Honing

Abrasive process performed by a set of bonded

abrasive sticks using a combination of rotational and
oscillatory motions
•Common application is to finish the bores of internal
combustion engines
•Grit sizes range between 30 and 600
•Surface finishes of 0.12 m (5 -in) or better
•Creates a characteristic cross-hatched surface that
retains lubrication
• Material of stones
Any abrasive material can
Be used for a honing stone

- Same materials like grinding stones (corundum,

SiC, CBN, PCD)
- more precise shape, smaller grain (10-50 μm)
- Cutting fluids are used for lubrication
 Honing – process mechanics
Honing head is
1) Rotating –
reciprocitive
2) Oscilating – up and
down
3) Honing stones are
pushed to the
surface
 Super finishing
• Abrassive process
• Small amount of material is removed by
moving superfinishing stone
• Both cylindrical and planar surfaces
 Superfinishing
• Tool:
Superfinishing stone

Has the negative shape of the machined

surface (or it can be flat for large
surfaces)
Abrasive material again – fine grained (to 20
μm)
 Principle
The superfinishing stone is sliding on a layer of
lubricant on the surface and pushed by certain force

1) The surface is rough – peaks looking out of the

lubracant layer
2) The stone cuts the peaks – the surface for lubricant
is bigger, more sliding
3) The stone cuts all peaks, no more material removal
 Superfinishing - methods
Cylinders
Cones
Flat surface
Shape surface
 Superfinishing - properties
Not improving the geometry!!! (IT remains)
Lower speeds and force than gringing or honing

Method Cut. Speed (m.min-1) Move Presure (MPa)

Grinding 1800-3500 None (infeed) 14-140

50 cycles (length of
Honing 100 - 250 3,5 – 7
hole – 150 mm)

200-1000 cycles (1-

superfinishing 6-14 0,02 – 0,07
5 mm)
 Superfinishing

Lubricant is used to carry away chips and

minimize heat (deformation) – kerosene is
used
 Superfinishing – machine tool
• Superfinishing device
– mounted on lathe

• Superfinishing
Machines – special,
Expensive type (multi-
ple parts, long travel
distance)
 Lapping
• Abrassive process
• Removing very small amount of material
• Removing surface roughness, tool marks and
surface fuzz from grinding
• For all types of surfaces
 Lapping
• Tool:
A flat disc or plate made of cast iron, al-
alloy, copper, brass (low strength
material)

Abrasive particles are carried by an agent –

grease, oil, water (higher viscosity means
higher abrasion)
 Lapping - methods
The lapping tool is rotated (oscilated) and
moved irregularly across the machined surface

- Equalising laping – removing previous surface

shape, flatening (spur, helical gears)
- Forming laping – lap is the negative shape of
the surface
 Lapping - methods
For: Made:
Holes Manually
Flat surfaces mechanically
cylinders
 Lapping - methods
• Flat surfaces
Lapping plate (different sizes, manual,
machine operated
- Moved irregularly along the surface
 Lapping - methods
• Machine lapping
Part are placed between a rotary and stationary lap. Part
are carried by a workpiece holder. Part are placed
excentrically so is the rotating lap.

This makes the parts rotate and move

 Lapping - properties

• Lapping removes all tool traces – improves durability,

lowers friction
• Gives best surface quality (glass, mirror lapping)
 Burnishing
The burnishing process consists of pressing hardened steel rolls or balls into the surface
of the workpiece and imparting a feed motion to the same. Ball burnishing of a
cylindrical surface is illustrated in Fig

During burnishing considerable residual compressive stress is induced in the

surface of the work piece and thereby fatigue strength and wear resistance of the
surface layer increase.
Gear Cutting
28
Casting
• Sand casting, die casting and investment casting are the
casting processes that are best suited for gears and are shown
in fig
Sand Casting
Characteristics:
The characteristics of sand cast gears are,
• Cheaper low quality gear in small numbers
• The tooling costs are reasonable
• Poor Surface finish and dimensional accuracy
• low precision and they are noisy.
• They are suited for non- critical applications

