fixtures
the main functions of the jigs and fixtures are :
I. easily, quickly, firmly and consistently accurately
 locating
 supporting and
 clamping
the blank(in the jig or fixture) in respect to the cutting tool(s)
II. providing guidance to the slender cutting tools using proper bushes.
 Any solid body may have maximum twelve degrees of freedom. By properly
locating, supporting and clamping the blank its all degrees of freedom are to be
arrested as typically shown in the following Figure

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 The three adjacent locating surfaces of the blank (workpiece) are resting
against 3, 2 and 1 pins respectively, which prevent 9 degrees of freedom.
 The rest three degrees of freedom are arrested by three external forces usually
provided directly by clamping.
1. Locating – principles and methods
 Some basic principles or rules need to be followed while planning for locating
blanks in jigs and fixtures, such as:
 One or more surfaces (preferably machined) and / or drilled / bored
hole(s) are to be taken for reference.
 The reference surfaces should be significant and important feature(s)
based on which most of the dimensions are laid down.
 Locating should be easy, quick and accurate.
 In case of locating by pin, the pins and their mounting and contact points
should be strong, rigid and hard. 10
 A minimum of three point must be used to locate a horizontal flat surface.
 The locating pins should be as far apart as feasible.
 Vee block and cones should be used for self-locating solid and hollow
cylindrical jobs.

 Sight location is applicable to first – operation location of blank with

irregular surfaces produced by casting, forging etc.

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• Preventing Improper Loading Foolproofing prevents improper
loading of a workpiece.
• The problem is most prevalent with parts that are symmetrical
or located concentrically. The simplest way to foolproof a
workholder is to position one or two pins in a location that
ensures correct orientation

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I. General methods of locating
 Locating blanks for machining in lathes:
In lathes, where the job rotates, the blanks are located by:
 fitting into self centering chuck .
 fitting into 4 – independent jaw chuck and dead centre.
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  in between live and dead centers
 by using mandrel fitted into the head stock – spindle
 fitting in a separate fixture which is properly clamped on a driving plate
which is coaxially fitted into the lathe spindle.
 Locating for machining in other than lathes:
In machines other than lathe the blank is located in several ways which include the
followings :
 Locating by flat surfaces: the following Figure typically shows locating jobs
by their flat surfaces using various types of flat ended pins and buttons.

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 Locating by holes: In several cases, work pieces are located by pre
machined (drilled, bored or pierced) holes, such as;
i. Locating by two holes where one of the pins has to be diamond shaped to
accommodate tolerance on the distance between the holes and their
diameters.

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ii. Locating by one hole and an external pin which presents rotation of the blank
around the inner pin.

iii. Locating by one hole and one Vee-block

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  Locating on mandrel or plug: Ring or disc type work pieces are
conveniently located on mandrel or single plug:

2. Supporting – principles and methods

 Basic principles or rules to be followed while designing or planning for
supporting:
 supporting should be provided at least at three points
 supporting elements and system have to be enough strong and rigid to
prevent deformation due to clamping and cutting forces.
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 unsupported span should not be large to cause sagging.

 supporting should keep the blank in stable condition under the forces.

 for supporting large flat area proper recess is to be provided. (for chip cont.)

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 round or cylindrical work pieces should be supported (along with locating)
on strong vee block of suitable size.
 heavy work pieces with pre-machined bottom surface should be supported
on wide flat areas, otherwise on flat ended strong pins or plugs.
 if more than three pins are required for supporting large work pieces then
the additional supporting pins are to be spring loaded or adjustable.
 additional adjustable supporting pins need to be provided
∗ to compensate part size variation.
∗ when the supporting surface is large and irregular.
∗ when clamping and cutting forces are large.

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 Common methods of supporting job in jigs and fixtures
 supporting on vices.
 supporting on flat surfaces/ blocks.

 supporting by fixed pins.

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 additional supporting by adjustable pins and plugs or jack screws.

 supporting (and locating) on vee blocks and mandrels.

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3. Clamping of workpiece in jigs and fixtures
 While designing for clamping the following factors essentially need
to be considered :
 clamping need to be strong and rigid enough to hold the blank firmly
during machining.
 clamping should be easy, quick and consistently adequate.
 clamping should be such that it is not affected by vibration, chatter or
heavy pressure.
 the way of clamping and unclamping should not hinder loading and
unloading the blank in the jig or fixture.
 the clamp and clamping force must not damage or deform the workpiece.
 clamping operation should be very simple and quick acting when the jig
or fixture is to be used more frequently and for large volume of work.
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 clamps, which move by slide or slip or tend to do so during applying
clamping forces, should be avoided.
 clamping system should comprise of less number of parts for ease of
design, operation and maintenance.
 the wearing parts should be hard or hardened and also be easily
replaceable.
 clamping force should act on heavy part(s) and against supporting and
locating surfaces.
 clamping force should be away from the machining thrust forces.
 clamping method should be fool proof and safe.
 clamping must be reliable but also inexpensive.

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3.1: Various methods of clamping
Clamping method and system are basically of two categories :
a. general type without much consideration on speed of clamping operations.
 strap type clamping: The clamping end of the strap is pressed against a spring
which enables quick unclamping.

