Model Engineers Workshop No.161, March 2010.

How to Machine Castings

Harold Hall makes a Keats Vee angle plate
A reader of the magazine commented to the editor that, as a novice metalworker, he found it difficult to decide which face to work on first when confronted with a casting to machine. At the time he was considering the Keats Angle late !"hoto 1# shown in $%he &ollege 'ngineering (u""l)* catalogue. 1 %he "ur"ose of his letter was to suggest that an article e+"laining where to start would ,e hel"ful to him and no dou,t man) others. -aving agreed to "rovide the article it would ,e good to ,e a,le to sa), $mount the casting in a manner so that )ou can first machine the surface that ...*, ,ut of course it is not that sim"le. %he ver) nature of a casting is that its sha"e in most cases is likel) to ,e .uite different from an) other casting the worksho" owner is likel) to ,e called u"on to machine, the Keats angle "late ,eing a good e+am"le. %he reader having mentioned this item makes it an o,vious choice to use as a su,/ect so as to come u" with some "ointers for this and other castings that need to ,e machined. (o as to "rovide other e+am"les, in the ne+t issue 0 have chosen the (mall 1ee Angle late, also from $%he &ollege 'ngineering (u""l)*. 2oth items are intended to "erform similar functions though the 1ee angle "late is more ada"ta,le and will work more readil) with smaller work"ieces. 0 therefore intend, in addition to detailing the setu"s for machining these, to also e+"lain their "ur"ose and the "luses and minuses of each design. %he castings as received are shown in hoto 2, with those for the Keats on the left and the two for the 1ee angle "late on the right. 0n ,oth cases the hardware re.uired has to ,e "rovided ,) the worksho" owner.
1 htt"344www.collegeengineering.co.uk4

The nature of a casting

0 do not confess to ,eing knowledgea,le regarding the finer details of metal casting, ,ut in this "ro/ect we are considering /ust iron castings, which are almost e+clusivel) "roduced in a sand mould. 0n ver) ,asic terms the mould is made in two "arts that can ,e se"arated so as to ena,le the "attern to ,e removed when, after reassem,ling, the molten iron can then ,e "oured to "roduce the re.uired sha"e. Sk.1 shows a ver) sim"le e+am"le of a rectangular section com"onent ,eing cast. 0 state rectangular, ,ut 0 think all readers will understand that the sides have to ,e ta"ered so as to ena,le the "attern to ,e removed without damaging the sand cavit) "rior to the iron ,eing "oured. 2ecause of this the casting has two "arallel faces and the remaining faces are ta"ered and non "arallel. %he two "arallel faces would ,e relativel) eas) to secure in a vice, de"ending on size of course, and other methods such as using an angle "late would also ,e .uite eas), although the ta"ered faces would "resent a "ro,lem. %he 1ee ,lock casting in hoto 2 !rear right# has similarities to this sim"le e+am"le. &astings come in a ver) wide range of sha"es and sizes and man) will not ,e a,le to ,e mounted so easil) as the a,ove e+"lanation. Sk.2 shows another e+am"le and from this it will ,e seen that in this case no two faces are "arallel and as a result, mounting it in a vice will ,e much more of a "ro,lem though not necessaril) im"ossi,le. 0t is ,ecause of these variations that makes it im"ossi,le to give an all em,racing answer to the reader5s .uestion. 0 will though e+"lain for each of the four castings how 0 come to the decisions 0 do, ,oth with regard to the face to machine first and the se.uence for the remaining faces. 6f course, man) castings will not have an o,vious first face and some worksho" owners will choose one whilst others will choose another. 1