Applications: (without finishing operation)

• Sand casting is used for gear manufacture which are used in variety of applications
such as for toys, small appliances, cement-mixer barrels, hoist gearbox of dam gate
lifting mechanism, hand operated crane etc.,
Materials:
• The materials that can be sand cast are C I, cast steel, bronzes, brass and ceramics. The
process is confined to large gears that are machined later to required accuracy.
Die casting
Characteristics:
The characteristics of die cast gears are,
• Better surface finish and accuracy (tooth spacing and concentricity)
• High tooling costs
• Suited for large scale production Applications:

Applications:
• Gears that are die cast are used in instruments, cameras, washing machines, gear
pumps, small speed reducers, and lawn movers.
Materials:
• Materials used to manufacture these gears are zinc, aluminium and brass. The
gears made from this process are not used for high speeds and heavy tooth
loading. They are normally applied for small size gears.
Investment casting or lost wax process
Characteristics:
The characteristics of gears that are manufactured by investment casting are,
• Reasonably accurate gears
• Applicable for a variety of materials
• Refractory mould material
• Allows high melt-temperature materials
• Accuracy depends on the original master pattern used for the mold.
• Materials:
• Tool steel, nitriding steel, monel, beryllium copper are the materials that
can be investment casted for the manufacture of gears. The process is used
only if no other process is suitable since production cost is high.
Sintering or P/M process:

Characteristics:
• Accuracy similar to die-cast gears
• Material properties can be Tailor made
• Typically suited for small sized gears
• Economical for large lot size only
• Small size high quality external or internal spur, bevel or spiral gears are
also produced by powder metallurgy process.
P/M gear production by hot forging process
Injection Molding:
• Injection molding is used to make nonmetallic gears in various
thermoplastics such as nylon and acetal. These are low
precision gears in small sizes but have the advantages of low
cost and the ability to be run without lubricant at light loads.
Applications:
• Injection molded gears are used in cameras, projectors, wind
shield wipers, speedometer, lawn sprinklers, washing machine.
Materials:
• The materials for injection molding components are Nylon,
cellulose acetate, polystyrene, polyimide, phenolics.
Extruding
• Extruding is used to form teeth on long rods, which are then cut
into usable lengths and machined for bores and keyways etc.
Nonferrous materials such as aluminum and copper alloys are
commonly extruded rather than steels. This result in good
surface finishes with clean edges and pore free dense structure
with higher strength.
Materials:
• Aluminum, copper, naval brass, and phosphor bronze are the
materials that are commonly extruded.
Applications:
• Splined hollow & solid shafts, sector gears are extruded and
various gears
Manufacture of gears by rolling
• The straight and helical teeth of disc or rod type external steel gears of small to
medium diameter and module are generated by cold rolling by either flat dies or
circular dies as shown in Fig. Such rolling imparts high accuracy and surface
integrity of the teeth which are formed by material flow unlike cutting. Gear rolling
is reasonably employed for high productivity and high quality though initial
machinery costs are relatively high. Larger size gears are formed by hot rolling and
then finished by machining
• Blanking in Press tool
• Mass production of small and thin metallic gears requiring less
accuracy and finish are often done by blanking from sheets by
suitably designed die and punch. Such gears are used for
clocks, watches, meters, toys etc. However, quality gears can
also be produced by slight finishing (shaving) after blanking.
 Production of Gear Teeth by Machining

