Machining for Dummies

Metalworking is an exciting field that's currently experiencing a shortage of qualified machinists—and there's no time like the present to capitalize on the recent surge in manufacturing and production opportunities. Covering everything from lathe operation to actual CNC programming, Machining For Dummies provides you with everything it takes to make a career for yourself as a skilled machinist.

Written by an expert offering real-world advice based on experience in the industry, this hands-on guide begins with basic topics like tools, work holding, and ancillary equipment, then goes into drilling, milling, turning, and other necessary metalworking processes. You'll also learn about robotics and new developments in machining technology that are driving the future of manufacturing and the machining market.

• Be profitable in today's competitive manufacturing environment
• Set up and operate a variety of computer-controlled and mechanically controlled machines
• Produce precision metal parts, instruments, and tools
• Become a part of an industry that's experiencing steady growth

Manufacturing is the backbone of America, and this no-nonsense guide will provide you with valuable information to help you get a foot in the door as a machinist.

Kip Hanson finished school in 1979 and got a job at a small machine shop in Minneapolis. Over the next thirty years, he worked his way up and eventually moved into manufacturing consulting and freelance writing. Today he has nearly 600 published articles across dozens of magazines and websites, covering everything from machinery and tooling to metrology and 3D printing.

Introduction 1

About This Book 2

Foolish Assumptions 2

Icons Used in This Book 3

Beyond the Book 4

Where to Go from Here 4

Part 1: Turning Cranks and Pulling Handles 5

Chapter 1: Climbing the Manufacturing Ropes 7

Going Caveman: A World without Machining 8

Why it’s called chipmaking 9

What’s your job title? 11

Meeting Our Founding Fathers 11

Who got the machining ball rolling? 12

The other tools in the toolbox 15

Grappling with Machine Basics 16

Motoring about 17

Ways and means 19

Pulleys and gears 20

Turrets and tool changers 21

Spindle time 22

Bearing down 23

The nuts and bolts of motion 24

Chapter 2: Demystifying Machine Tools 25

Making Machine Tools Automatic 27

Screwing around with cam-operated machines 27

Multispindle madness 28

Mill-o-matic 28

The path to numerical control 28

Cutting through the red tape 29

Computer control 30

Halfway there 31

Milling About: Mills and Machining Centers 32

Taking the stand-up tour 33

Looking at it from all sides 35

Gantrification 37

Going horizontal 38

Sorry, this part’s boring 39

Turning It Up: Exploring Lathes 39

Engine lathes 40

Turret lathes 41

Twice as nice 41

Looking up 42

Going gangsta’43

Sliding about 43

It’s a Mill, It’s a Lathe It’s Supermachine! 44

Mill turn, or turn mill 44

Multitaskers 45

Chapter 3: Rounding Out the Rest of the Machining Processes 47

Touring Toolmaking 47

Cutting without cutters: EDM 48

Grinding 51

Sawing 53

Honing 54

Hobbing, shaving, and milling gears 55

Gun drilling 55

Peering into the Niches 57

Electron beam machining 57

From ECM to PECM 57

Ultrasonics 58

Appreciating the Alternatives 58

When we were fab 59

Welding 101 61

Chapter 4: Being Materialistic 63

Grappling with the Elements 64

Meditating on Metal Removal 66

Machinability according to AISI 66

Like cutting sandpaper 66

Harder than the dickens 67

Stringy like spaghetti 67

Gummier than Juicy Fruit 68

Exploring Metals 68

Ironing things out 68

Segueing to steel 70

Surveying the superalloys 74

Wrapping It Up with the Easy Stuff 76

From superchargers to soda cans 76

Red metals 77

Magnesium and zinc 77

Peeking at the polymers 78

Part 2: Tooling Up 81

Chapter 5: The Cutting Edge: Staying Sharp 83

Facing the Hard Facts 84

Getting Tough with High-Speed Steel 85

Going Fast and Furious: Carbide 87

Meet PEG 87

Micrograin marvels 88

Getting technical with ceramics 88

Coating conundrums 89

Round Tools: Notating on Rotating 90

Holemaking 101 90

All about drills 91

Selecting the right drill 92

Being productive 94

Holes need help, too 95

Tapping, tapping, at the door 96

Milling cutters 97

Staying put 100

Sticking with Stick Tools 100

The heavy lifters 101

Get in the groove 102

Nice threads 103

Not so boring 104

Cutting Advice 105

Chapter 6: Hanging on Tight with Workholding 107

Chucking Up on Lathes 108

Deciding how many and what type of jaws are needed 110

Collets, ho! 111

Making sense of shafts 113

It’s Not Spelled Vice: Going Orthogonal with Workholding 114

Doubling down 116

Not so fast 117

