Repairing Your Own Machine Components

   Many industrial concerns have workshops of their own. For the
repair of worn shafts, the lathe machine is excellent. Keyway
slots can be machined by using a milling machine, while a
shaping machine can do machining of large flat areas. A
drilling machine does drilling of holes.

A skilled Maintenance Engineer should know how to use all these
machines in order to make his own repairs in a safe manner. Very
often he has to supervise machinists. The information below
should be useful for that purpose.

Lathe Machine

The lathe machine uses a single-point-cutting tool for a variety
of turning, facing, and drilling jobs. Excess metal is removed
by rotating the work piece over the fixed cutting tool to form
straight or tapered cylindrical shapes, grooves, shoulders and
screw threads. It can also be used for facing flat surfaces on
the ends of cylindrical parts.

The work piece is clamped onto a horizontal rotating shaft by a
3-jaw or 4-jaw chuck. The latter chuck can be used to cut
off-centered cylinders. The rotating horizontal spindle to which
the chuck is attached is usually driven at speeds that can be
varied.

The cutting tool is fixed onto a tool rest and manipulated by
hand. It can also be power driven on straight paths parallel or
perpendicular to the work axis. This is useful for screw cutting.

Internal turning known as boring results in the enlargement of
an already existing hole. The holes are more accurate in
roundness, concentricity, and parallelism than drilled holes. A
hole is bored with a single-point-cutting tool that feeds along
the inside of the work piece.

Shaping Machine

The shaping machine is used to machine flat surfaces, grooves,
shoulders, T-slots, and angular surfaces with single-point tools.
The cutting tool on the shaper oscillates, cutting on the forward
stroke, with the work piece feeding automatically toward the tool
during each return stroke.

Drilling Machine

The drilling machine is used to cut holes in metal with a twist
drill. By changing the cutting tool, they can be used to do
reaming, boring, counter boring, countersinking, and threading.

Milling Machine

The milling machine uses a rotating cutting tool to cut flat
surfaces, grooves, and shoulders, inclined surfaces, dovetails,
and T-slots. Cutters of many shapes are changed to cut different
grooves.

Cutting Tools

Metal-cutting tools are classified as single point or multiple
point. The lathe and shaping machine use single point cutting tool
while the milling and drilling machines use multiple-point-cutting
tools.

Metal is cut either by moving the work piece like in the lathe or
by moving the tool like in the shaping machine, drilling or
milling machine. Clearance angles must be provided to prevent the
tool surface below the cutting edge from rubbing against the work
piece. Rake angles are often provided on cutting tools to cause a
wedging action in the formation of chips and to reduce friction and
heat.

Tool Materials

In order to remove chips from a work piece, a cutting tool must be
harder than the work piece and must maintain a cutting edge at the
temperature produced by the friction of the cutting action.

Carbon Steel

Carbon steel tools even though comparatively inexpensive tend to
lose cutting ability at temperatures around 400 degree F (205
degree C).

High-Speed Steel

High-speed steel, containing 18 percent tungsten, 4 percent chromium,
1 percent vanadium, and only 0.5 to 0.8 percent carbon, permits the
operation of tools twice or three times the speeds allowable with
carbon steel

Cast Alloys

Cast-alloy cutting-tool materials containing cobalt, chromium, and
tungsten are effective in cutting cast iron and retaining their
cutting ability even when red hot.

Cemented Tungsten Carbide

The hardness of Tungsten Carbide approaches that of a diamond.
Tungsten carbide tools can be operated at cutting speeds many times
higher than those used with high-speed steel.

Oxides

Ceramic, or oxide, tool tips consist primarily of fine aluminum oxide
grains, which are bonded together. These are very hard.

Cutting fluids

An overheated tool can become blunt and soft very fast. Therefore
very often, cooling fluids cools the cutting points of the tool. This
serves to lubricate and cool.

Water is an excellent cooling medium, but it corrodes ferrous
materials. Sulfurized mineral oil is one of the most popular coolants
as it can both cool as well as lubricate. The sulfur prevents chips
from the work from melting on to the tip of the tool.

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Definition and Good reputation for Slot Machine Game

We are able to define a slot machine game like a gambling machine that's utilized in nearly every casino all across the globe. This slot machine game basically includes 3 or even more than 3 reels that may be spun when the button is pressed. In the last occasions, the slot machine game grew to become popular through the title of 1-arm bandit due to the existence of a lever on one for reds or arm from the slot machine game.