• The most commonly practiced method is preforming the blank by

casting, forging etc. followed by pre-machining to prepare the
gear blank to desired dimensions and then production of the teeth
by machining and further finishing by grinding if necessary.
• Gear teeth are produced by machining based on
ο Forming – where the profile of the teeth are obtained as the replica
of the form of the cutting tool (edge); e.g., milling, broaching etc.
ο Generation – where the complicated tooth profile are provided by
much simpler form cutting tool (edges) through rolling type, tool
– work motions, e.g., hobbing, gear shaping etc.
• GEAR MILLING
• The gear milling operation is used for gear cutting. All types of gears can be
made by using gear milling. Milling cutter is selected specifically for a
particular type of gear and module. The periphery of the gear blank is divided
into required number of equi-spaced parts. The required number of parts
should be equal to the number teeth to be made on the gear blank. The
method of dividing the periphery is called indexing which is an integral part
of the operation of gear milling.
• Gear milling is a slower process of gear generation as compared to other gear
generation process. In this process gear is generated by cutting one-by-one
tooth. Gears are to be made, it is not suitable for larger batch size. The other
methods required very high capital cost and setup cost as compared to gear
milling so these are not economical for smaller batch size, only gear cutting
by milling operation is recommended for smaller batch size.
Gear teeth can be produced by both disc and end mill type form
milling cutter as shown in Fig.
Production of gear teeth by form milling are characterised by :
• use of HSS form milling cutters
• use of ordinary milling machines
• low production rate for
⎯ need of indexing after machining each tooth gap
⎯ slow speed and feed
• low accuracy and surface finish
• inventory problem – due to need of a set of eight cutters for
each module – pressure angle combination.
• End mill type cutters are used for teeth of large gears and / or
module.
• Form milling by disc cutter:
• The disc cutter shape conforms to the gear tooth space. Each
gear needs a separate cutter. However, with 8 to 10 standard
cutters, gears from 12 to 120 teeth can be cut with fair
accuracy. Tooth is cut one by one by plunging the rotating
cutter into the blank
• Form milling by end mill cutter:
• The end mill cutter shape conforms to tooth spacing. Each tooth is cut at a
time and then indexed for next tooth space for cutting. A set of 10 cutters
will do for 12 to 120 teeth gears. It is suited for a small volume production
of low precision gears. To reduce costs, the same cutter is often used for
the multiple-sized gears resulting in profile errors for all but one number of
teeth. Form milling method is the least accurate of all the roughing
methods.
 Production of gear teeth by machining on
Generation principle

• Generation method is characterized by automatic indexing and

ability of a single cutter to cover the entire range of number of
teeth for a given combination of module and pressure angle
and hence provides high productivity and economy.
• In this process gear tooth are accurately sized and shaped by
cutting them by a multipoint cutting tool.
• Various gear shaping processes are listed and then described
below :
• (a) Gear cutting by gear shaper.
• (b) Hobbing process.
• (c) Rack planning process.
 Gear Cutting by Gear Shaper

• This process uses a pinion shaped cutter carrying clearance on the tooth
face and sides and a hole at its centre for mounting it on a stub arbor or
spindle of the machine.
• The cutter is mounted by keeping its axis in vertical position. It is also
made reciprocating along the vertical axis up and down with adjustable and
predecide amplitude.
• The cutter and the gear blank both are set to rotate at very low rpm about
their respective axis. The relative rpm of both (cutter and blank) can be
fixed to any of the available value with the help of a gear train. This way
all the cutting teeth of cutter come is action one-by-one giving sufficient
time for their cooling and incorporating a longer tool life
• . The specific advantages of the process over other processes, its product
cycle time is very low and negligible dimensional variability from one unit
to other in case of mass production.
Gear shaping – the principle

