Fluting reamers, etc., on Universal milling machines in the toolmaking department. Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co.
Operating hand milling machines in the production of duplicate parts. Brown & Sharpe Mfg. Co.
TOOLROOM ANALYSIS
What does tool room work consist of? It can be separated into two divisions, namely, that which only the skilled toolmaker can do, such as laying out, fitting, assembling and devising special setups. The balance is machine work. Let us consider the latter and see what it consists of.
Machines. The machines used are generally the engine lathe, the horizontal and vertical millers, planers, shaper, plain, flat and universal grinders, drill press and filing machines. Hobbing and bench lathes may be added.
The Lathe. The lathe work usually consists in machining work preparatory to hardening and grinding. This may be roughly divided into turning, chucking and faceplate work. The toolmaker frequently does all of this work. Let us relieve him of this work and use our semi-skilled man to do it for him. Let one man do the turning, another the chucking and another the faceplate work. Where buttons are used the toolmaker sets them at the bench, but the lathe hand can be instructed on the set-up and the use of the warbler and indicator. The same method can be used on the milling machine in boring holes for bushings, etc. If there is not enough turning the same man can do the boring. The whole result is the toolmaker can supervise, or carry through, a number of jobs at the same time. The lathe hand saves time because he has his tools ground, his straps, parallels, etc., ready at hand and he knows his machine. It is the writer’s experience that more time is lost by the toolmaker in hunting for these accessories than it frequently takes to do the job.
The Shaper. On the shaper the work can be divided into roughing out and following an irregular line. Let us take a blanking die for an example. The diemaker (who works at the bench) lays out the die on rough stock. Then it is roughed out to this layout. Next the tap-holes and swivel pins are drilled, tapped and reamed. Now the diemaker can set his die up and lay it out more accurately to his turnplate. The better shaper hand now machines the pieces to his lines and all the diemaker has to do is file the clearance on the cutting edge and remove tool marks. In a sectional die he frequently leaves this for the grinder to do. Now the punch, which has been roughed out, is “sheared” and the machine hand machines the surplus stock from it to make it easier for the diemaker. The head block, shoe, knockout plate, sub-press pins, and stripper have been machined and are ready for him. The drill press hand does the drilling and reaming for the pins and springs, also the tapping. By this method of using the semi-skilled machine hands the skilled man can carry on five and more dies at the same time and not lose any time waiting for machines.
The Miller. The milling machine work can be divided into flat work, cutting teeth in cutters, reamers, gears, etc., spiral cutting, boring jigs and special outline work.,
Take the first two groups. The semi-skilled operator can be easily trained for this work, as it does not call for more difficult work than the use of the dividing head, and there is always a chart for that. Spiral cutting can be taught, as there is a chart for that. Cutting cams is more difficult but if there is enough of it the operators can be taught to do it.