  The sooner slot machine game didn't have the existence of a control button that was changed with a lever. Nowadays, rather than liver a digital button has been employed which causes it to be much simpler for that player to experience the slot machine game. Still you will find couple of slots that have both a lever and button set up in them.

The key property of the slot machine game is the existence of a money detector whose primary job would be to identify if the cash or even the gold coin placed through the player in to the machine is real or otherwise. The slot machine game includes a giant screen which is often used to show the mixture a thief will get on pressing the button. When the combination is true compared to person wins and when not than he manages to lose. Because the technologies are enhancing daily, there has been numerous versions that are being incorporated in several slots. A pc can also be set up in a slot machine game. Almost 75% from the casino?s earnings is acquired from slots.

The very first ever gambling machine was introduced by a couple referred to as Pitt and Sittman who have been initially from Brooklyn in New You are able to, Usa. This machine was an ancestor from the present day slot machine game. The device initially comprised of 5 drums that have been designed to hold 50 playing card faces. It had been typically a texas holdem based machine. The recognition of the machine elevated in a extremely fast rate and nearly every bar owner within the town had this machine set up in his bar.

The device operated each time a player would place a gold coin within the gold coin slot and only drawn a lever or pressed a control button. After carrying this out, the five drums which this machine contained would start spinning together with them it had been holding and therefore would ultimately show us the mixture which we'd get. Earlier there is an indirect prize for any mentioned combination for example two nobleman would create a free glass of scotch or all cards of same color would create a free pack of cigars etc.

A Remarkable Parallel Course

When manufacturers need CNC machine operators, they want employees who are well trained and can be productive quickly. They often find these qualities in recent graduates from CNC machining programs that offer “real-world” instruction that strives to emulate workplace conditions. These programs produce graduates who are better prepared for a job, and require less time to get “up-to-speed.” Few college CNC labs, however, can faithfully parallel the job conditions found in a real manufacturing environment.

To more closely match the working atmosphere of a commercial job shop, the Precision Metals program at Northern Maine Community College (NMCC, Presque Isle, ME) takes CNC training a step further. Rather than using the typical student machining projects common to most technical schools, the NMCC program instructs students using real jobs making real parts for real customers. The jobs are non-revenue-generating, and the school takes scrupulous care to avoid competition with commercial shops.

“The goal is to develop the student’s skill-set to closely parallel what industry is looking for,” explains Dean Duplessis, NMCC’s Precision Metals instructor. “Many career technical education programs seem to miss the point with ‘canned’ machining projects. I’m not trying to take away from the value they bring, but in this instance, it is not just about making chips, or the project; it’s about the whole experience. We emulate the full, real-world production environment.”

That training begins with first-rate instruction. Duplessis has an impressive background, with 10 years as an instructor at NMCC, extensive experience as a manufacturing engineer and designer, and a stint on the Northern Maine Development Commission. NMCC is also a Haas Technical Education Center (HTEC), so the Precision Metals students get up-to-date CNC training on high-tech Haas CNC machine tools, as well as support with educational materials from the HTEC worldwide network.

At the heart of NMCC’s program are two Haas CNC Mini Mill vertical machining centers, a Haas SL-10 CNC turning center, and a Haas ST-20SS CNC turning center. “The Haas machines are great,” Duplessis reports. “They are very reliable and accurate, and the control is terrific. All the functions are there, and it is well thought-out and logical, so it is simple and easy to use. The Haas machines are great for instruction and production.

“The first-year students learn the fundamentals on manual machines in labs,” Duplessis continues. “They transition to the Haas CNC machines in the second year. Everything students do in the second year is what we call ‘live.’ They work on real products, holding to real schedules, and facing the real challenges of manufacturing. Of course, students do the actual machining, but they also participate in discussions about economy of resources, materials, and making or reusing fixtures – everything facing a real shop.

“Students plan jobs using best practices learned from previous jobs,” Duplessis adds. “They learn the importance of documentation and procedures. But even more than that, students are involved when we look at a job, take on the job, purchase the raw materials, buy the tooling, program the machines, run the part, perform the final first-article inspection, and ship the item.

“There are many instructional opportunities in this environment,” he explains. “For example, we have discussions about better workholding: Do we use this old tooling again, or make better tooling for this repeat job? Maybe we should think about dedicated tooling: eliminate an edge-break procedure and build everything into a form tool. We learn from previous classes, and improve processes from one year to the next, so documentation is critical for optimization. These are issues that confront job shops every day. Our program offers students, within reason, the experience of the entire manufacturing process.”