49
Gear shaping – a circular cutter

50
• The main parameters to be controlled in the process are described below.
Cutting Speed
• Shaper cutter can move vertically upward and downward during the operation. The
downward during the operation. The downward movement of the cutter is the cutting
stroke and its speed (linear) with which it comes down is the cutting speed. After the
completion of cutting stroke, cutter comes back to its top position which is called return
stroke. There is no cutting in the return stroke. Length of cutting stroke can be adjusted
to any value out of available values on the machine.
Indexing Motion
• Indexing motion is equivalent to feed motion in the gear shaping operation. Slow
rotations of the gear cutter and workpiece provide the circular feed to the operation.
These two rpms are adjusted with the help of a change gear mechanism. The rpm are
relatively adjusted such that each rotation of the cutter the gear blank revolves through
revolution. n/N
• where n =Number of teeth of cutter, and
N = Number of teeth to be cut on the blank.
Depth of Cut
• Indexing movement or circular feed and reciprocating motions
continue until the required numbers of teeth to the required depth
are made all along the periphery of the gear blank. The required
depth is maintained gradually by cutting the teeth into two or
three pass. In each successive pass, the depth of cut is increased
as compared to its previous path. This gradual increase in depth
of cut takes place by increasing the value of linear feed in return
stroke.
Advantages of Gear Shaping Process
• (a) Shorter product cycle time and suitable for making
medium and large sized gears in mass production.
• (b) Different types of gears can be made except worm and
worm wheels.
• (c) Close tolerance in gear cutting can be maintained.
• (d) Accuracy and repeatability of gear tooth profile can be
maintained comfortably.
• (e) For same value of gear tooth module a single type of
cutter can be used irrespective of number of teeth in the gear.
Limitations
• (a) It cannot be used to make worm and work wheel
which is a particular type of gear.
• (b) There is no cutting in the return stroke of the gear
cutter, so there is a need to make return stroke faster
than the cutting stroke.
• (c) In case of cutting of helical gears, a specially
designed guide containing a particular helix and helix
angle, corresponding to the teeth to be made, is always
needed on urgent basis.
 Hobb Wear
• Wear is generally caused by the continued use of
tool´s cutting edges during machining operations.
The types of wear caused by various types of
stresses on cutting edges are:
• Abrasion flank wear.
• Flank wear (hollow corner)
• Chipping.
• Cutting-edge rounding.
• Crater or pit
 Gear Hobbing Process

• Gear hobbing is done by using a multipoint cutting tool called gear hob.
• It looks like a worm gear having a number of straight flutes all around its
periphery parallel to its axis. These flutes are so shaped by giving proper
angles to them so that these work as cutting edges.
• In gear hobbing operation, the hob is rotated at a suitable rpm and
simultaneously fed to the gear blank.
• The gear blank is alos kept as revolving. Rpm of both, gear blank and gear
hob are so synchronized that for each revolution of gear bob the gear blank
rotates by a distance equal to one pitch distance of the gear to be cut.
Motion of both gear blank and hob are maintained continuously and
steady.
• The hob teeth behave like screw threads, having a definite helix angle.
During operation the hob is tilted to helix angle so that its cutting edges
remain square with the gear blank.
• Gear hobbing is used for making a wide variety of gears like spur gear,
helical, hearing-bone, splines and gear sprockets, etc.
Hobbing cutter
Hobbing cutter

60
61
Gear hobbing machine tool

62
Spur Gear Hobbing and Helical gear Hobbing

• The aims of hob are set at an inclination equal to the helix angle of the hob
with the vertical axis of the blank. If a helical gear is to be cut, the hob axis
is set at an inclination equal to the sum of the helix angle of the hob and
the helix angle of the helical gear. Proper gear arrangement is used to
maintain rpm ratio of gear blank and hob.
• The operation of gear hobbing involves feeding the revolving hob till it
reaches to the required depth of the gear tooth. Simultaneously it is fed in a
direction parallel to the axis of rotation.
 Methods of Gear Hobbing

• The process of gear hobbing is classified into different types according to

the directions of feeding the hob for gear cutting. The classification is
described as given below.
• Hobbing with Axial Feed
• In this process the gear hob is fed against the gear blank along the face of
the blank and parallel to its axis. This is used to make spur and helical
gears.
• Hobbing with Radial Feed
• In this method the hob and gear blanks are set with their axis normal to
each other. The rotating hob is fed against the gear blank in radial direction
or perpendicular to the axis of gear blank. This method is used to make the
worm wheels.
• Hobbing with Tangential Feed
• This is also used for cutting teeth on worm wheel. In this case, the hob is
held with its axis horizontal but at right angle to the axis of the blank. The
hob is set at full depth of the tooth and then fed forward axially. The hob is
fed tangential to the face of gear blank.
 Advantages of gear hobbing process