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Clamping from side for unobstructed (prevent side movement) through machining
(like milling, planing and broaching) of the top surface. Some commonly used such
clamping are shown below.

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 Clamping by swing plates
They are simple and relatively quick in operation but it is suitable for jobs of
relatively smaller size, simpler shape and requiring lesser clamping forces.

Other conventional clamping methods include :

∗ Vices like drilling and milling vices
∗ Magnetic chucks
∗ Chucks and collets for lathe work 26
b. Quick clamping methods and systems
 quick acting nut
Use of quick acting nut a typical of such nut and its application is visualized
schematically in following figure:

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 Cam clamping
 It is very effective and very simple in operation. Some popular methods
and systems of clamping by cam are shown in the following figure:

 The cam and screw type clamping

 The cam and screw type clamping

system is used for clamping through
some interior parts where other simple
system will not have access.
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 Quick multiple clamping by pivoted clamps

 Quick multiple clamping by pivoted clamps in series and parallel. This

method is shown in the following figure and it is capable to simultaneously
clamp number of rods even with slight diameter variation.

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 bayonet type clamp

 Light but quick clamping by bayonet type clamp is also indicated in following
figure:

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1.2.2: Drill – jig bushing
The factors to be considered while designing for jig – bushing, are:
 The bushes, used to guide and properly locate drills, reamers etc. are
generally made of carbon or alloy steel and made wear resistive by hardening
to RC60 and above. Often bushes are also made from grey cast iron for
antifriction and protection of the tools.
 The hardened jig bushes are finished outside by grinding and inside by
grinding and lapping if high precision is insisted.
 The bush’s length should be sufficient (≥ twice drill diameter) and its
diameter should be slightly larger than the drill diameter.
 Design and construction should enable easy and quick proper fitting and
removal or replacement of the bushes.
 Bushes should not come out from its seat along with the drill during its
return. 31
I. Types of jig bushes
 Depending upon nature of fitting, quick mounting and replacement, job
requirement etc. jig bushes are classified into several types.
 Press fitted type
 Slip type
 Screwed type
 Bushes may be:
 Without head
 With head
 With a flange being screwed on the bracket
These are indicated on the following figure

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 Frequently replaceable bushes are provided with some locking system

 Some special jig bushings are often designed and used as and when required as
indicated

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 Many other types are possible and made depending upon the working
situation and critical requirements.

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1.3: TYPES OF JIGS
 Drill jigs may be divided into two general types, open and closed.
 Open jigs are for simple operations where work is done on only one side of the
part or sometimes two sides of a workpiece.
 Closed jigs, on the other hand, operate on two or more sides.
 The most-common open jigs are template jigs, plate jigs, table jigs, sandwich
jigs, and angle plate jigs. Typical examples of closed jigs include box jigs, channel
jigs, and leaf jigs.
1.3.1: Template jigs
 They are normally used for accuracy rather than speed.
 This type of jig fits over, on, or into the work and is not usually clamped.
 They are the least expensive and simplest type of jig to use.
 They may or may not have bushings. When bushings are not used, the whole jig
plate is normally hardened. 36
1.3.2: Plate jigs
 Plate jigs are similar to templates. The only difference is that plate jigs have
built-in clamps to hold the work.
 These jigs can also be made with or without bushings. 37
1.3.3: Table jig
 Plate jigs are sometimes made with legs to raise the jig off the table for large
work. This style is called a table jig.

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1.3.4: Sandwich jigs
 Sandwich jigs are a form of plate jig with a back plate .This type of jig is ideal
for thin or soft parts that could bend or warp in another style of jig.
 Here again, the use of bushings is determined by the number of parts to be
made.

1.3.5: Angle-plate jigs

 Angle-plate jigs are used to hold parts that are machined at right angles to their
mounting locators.
 Pulleys, collars, and gears are some of the parts that use this type of jig.
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1.3.6: Modified angle-plate jig
 It is used for machining angles other than 90 degrees.

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1.3.7: Box jigs
 Box jigs, or tumble jigs, usually totally surround the part.
 This style of jig allows the part to be completely machined on every surface
without the need to reposition the work in the jig.

1.3.8: Channel jigs

 Channel jigs are the simplest form of box jig.
The work is held between two sides and
machined from the third side.
In some cases, where jig feet are used, the
work can be machined on three sides. 41
1.3.9:Leaf jigs
 Leaf jigs are small box jigs with a hinged leaf to allow for easier loading and
unloading.
 The main differences between leaf jigs and box jigs are size and part location.
 Leaf jigs are normally smaller than box jigs and are sometimes made so that
they do not completely surround the part.
 They are usually equipped with a handle for easier movement.

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1.3.10: Indexing jigs
 Indexing jigs are used to accurately space holes or other machined areas
around a part. To do this, the jig uses either the part itself or a reference plate and
a plunger.

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1.3.11: Trunnion jigs
 Trunnion jigs are a form of rotary jig for very large or odd-shaped parts.
 The part is first put into a box-type carrier and then loaded on the trunnion.
 This jig is well suited for large, heavy parts that must be machined with several
separate plate type jigs.