The first task

7irst, one must stud) the casting carefull) noting which faces are "arallel and which are not and which faces have to ,e machined, as often man) are left in their as8cast state. -aving s"ent time considering the situation the aim at this stage would normall) ,e to choose the most secure method of holding the casting whilst "resenting the first surface for machining. %he choice though should also take into consideration whether or not the surface machined first will make su,se.uent stages easier to mount. %herefore, where a num,er of choices for the first surface would a""ear e.uall) acce"ta,le the decision must ,e made on the ,asis of the ne+t o"eration. lanning ahead is an essential feature when machining a casting9 Also included in the considerations is that one should attem"t to choose a method that "resents the larger surfaces in a manner that ena,les them to ,e machined e.uall) over their full surface. 0f this is not done, then as more is removed on one face than the other the increased amount of metal removed ma) make it im"ossi,le to work to the dimensions given. %his 0 feel is ,est understood ,) reference to Sk. 3. 0n this, $A* shows the casting as su""lied and which needs to ,e surfaced on the two outer faces to make them at :0; to one another. <ith the short face mounted verticall), as at $B*, much more has to ,e removed com"ared to the longer face ,eing mounted verticall), $C*. -aving first machined the casting as at $C * it can then ,e mounted as shown at $B* and machined e.uall) over the larger surface. 7ortunatel), the "attern maker will have chosen in most cases to make the ta"er on the shortest sides, see Sk. 4A, so as to reduce the de"th of the "attern in the mould and minimising the amount of metal that will have to ,e removed at the machining stage if made as "er Sk. 4B. Another ,enefit of this is that it reduces the amount of iron used there,) reducing the cost of the casting as a result. <ith castings that conform to the a,ove, one of the shorter faces is ver) likel) to ,e the one to machine first. %hat is certainl) the case with three out of the four castings ,eing machined

in this article. 0 should add here that the angles shown in the sketches are, for clarit), more than those normall) "resent on the casting which is usuall) ,etween one and two degrees "er face.

Machining Cast Iron

%he su,/ect of machining cast iron has ,een covered fre.uentl) in the magazine and therefore a ver) detailed e+"lanation is "ro,a,l) not a""ro"riate. -owever, as the article is aimed at the worksho" owner new to metalworking 0 will ,riefl) cover the most im"ortant "oints. 1# %he surface of iron castings can fre.uentl) "osses hard s"ots that will ra"idl) ,lunt high s"eed steel tooling. 2# 2ecause of the hard s"ots, if "ossi,le use car,ide ti""ed tools for initiall) machining the casting5s surfaces. =# 0f the surface starts to take on a glazed a""earance this is ,ecause the de"th of cut is not sufficient to get ,elow the hard skin. ># %his can either ,e ,ecause the castings surface has a shallow hollow or that it has ,een mounted on the machine with the surface ,eing machined slo"ing down ver) slightl). ?# 0n this case, return to the start, dee"en the cut, and recommence to machine the surface. 6# 0f )ou do not have a ti""ed tool, reserve an old -(( cutter for the task, kee"ing )our shar" cutters for more a""ro"riate tasks. @# 0f )ou have to use a -(( cutter, grind a chamfer, a,out 1 to 2mm, around the edge of the casting so that the cutter does not have to ,reak through the hard surface. A# <hilst less im"ortant, the chamfer is also worthwhile if using a ti""ed tool. :# After the hard surface has ,een removed, iron castings machine easil). A shar" -(( cutter can then ,e em"lo)ed to machine to the size re.uired and or to achieve a ,etter finish. 10# As a result of the surfaces having ,een machined, the internal stresses within the casting ma) have changed resulting in the casting distorting. %his 2

can ha""en ,etween the initial stages or in storage after it has ,een com"leted. 11# Machined castings are therefore ,est left for a few da)s !"refera,l) more if time "ermits# and then finall) machined to size, see "oint : a,ove.

surface "late and found to ,e ade.uatel) flat for the ne+t task. (hould )ou find it necessar), an) high "oints should ,e removed either with an old file or ,) localised grinding. 0f the latter do take care not to remove so much that )ou are ,elow the level to which )ou will ultimatel) wish to machine it. erfection will not of course ,e "ossi,le so a "iece of thin hard card ,etween the casting and the mounting surface will com"ensate for minor errors. -owever, do not ,e fooled into thinking that the situation is ,etter than it is as often the casting will fall awa) towards its edge. 2ecause of this do ensure that an) ,ar clam"s are a""l)ing their force well in from the "erimeter of the casting. <ith those "recautions having ,een taken note of, 0 machined the two faces as shown in hoto = , having set them reasona,l) level so that the) were machined e.uall). Cegular readers of m) articles ma) ,e aware of m) comments that rel)ing on a single clam" is to ,e avoided if "ossi,le and that one too man) is much ,etter than one too few. 0n this case though, the com"act nature of the assem,l) made it acce"ta,le. -owever, do note that the machining forces are towards the angle "late, not awa) or across. 0 did consider that some worksho" owners would not have an angle "late large enough to "ermit more clam"s to ,e em"lo)ed so decided that 0 would like to illustrate a method within the ,ounds of what would likel) ,e availa,le in some cases. 0t ma) seem o,vious that the ne+t face should ,e the large main face, ,ut 0 decided that the to" of the we, should now ,e tackled. %he reason is that it was ver) likel) that the main face and the to" of the we, would onl) ,e nominall) "arallel, so ,) machining the we, first the two surfaces were trued u" with the minimum of metal removed ! hoto >#. Ne+t, 0 chose to mount the casting onto two s.uare "osts when machining the main face ! hoto ?#. %o do this the surface machined in the last o"eration was "laced firml) on the machine ta,le ensuring that the larger face now ,eing machined was "arallel with the to" of the we, alread) machined. 0t is worth =