Advantages of gear hobbing process are

described below :
• (a) Gear hobbing is a fast and continuous process so it is
realized as economical process as compared to other gear
generation processes.
• (b) Lower production cycle time, i.e. faster production
rate.
• (c) Capable to make wide variety of gears like spur gear,
helical gears, worms, splines, sprockets, etc.
• (d) Several gear blanks, mounted on the same arbor, can be processed
simultaneously.
• (e) Hob is multipoint cutting tool having multi cutting teeth or edges at a
time few number of cutting edges work so lots of time is available to
dissipate the generated heat. There is no over heating and cutting tool.

• Limitation

• That is manufacturing of internal gears is not possible.

 Gear Shaping by Rack Shaped Cutter

• In this method, gear cutting is done by a rack shaped cutter called rack
cutter. The working is similar to shaping process done by gear type
cutter.
• The process involves rotation (low rpm) of the gear blank as the rack
type cutter reciprocates along a vertical line.
• Cutting is done only in the downward stroke, the upward stroke is
only a return movement.
• The main difference of this method with the Gear shaping is that once
the full length of the rack is utilized the gear cutting of operation is
stopped to bring the gear blank to its starting position so that another
pass of gear cutting can be started. So this operation is intermittent for
cutting larger gears having large number of teeth over their periphery.
Sunderland method using rack type cutter(Gear
planning)
• GEAR MILLING
• The gear milling operation is used for gear cutting. All types of gears can be
made by using gear milling. Milling cutter is selected specifically for a
particular type of gear and module. The periphery of the gear blank is
divided into required number of equi-spaced parts. The required number of
parts should be equal to the number teeth to be made on the gear blank.
The method of dividing the periphery is called indexing which is an integral
part of the operation of gear milling
• Gear milling is a slower process of gear generation as compared to other
gear generation process. In this process gear is generated by cutting one-by-
one tooth. Gears are to be made, it is not suitable for larger batch size. The
other methods required very high capital cost and setup cost as compared to
gear milling so these are not economical for smaller batch size, only gear
cutting by milling operation is recommended for smaller batch size.
Producing external teeth by form milling cutters (a) disc type and
(b) end mill type

(a) disc type (b) end mill type

 Gear Cutting Equipment
• Metal Lathe
• Horizontal Mill
• Horizontal Cutoff Saw
• Indexing Head
• Drill Bit
• Gear Involute Cutter
• Gear Blank & Mandrel
 Gear Cutting Equipment
Horizontal Mill Saw Cutoff Band Saw
 Gear Cutting Equipment

Metal Lathe

Drill

Gear Tooth
Gage
Gear
Blank
Gear Cutter
Mandrel
Horizontal Cutoff Saw

Cutting Gear Blank

Metal Lathe Used To Face Sides Of Gear
Blank And Drill A 1” Hole
Rough Gear Blank Mounted On A Mandrel
 Mandrel And Gear Blank Assembly Mounted
On The Lathe

Turned To Finished Gear

Diameter And Thickness
Indexing Head Used To Exactly Position Gear
Blank To Cut Each Tooth
 Math Gear Calculations

• N = 32 Teeth

• 40 Turns Of The Dividing Head Hand Crank Equals 1

Revolution Of The Gear Blank
– Turns = 40/32 = 10/8 = 5/4 = 1 And 1/4 Turns
 Math Gear Calculations