But what do manufacturers think about the program? “Local manufacturers and other shops in Maine give us strong support, because of our whole-process, non-revenue-generating, non-competitive approach,” says Duplessis. “We take jobs like making unique tooling that a company would normally do in-house, very small runs of a commercial product, or a component that would usually be purchased from overseas.

“We are not a business threat, so we have a number of manufacturers who donate to the program,” Duplessis adds. “In most instances, their contribution to this work is raw materials, shipping, dedicated tooling, coating, or outside services. They are supportive of what we are doing, because our goal is to provide an education: a skill-set parallel to industry needs. NMCC is providing the type of operators that manufacturers will eventually use in their own shops. They have input into our program, and to a large degree, the practical skills required by these stakeholders drive the curriculum.”

“I have been very impressed by the experience I’ve had with the Northern Main Community College’s live project program,” reports Dieselgeek, Inc.’s Jim Royston. “As a small business owner, I need my machined parts to be exactly right, with on-time delivery, and that is what I have received. I get a ‘warm fuzzy’ that I’m helping the next generation of machinists.”

John Harper of Brown & Miller Racing Solutions, LLC, agrees. “It is always refreshing to know that we have been able to kill two birds with one stone,” he says. “Coby Smith from HFO Trident informed us about the program at NMCC, and we have been able to get quality parts, fast service, and also peace of mind, knowing that we are helping students get real-world experience. We have been very satisfied with the attention to detail that Dean and his program have paid to the small runs of parts we have asked for.”

“The difference here is that instead of making a canned product, like a dead-blow hammer or a set of vise jaws,” Duplessis points out, “students make something that someone is actually going to use. We put this live work – these real jobs – in the hands of the students, and they experience all the problem-solving that goes into making a product for market. At the end of the day, they may login to a customer website and say: ‘Wow! I made that part,’ or, ‘I made the fixture that secured those parts.’ That gives a sense of pride, of craftsmanship, and that’s part of the trade.”

Water Powered by cnc machines

Water Powered by cnc machines

 Kendal is in the Lake District, Cumbria, in the north west of England. By rights, it should be called the Wet District, but as anyone who has ever been to the exposed reaches of our fair but damp island will understand, honesty isn’t necessarily good for tourism. So, the area has always been known and described by dogged and enterprising locals for the weather’s pretty and marketable side effects, rather than for its towering hills or craggy mountain tops, like its less wet, less famous neighbour, the Peak District.

Long before its natural history drew the huddled holidaying masses, the town’s people got along nicely producing pipe tobacco, snuff, and Mint Cake, an invention from the 1860s that’s still made and sold today. Kendal Mint Cake isn’t cake at all, but dense, glucose-based confectionary that could just about keep you alive if you’re an injured shepherd or a wretched hill-walker traipsing ever decreasing circles in thickening cloud – at least, long enough to enjoy one last smoke of your local tobacco.

North West England in the mid-19th century may not have been the tourist destination it is today, but it became a place of great industrial activity. The coal-powered revolution had begun 100 years previously, 150 miles or so to the south; but in the valleys of what used to be the old Westmorland and Kendal baronies, those who owned the means of production covetously eyed the cascading water as an alternative and cheaper source of potential power to run their machinery and turn their mill wheels.

The firm of Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon Ltd was founded in 1853 to design and manufacture the turbines and infrastructure to capture the energy sliding off the hillsides. The company is still there today, in Kendal town, doing what it always did, and it still occupies the building it moved into 120 years ago, where part of the Lancashire Canal once passed through, bringing packet boats of freight and passengers from the neighbouring county. The tunnels that carried the boats along the canal and under the Gilkes factory were blocked a long time ago, but the brickwork arches remain where the old building abuts the new, and a sepia-toned photograph hanging beside the current production line shows workers shifting supplies into and out of boat hulls.

There are few other reminders that this privately owned company has been here since the 15th year of Queen Victoria’s reign. One half of the factory floor is packed with the latest Haas CNC machine tools, arranged in cells and making pumps for diesel engines; the other is open space where components of hydro-power turbines are assembled before being shipped somewhere in the world, to add to the impressive tally of more than 6500 “installations” in 80 countries.

