Lab Session # 2

“To perform turning operation of cylindrical work piece on 3-Jaw chuck lathe
using single point cutting tool.”

1. Introduction
1.1. Lathe Machine
A lathe is a machine tool which rotates the work piece on its axis to perform
various operations such as cutting, sanding, knurling, drilling, or deformation,
facing, turning, with tools that are applied to the work piece to create an object
which has symmetry about an axis of rotation. [1] (“lathe machine,2006”)

Figure 1.2 # Lathe Machine

1.1.1. Parts of Lathe Machine
1-1.1.1 Bed:
Usually made of cast iron. Provides a heavy rigid frame on which all the
main components are mounted.

1-1.1.2 Headstock:
Mounted in a fixed position on the inner ways,
usually at the left end. Using a chuck, it rotates
the work.

1-1.1.3 Spindle:
Hole through the headstock to which bar stock can be fed, which allows
shafts that are up to 2 times the length between lathe centers to be
worked on one end at a time.

1-1.1.4 Chuck:
Allows the mounting of difficult work pieces that are
not round, square or triangular.

1-1.1.5 Tailstock:
Fits on the inner ways of the bed and can slide
towards any position the headstock to fit the length
of the work piece. An optional taper turning
attachment would be mounted to it.

1-1.1.6 Carriage:
Moves on the outer ways. Used for mounting and moving most the cutting
tools.

1-1.1.7 Hand Wheel

Mounted on the traverse slide of the carriage, and uses a hand wheel to
feed tools into the work piece.

1-1.1.8 Tool Post:

To mount tool holders in which the cutting bits are clamped.

1-1.1.9 Lead Screw:

For cutting threads.
 1-1.1.10 Feed Shaft:
Has a keyway, with two reversing pinion gears, either of which can be meshed
with the mating bevel gear to forward or reverse the carriage using a clutch.

1-1.1.11 Gear box:

Inside the headstock, providing multiple speeds with a geometric ratio by
moving levers.

1-1.1.12 Apron:
Attached to the front of the carriage, it has the mechanism and controls for
moving the carriage and cross slide. [2] (“Chern, 1994”)

1.2. Turning Operation

Turning is a form of machining, a material removal process, which is used to
create rotational parts by cutting away unwanted material. The turning
process requires a turning machine or lathe, workpiece, fixture, and cutting tool.

Fig # 1.3 Turning operation

2. Tooling
2.1. Nomenclature
The single point cutting tool made of High-speed steel was used in facing. Such tool has two
parts, the cutting side called the Flank, and the support body called the shank. The Shank of
the tool is clamped into the tool post with the help of screws. The Flank has a one single cutting
point and only that point must be in contact with the workpiece. The minor flank supports the
cutting edge of the tool. In some cases, the tool is made of mild steel but the cutting edge is
coated with a hard material. In others, like this case, the entire tool is made of a hard material.
[3] (“Grimm, 1964”)
 Figure 3: Tool Nomenclature [3]

3. Operations
i. The workpiece is placed in the chuck and the chuck is tightened using a chuck key.
ii. The cutting tool is placed in the tool post and the screws are tightened. The cutting
point of the tool is matched with the center of the workpiece.
iii. The compound rest’s angle is made 0 o on its scale. And the tool angle is made nearly
45o (generally less than 90o).
iv. The tool is moved towards the edge of the workpiece so that it touches the surface.
This point is set as reference on the hand wheel of the carriage.
v. The tool is moved back and the workpiece is rotated.
vi. The carriage hand wheel is moved 1 mm from the reference. This is the depth of cut.
vii. The cross-slide’s hand wheel is moved and the tool is pushed into the workpiece. The
tool cuts off material from the workpiece. This movement should be slow for a better
surface finish.
viii. For automation, after moving the carriage a further 1 mm, the automation lever is
pulled out and then turned to the left. This automatically moves the cross-slide. To set
the feed rate and the movement of the cross-slide towards or away for the workpiece
the gear mechanism on the headstock is used. [4] (“Tool Path”)
 4. Results and conclusions
4.1. Table
Properties Turning
Depth of Cut (mm) 1
Feed Rate of cross slide 0
(mm/s)
Feed Rate of Carriage 0.035
(mm/s)
Rotational Speed (rpm) 375

Tool Angle w.r.t 90o

Compound Rest
Compound rest angle 0o

Diameter of Workpiece 4 mm
reduced
4.2. Discussion and conclusion
4-2.1 Quality Control

The quality of the finished workpiece depends upon the precision of the cuts made. All
measurements should be made using a Vernier caliper. The turning should be done slowly, i.e.
the movement of the tool along the workpiece should be slow for a good surface finish. The
depth of each cut should be small.

4-2.2 Drawbacks and Improvements

The entire process is slow and requires expert labor. It should be fully automated i.e. the
worker only puts in the value of the depth of cut and the rest is up to the software. The tool is
needed to be sharpened time and again so a multi-point tool should be used. The HSS tool is
also expensive. There may be loose hand wheel screws so a depth of 1 mm may not actually be
1 mm.

4-2.3 Conclusions

Lathe Machine is the mechanical engineer’s favored tool. It can produce products of high
precision. Such precision is required to make the Pattern and cores required for casting. Lathe
Machine can produce almost every other complex machine part. It is a complete workshop.
Although the production rate is low but the parts that are made on a Lathe are mostly
5. References
[1] Pan, G., Xu, H., Kwan, C. M., Liang, C., Haynes, L., & Geng, Z. (1996).
Modeling and intellligent chatter control strategies for a lathe machine. Control
Engineering Practice, 4(12), 1647-1658.
[2] Chern, S. T. (1994). U.S. Patent No. 5,309,368. Washington, DC: U.S.
Patent and Trademark Office.

[3] Skoglund, D. M., Petersen, P. S., & Grimm, R. J. (1964). U.S. Patent No.
3,121,357. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
[4] Ramli, R., Yamamoto, H., & Qudeiri, J. A. (2009). Tool path of lathe
machine in flexible transfer lines by using genetic algorithms. International
Journal of Production Economics, 121(1), 72-80.