• Using a 20 hole plate 1/4 turn = 20/4 = 5 spaces in

plate.
20 Hole Indexing Plate Mounted
On Indexing Head
Horizontal Mill Set Up With Indexing Head,
Mandrel & Gear Blank
Horizontal Mill Set Up To Cut Gear
Gear Blank Aligned With Gear Involute Cutter
Gear Involute Cutter Cutting Gear
Checking Finished Gear With Involute Gage
Measuring Finished Gear
 Finishing of Gear Teeth

• For smooth running, good performance and long service life, the gears need
• to be accurate in dimensions and forms
• to have high surface finish and
• to be hard and wear resistive at their tooth flanks
• Gears produced to near-net-shape by die casting, powder metallurgy,
extrusion, blanking etc. need little finishing.
• But machined and hardened gear teeth are essentially finished for accuracy
and surface finish.
• Common methods of gear teeth finishing Gear teeth, after Preforming and
machining, are finished generally by;
For soft and unhardened gears
• gear shaving
• gear rolling or burnishing
For hard and hardened gears
• grinding
• lapping
For soft but precision gears
• shaving followed by surface hardening and then lapping
 Gear shaving

• The teeth of straight or helical toothed external spur gears and worm wheels of
moderate size and made of soft materials like aluminium alloy, brass, bronze, cast iron
etc. and unhardened steels are mostly finished by shaving process.
• Fig.2 shows the different types of shaving cutters which while their finishing action
work apparently as a spur gear, rack or worm in mesh with the conjugate gears to be
finished.
• All those gear, rack or worm type shaving cutters are of hard steel or HSS and their
teeth are uniformly serrated as shown in Fig. 2 to generate sharp cutting edges.
• While interacting with the gears, the cutting teeth of the shaving cutter keep on
smoothening the mating gear flanks by fine machining to high accuracy and surface
finish.
• The action between gear and cutter is a combination of rolling and sliding. Vertical
serrations in the cutter teeth take fine cuts from the profiles of the gear teeth.
• Shaving is done by two basic methods: rack and rotary
Shaving of gears. (a) Work gear
in mesh with shaving cutter. (b)
Serrated gear-shaving cutter
Fig 2 Gear shaving cutters of (a) spur gear type (b) rack
Gear rolling or burnishing
• In this method the machined gear is rolled under pressure with three hardened
master gears of high accuracy and finish. The minute irregularities of the machined
gear teeth are smeared off by cold plastic flow, which also helps in improving the
surface integrity of the desired teeth.
Gear teeth grinding
• Grinding is a very accurate method and is, though relatively expensive,
more widely used for finishing teeth of different type and size of gears of
hard material or hardened surfaces. The properly formed and dressed
wheel finishes the gear teeth flanks by fine machining or abrading action
of the fine abrasives.
• Gear grinding is done on two principles
• Δ Forming
• Δ Generation, which is more productive and accurate
Gear teeth finishing by lapping
• The lapping process only corrects minute deviations from the desired gear
tooth profiles. The gear to be finished after machining and heat treatment
and even after grinding is run in mesh with a gear shaped lapping tool or
another mating gear of cast iron. An abrasive lapping compound is used in
between them. The gear tooth contact substantially improves by such
lapping.
Production Of Screw Threads – Possible Methods And Their Characteristics

• Casting
characteristics;
o only a few threads over short length
o less accuracy and poor finish
o example – threads at the mouth of glass bottles, spun cast iron pipes etc.
• Forming (Rolling)
characteristics;
o blanks of strong ductile metals like steels are rolled between threaded dies
o large threads are hot rolled followed by finishing and smaller threads are
straight cold rolled to desired finish
o cold rolling attributes more strength and toughness to the threaded parts
o widely used for mass production of fasteners like bolts, screws etc.
• Removal process (Machining)
o accomplished by various cutting tools in different machine tools like lathes,
milling machines, drilling machines (with tapping attachment) etc.
o widely used for high accuracy and finish
o employed for wide ranges of threads and volume of production; from piece
to mass production.
• Semifinishing and finishing (Grinding)
characteristics :
o usually done for finishing (accuracy and surface) after
performing by machining or hot rolling but are often employed
for direct threading on rods
o precision threads on hard or surface hardened components
are finshed or directly produced by grinding only
o employed for wide ranges of type and size of threads and
volume of production
• Precision forming to near – net – shape
characteristics :
o no machining is required, slight grinding is often done, if
needed for high accuracy and finish
o application – investment casting for job order or batch
production
– injection moulding (polymer) for batch or mass production
 Threading Dies