The Haas CNC machine tools are used to manufacture a range of sophisticated pumps for cooling diesel engines and plants. Gilkes supplies many of the world’s major diesel engine manufacturers, and also produces pumping solutions for lubricating oil, gas, and steam turbines. In fact, says Operations Director Andy Poole, Gilkes produces pumps for virtually any application, and has been trading on a reputation established during the Second World War.

“We developed a pump that went on trawlers,” he says. “When the war finished, the fishermen remembered the name. Then, when they built their own boats, they told the engine suppliers what pumps they wanted, and the demand has just grown from there.”

Many similar pumps are manufactured using rubber impellers (the part that goes inside the pump and does all the work), and rubber wears out. “We’ve always offered metal impellers,” says Andy Poole, “which means our pumps last longer and perform better for longer. This year, we’ll make about 19,000 units, all here, in this facility, on Haas machine tools.” By contrast, turbine parts are not manufactured in Kendal. “We do all the design work,” says Mr. Poole, “but the components are made by sub-contractors and only assembled here. We also have a pump plant in Houston, which was established around 35 years ago to refurbish units for our U.S. customers.

“Both Caterpillar and Cummins run refurbishing programmes, where they take engines back from customers and overhaul them. They usually send the pump back to us for rebuilding. So, we’re working on pumps now for generator-sets and industrial and marine applications that we may get back for reconditioning in around 7 or 8 years’ time. Many of the bronze pumps you see around the factory are for marine applications.”

In Goods Inward (the receiving department, to non-Brits), pallets are stacked high with cast pump bodies in different finishes and colours. The castings are all sourced in the UK, which means any quality issues can be resolved quickly and easily. Assuming the casting is good, it becomes a finished pump in around a week, and is then most likely shipped to one of Gilkes’ customers’ plants in the UK or overseas.

“We don’t run a Kanban system,” says Andy Poole. “We make for stock or to order. We have a warehouse in the United States, because our largest customer, Caterpillar, rarely gives us more than one or two days notice.”

The decision to invest in Haas CNC machine tools had a lot to do with the company’s U.S. operations.

“We researched the market,” says Mr. Poole, “but one of our main considerations when we shortlisted the choices was that we wanted to have the same machines at our U.S. plant in Houston as we use here, in the UK. We wanted a machine tool that was going to be supported both sides of the Atlantic, and that used the same control. Haas has a huge user base in America, plus they have a wide range of different machines for different applications. It also means our engineers in the UK can easily share their experience and best practices with their U.S. counterparts.”

Gilkes’ Haas machine tools are organised in product cells – or on a “group technology” basis, as the company refers to the layout. The eventual aim is to have 6 cells, with Haas machines replacing all of the company’s older machine tools.

One of the lines runs two Haas SL-30 turning centres and an EC-400 horizontal, making small bearing houses and bodies. Another, non-Haas, line runs shafts; Haas machines will eventually replace all of these, older machine tools. “Some of these machines are actually older than me,” says Mr. Poole.

A third line runs SL-40 turning centres and VF-3 vertical mills making larger housings and bodies. The fourth line is actually a dedicated, high-volume cell that, during my visit, was being installed and tested: It’s a Haas DS-30SSY high-speed, dual-spindle turning centre with Y-axis and live tooling. There’s a Haas bar feed, an ABB robot for unloading parts, and a Renishaw Equator bench-top gauge for in-process testing. When the cell is fully commissioned, it will work two shifts a day making one collar and one spacer for every pump, plus spares, which will add up to around 50,000 parts a year. The whole investment totals more than ￡400,000!

“We also have two more Haas lathes coming on later this week,” says Mr. Poole, “which will make up the fifth cell, to machine impellers.”

Standing alongside one another are two Haas TL-2 Toolroom Lathes, making bronze parts for marine pumps, and alone in

the middle of the workshop is a TM-1P Toolroom Mill, dedicated to making impellers.

Gilkes is a very busy British manufacturer developing and making perdurable industrial products for global customers and applications. The company is still managed by members of the founding family, but unlike some firms that find it difficult to let go of the past, this one is planning and investing for future glories, and has recently received a government grant for a purpose-built factory on the outskirts of town, where it will have room for its biggest-ever expansion.

In this day and age of super-profit-making, self-congratulating corporations, the example this self-assured firm sets begs the question: How many will be around 160 years from now, doing more-or-less what they were doing when they were founded, but doing it better with every passing year? As long as the Lake District is wet, I predict that there will always be a Gilbert Gilkes and Gordon Ltd.