Five ways better 117

Holding horizontally 118

Hanging on to the Weird Ones 119

Chapter 7: Entering the Toolholding No Spin Zone 123

Hanging around with Rotary Tools 124

It’s taper time 125

Why 7/24 isn’t a date in the calendar 126

Faster, faster! 127

Cruising through the Toolholding Catalog 128

Hit me sideways 129

Meet Chuck’s little brother 129

Preventing pullout 130

The incredible shrinking toolholder 132

A few toolholding odds and ends 133

Turning about Is Fair Play 135

Giving lathe tools a wedgie 136

A bit about bushings and sleeves 137

Going Faster with Quick-Change 138

Chapter 8: Accessorizing for Success 141

Palletizing Your Parts 142

Buying a pallet changer–equipped machining center 142

Adding a pallet changer to an existing machine 143

Putting pallets on pallets 143

Giving Rotary Tables a Whirl 144

Viva, la difference 145

Round and round we go 146

Trunnion time 146

Raising the Bar with Bar Feeders 147

Step on up to the bar 148

Rattling about 149

Happiness through hydraulics 149

Collaborating with R2D2 151

Measuring Up 152

Touching off 153

Finding home 154

Taking It Offline 155

Presetting particulars 155

Achieving a nice balance 157

Going soft 158

Vending machines 158

Choosing the Right Machine Options 159

Cooling Down with High Pressure 161

Making Your Job Easier (and Safer) 162

Chip conveyors 162

It’s called smog for a reason 163

Part 3: Putting It All Together: Making Parts 165

Chapter 9: Succeeding with Software 167

Deciphering Software Acronyms 168

Here’s to Being a CAD 170

Playing with Models 171

Wondrous wireframes 172

Doing me a solid 172

CAMming It Up 173

Simulating Reality 175

Having Meaningful Conversations 176

Exploring File Formats 177

Making It Manufacturable 178

DFM and DFMA 179

FEA 180

Managing the Shop Floor 180

MES 181

TMS 181

Chapter 10: Measuring Up 183

Drawing Pretty Pictures 185

Tolerance is a good thing 185

Enter GD&T 186

Characterizing characteristics 188

Blocking and Tackling: Hard Gages 189

Playing with your blocks 190

Pinned down 191

Gages, gages, everywhere 192

Meeting Mic(rometer) 192

Filling the Shopping Cart 194

Touching the surface 195

Checking holes 196

Jumping at shadows 197

Checking around 198

Measuring with Machines 199

Hitting the Quality Road 200

Chapter 11: Demystifying G-Code 203

Eating the CNC Alphabet Soup 204

Moving along with G-Codes 206

Giddyup! 207

Straightening out 207

Round the clock 208

Coordinating Coordinates 209

Homing the machine 210

Thinking in absolutes 211

Compensating for Size (and Location) 212

Offset success 212

Go left, or right? 213

Cycling About: Canned and Multiple Repetitive Cycles 215

One line, or two 215

Best of both worlds 215

Don’t forget to cancel 216

Switching On with M-Codes 217

Making It with Macros 219

Chapter 12: Touring Some Machining Operations 221

Happy Holemaking 223

Threading the Needle 224

Internal threads 224

External threads 226

Taking the Right Turn 227

Facing About 228

Milling Madness 229

Face milling 229

Pocket milling 230

Surfacing 230

Slotting 231

Boring Better 232

Taming Interpolation 233

Getting the Burrs Off 234

Bouncing about 234

A charged situation 235

Chapter 13: Looking toward Tomorrow 237

Turning Out the Lights 238

Embracing an FMS 239

Getting cellular 241

Monitoring machines remotely 241

Unplugging Along 243

Staying Bug-Free 243

Making Tools Smarter 245

Busting chatter 246

Tagging along 247

Part 4: The Part of Tens 249

Chapter 14: Ten Ways to Make Processes Predictable 251

Thinking Scientifically 252

Learning Your Feeds and Speeds 253

Cutting speeds 254

Feed rates 256

Depth of cut 256

Watching for Tool Wear 257

Writing It Down 259

Staying Cool 259

Keeping Machines Healthy 260

Getting Torqued 261

Poka-yoking 262

Buying Right 262

Standardizing Everything 263

Chapter 15: Ten Terrific Tools, Tips, and Technologies 265

Adding It Up with Additive 266

Surfing the Internet of Things 267

Looking to the Cloud 269

Automating Everything 270

Riding Virtual Rollercoasters 271

Becoming Sustainable 272

Lightweighting the World 273

Losing the Paper Trail 274

Having Fun with Hybrids 275

Getting Small: MEMS Devices and Other Lilliputian Parts 277

Chapter 16: Ten Tips for Successful Machining 279

Machining Is Not a Dirty Word 280

Returning to School: Certification 281

Staying Lean 282

Developing Vertical Markets 283

Taking Tools Faster and Farther 284

Keeping Parts and Tools Put 285

Keeping Things (and People) Cool, Clean, and Safe 287

Setting Up Successfully 289

Taking Off the Gloves (and Putting On the Safety Glasses) 290

Embracing Change 292

Index 293

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