• Used to cut external threads on round

work
• Most common threading dies
– Adjustable split die
– Adjustable screw plate die
– Solid die
• Used for chasing or recutting damaged
threads
• May be driven by suitable wrench
• Not adjustable
24-99
 Threading Dies
• Adjustable split die
– Has adjusting screw that permits adjustment over or
under standard depth of thread
– Fits into die stock

• Adjustable screw plate die

– Two die halves held in
collet by threaded plate
– Adjusting screws against
each die half
– Greater adjustment than split die
 To Thread With a Hand Die

1. Chamfer end of workpiece with file or on grinder

2. Fasten work securely in vise
3. Select proper die and die stock
4. Lubricate tapered end of die with suitable cutting
lubricant
5. Place tapered end of die squarely on workpiece

24-102
6. Press down on die stock handles and turn
clockwise several turns
7. Check die to see that it has started
squarely with work
8. If not square, remove die and restart
9. Turn die forward one turn and reverse it
approximately one-half turn to break chip
10. During threading process, apply cutting
fluid frequently
 TAPPING
•Internal screw threads of usually small size are cut manually, if needed,
in plates, blocks, machine parts etc. by using taps which look and behave
like a screw but made of tool steel or HSS and have sharp cutting edges
produced by axial grooving over the threads .

•Three taps namely, taper tap, plug tap and bottoming tap are used
consecutively after drilling a tap size hole through which the taps are
axially pushed helically with the help of a handle or wrench.

•Threads are often tapped by manually rotating and feeding the taps
through the drilled hole in the blank held in lathe spindle.

•The quality of such external and internal threads will depend upon the
perfection of the taps or dies and skill of the operator.
 Hand Taps
• Cutting tools used to cut internal threads
• Made from high quality tool steel,
hardened and ground
• Two, three, or four flutes cut lengthwise
across threads to form cutting edges
– Provide room for chips
– Admit cutting fluid to lubricate tap
• End of shank square so tap wrench can be
used to turn tap into hole
24-106
Tapping and Die cutting
 Hand Taps: Sets of Three
• Taper
– Tapered from end six threads
– Used to start thread easily
– Used for tapping hole that goes through
work as well as blind hole
• Plug
– Tapered for three threads
– Tread hole through workpiece
• Bottoming tap
– Not tapered but chamfered at end
– Used for threading to bottom of blind hole
 To Tap Hole By Hand

1. Select correct taps and tap wrench for job

2. Apply suitable cutting fluid to the tap
• No fluid required for tapping brass or cast iron
3. Place tap in hole as vertically as possible; press
downward on wrench, applying equal pressure on both
handles; turn clockwise (for right-hand thread) for two
turns

24-109
4. Remove tap wrench and check tap for squareness
• Check two positions at 90º to each other
5. If tap not entered squarely, remove from hole and restart
it by applying pressure in direction from which tap
leans
6. When tap properly started, feed it into hole by turning
tap wrench
7. Turn tap clockwise one-quarter turn, and turn it
backward about ½ turn to break the chip (must turn with
steady motion)
 Thread Whirling