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1.3.11: Multistation jigs
 Multistation jigs are made in any of the forms already discussed. The main
feature of this jig is how it locates the work. While one part is drilled, another can
be reamed and a third counter bored.
 The final station is used for unloading the finished parts and loading fresh parts.
 This jig is commonly used on multiple-spindle machines.

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1.4: TYPES OF FIXTURES
1.4.1: Plate fixtures
 Plate fixtures are the simplest form of fixture.
 The basic fixture is made from a flat plate that has a variety of clamps and
locators to hold and locate the part.
 The simplicity of this fixture makes it useful for most machining operations.

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1.4.2: Angle-plate fixture
 The angle-plate fixture is a variation of the plate fixture. With this tool, the part
is normally machined at a right angle to its locator.

1.4.3: Modified angle-plate fixture

 there are times when angles other than 90 degree are needed. In these cases,
a modified angle-plate fixture can be used.

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1.4.4: Vise-jaw fixtures
 Vise-jaw fixtures are used for machining small parts. With this type of tool, the
standard vise jaws are replaced with jaws that are formed to fit the part.
 Vise-jaw fixtures are the least expensive type of fixture to make.

1.4.5: Indexing fixtures

 Indexing fixtures are very similar to indexing jigs.
 These fixtures are used for machining parts that must have machined details
evenly spaced.
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 Parts machined with an indexing fixture are shown below:

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1.5: Design And Construction of A Fixture Or Jig
 Task 1: A fixture or jig has to be designed and built for drilling a through hole in
pre-machined mild steel at a given distance from one end face as indicated in the
following figure.

Planning in steps for design and construction of a jig or fixture suitable for the
purpose
 whether fixture or jig ?
 Since a hole has to be drilled precisely at a particular location within
tolerance a suitable drill – guide will be necessary. So it has to be a jig. 50
 Positioning and orientation
 Since a diametral through hole has to be drilled perpendicular to the rod
axis, and the drill axis in the machine is vertical, the suitable orientation of the
job in the jig and against the drill axis will be horizontal.

 Locating the blank in the jig and w.r.t. the drill – axis

The facts that:

 The blanks are straight cylindrical and pre-machined
 Blank diameter may vary though within a tolerance and
 The blank axis is to be horizontal
clearly justify that the basic locating by V – block will be appropriate

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  To essentially maintain the desired distance of the hole-axis from one
machined face of the block, a pin has also to be used for axial location and it
should be adjustable type for likely variation in the part length

 Supporting the blank against forces

 Since the blanks are solid steel rods of favorable L/D ratio and it has been
reasonably decided to locate it on V – block, the same V – block can be used for
the desired support.

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  In that case the V – block need to be enough strong and rigid and also
provided with necessary recess or relief at the central portion as indicated in
following figure

 Clamping

 Clamping system should be, as far as possible, simple and quick but also
need to be strong, rigid and stable.
 Clamping should not also obstruct or hamper blank’s loading and unloading
as well as machining work. 53
 Keeping all such factors a cam – clamping may be selected.
 The clamping plug should retreat sufficiently from the blank for its easier
removal and entering of the next blank. A spring can be used.
 For more effective and stable clamping on cylindrical surface, a pivoted
clamping would be more suitable

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 Tool guidance
 Since it is drilling and over a deep hole, specially on a cylindrical surface,
tool guidance must be provided as the shown on the following figure. which
also shows holding of the slip type bush by a pin for replacement of the bush

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 Consistent effective locating and ejection
 It is to be assured that the locating pin is in proper contact with the locating
surface and preferably under the same amount of force all the time.
 This can be done by applying a spring loaded force on the blank and against
the locating pin.
 Such pushing system, again, should not hinder placing and removal of the
blank in and from the jig or fixture.
 One of the possible method is using the swing type lever holding the spring
loaded pushing pin and it can be manually operated with the help of a spring
and a stop pin.
 For easy removal of the machined job from the jig or fixture an ejector may
be used.
 such an ejector used to facilitate unloading of the job after sequentially
withdrawing the tool and the clamping unit and shifting the push lever. 56
 Next step, for the design will be selection of materials for various parts
and determination of their dimensions based on strength and rigidity.

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Task 2: A through rectangular section slot has to be cut on a rod as shown in
following figure. A fixture or jig is to be designed for cutting the slot in batch
production

 It will be a fixture, not jig, since there is no need of making holes.

 A slot milling cutter of width equal to the width of the slot desired has to be
used as shown.
 Since the blank is a cylindrical piece, V – block type system has been used
for locating and supporting.
 The axial location (and supporting) will be accomplished by the axial pin and
the contact will be assured by the swing type spring loaded pusher as shown.
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 Clamping will be done quickly by the cam pressing the strap as shown .
 The fixture holding the workpiece will be properly fixed on the table of the
milling machine and will move along that table.
 After completion of the work, i.e. cutting of the slot, the fixture will be
removed. A spring loaded ejector (cum locator) can also be used as shown in
the figure.

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THE END
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