Often it becomes necessary to machine large threads on one or very few pieces of heavy
blanks of irregular size and shape like heavy casting or forging of odd size and shape. In
such cases, the blank is mounted on face plate in a centre lathe with proper alignment. The
deep and wide threads are produced by intermittent cutting action by a rotating tool. A
separate attachment carrying the rotating tool is mounted on the saddle and fed as usual by
the lead screw of the centre lathe. Fig. shows schematically the principles of threading by
rotary tools. The tool is rotated fast but the blank much slowly. This intermittent cut enables
more effective lubrication and cooling of the tool.
Production of screw threads by thread rolling
In production of screw threads, compared to machining thread rolling,
• is generally cold working process
• provides higher strength to the threads
• does not cause any material loss
• does not require that high accuracy and finish of the blank
• requires simpler machines and tools
• applicable for threads of smaller diameter, shorter length and finer pitch
• enables much faster production of small products like screws, bolts, studs etc.
• cannot provide that high accuracy
• is applicable for relatively softer metals
• is used mostly for making external screw threads
• needs separate dies for different threads

Thread rolling is accomplished by shifting work material by plastic deformation, instead of

cutting or separation, with the help of a pair of dies having same threads desired..
Different types of dies and methods are used for thread rolling which include,
• Thread rolling between two flat dies
• Thread rolling between a pair of circular dies
• Thread rolling by sector dies
 THREAD CUTTING-lathe

The process of thread cutting is to produce a helical groove on

a cylindrical surface by feeding the tool longitudinally.
In production of screw threads, compared to machining thread rolling,
• is generally cold working process
• provides higher strength to the threads
• does not cause any material loss
• does not require that high accuracy and finish of the blank
• requires simpler machines and tools
• applicable for threads of smaller diameter, shorter length and finer pitch
• enables much faster production of small products like screws, bolts, studs etc.
• cannot provide that high accuracy
• is applicable for relatively softer metals
• is used mostly for making external screw threads
• needs separate dies for different threads
Thread rolling is accomplished by shifting work material by plastic deformation, instead
of cutting or separation, with the help of a pair of dies having same threads desired..
Different types of dies and methods are used for thread rolling which include,
• Thread rolling between two flat dies
• Thread rolling between a pair of circular dies
• Thread rolling by sector dies
 Rolling of external screw threads by flat dies
The basic principle is schematically shown in Fig. Flat dies; one fixed and the other
moving parallely, are used in three configurations :
Δ Horizontal : most convenient and common
Δ Vertical : occupies less space and facilitates cleaning and lubrication under
gravity
Δ Inclined : derives benefit of both horizontal and vertical features
All the flat dies are made of hardened cold die steel and provided with linear
parallel threads like grooves of geometry as that of the desired thread.
Thread rolling by circular dies
• Circular die sets occupy less space and are simpler in design, construction,
operation and maintenance. The two identical circular dies with parallel axis
are rotated in the same direction and speed as indicated in Fig. One stays fixed
in a position the other is moved radially desirably depending upon the thread
depth
• Thread rolling by circular die sector
• Thread rolling by circular die sector This method, schematically shown in Fig., is
the simplest and fastest way of thread rolling enabling easy auto-feed of the blanks.
Finishing and production of screw threads by grinding
In production of screw threads, grinding is employed for two purposes;
• Finishing the threads after machining or even rolling when
o High dimensional and form accuracy as well as surface finsh are required, e.g.,
screw threads of precision machines and measuring instruments
o The threaded parts are essentially hardened and cannot be machined or rolled
further, e.g., leadscrews of machine tools, press – screws etc.
• Directly originating (cutting) and simultaneously finishing threads in any hard or soft
preformed blanks. This is employed generally for finer threads of small pitch on large
and rigid blanks

External and internal thread grinding by single ribbed formed grinding wheel as
schematically shown in Fig. (a). Such grinding is usually done in cylindrical grinding
machine but is also occasionally done in rigid centre lathes by mounting a grinding
attachment like thread milling attachment, on the lathe’s saddle.

Δ Multi-ribbed wheels save grinding time by reducing the length of travel of the wheel
but raises wheel cost. Fig. (b) shows such thread grinding with both fully covered and
alternate ribbing.