The Keats Angle Plate The Main Casting

%his conforms ver) closel) to that shown in Sk. 3 with the two faces of the larger we, ,eing essentiall) "arallel and the shorter we, ta"ered on each face clearl) indicating which wa) the casting was "roduced in the mould. %he drawings "rovided ,) &ollege 'ngineering show the casting ,eing machined on the two outer main surfaces "lus the two faces of the 1ee. Additionall), two "arallel slots have to ,e full) machined as the) are not cast in. -owever, 0 chose to change the centres of the "arallel slots to 60mm from the @0mm shown on the drawing as the) would then line u" with the slots on the $Buick8(et 7ace and Angle late* from -emingwa) Kits that was featured in MEW 1??. (ur"risingl), the drawing does not call for the to" of the we, o""osite to the main face to ,e machined ,ut as it ma) ,e used as a location for the work"iece in a few cases 0 consider that it should ,e. %he ends of the shorter we, are also ta"ered in view of the wa) the item was cast ,ut are not shown as machined on the drawings. -owever, /ust "ossi,l), the ends ma) ,e useful as reference faces or a means of locating it if stood on its side so 0 decided to machine these also. 0t would also "rovide a challenge getting the 1ee central to the two ends that would add to the de"th of this article. -aving considered the "oints that 0 have alread) discussed it was o,vious that the casting should ,e located off its larger face whilst the shorter one is machined. -owever, it was first necessar) to remove an) localised high "oints !"in head size or a little ,igger# and ,eing ver) few 0 removed these using a file. <ith that done the face was checked against a

considering that "osts such as these can find man) uses on the milling machine, so are worth making. Dou will see that 0 have used a form of clam" that 0 rarel) use ,ut their "ivoted end "iece makes them ideal for dealing with the slightl) slo"ing surface of the casting. Again note that the cutting forces are towards the "osts. <hilst the casting is set u" in this wa) it would a""ear an o,vious time to make the two slots mentioned earlier, ,ut as the) need to ,e e.uall) s"aced a,out the 1ee, not )et machined, and ,eing su"er cautious, 0 dela)ed the "rocess /ust in case the 1ee did not end u" in the "osition 0 antici"ated. %he ne+t task was to machine the two faces of the 1ee ,eing, 0 thought, relativel) eas), other than to measure the result during the machining o"eration. Enfortunatel) though, 0 had overlooked the fact that the "ro/ection of the cutter from the milling s"indle was insufficient to avoid the to" edge of the casting fouling the underside of the milling s"indle. 0 could have used an old high8s"eed8 steel end mill in the cutter chuck, which would have given me the necessar) clearance and would antici"ate that this would ,e the method chosen ,) most. -aving alread) machined the surfaces at either end of the 1ee a,out to ,e made, the cutter would not ,e ,reaking through a hard skin so 0 did not antici"ate too much of a "ro,lem with this method. 0n an endeavour to sta) with tungsten cutters 0 decided, as an e+"eriment, to tr) using m) ,oring head for the "ur"ose and even though the cut was intermittent, the arrangement worked .uite well "roviding the de"th of cut was ke"t to a reasona,le valueF 0.=mm 0 seem to remem,er. 0 marked the two machined faces with marking ,lue and scri,ed machine8to lines to define the width of the 1ee. %his ,eing a distance of 60mm, 0 "ositioned it to ,e an e.ual distance from each end of the casting, nominall) =0mm. 0 mounted the casting on the angle "late setting the faces to >?;, doing this awa) from the milling machine on the surface "late as the larger surface makes it

easier to use the "rotractor from m) com,ination s.uare. -aving done that it was transferred to the milling machine ta,le and the 1ee made using the ,oring head as mentioned a,ove ! hoto 6#. <hen machining these faces one can sto" /ust short of contacting the other as a groove is machined in the ,ottom of the 1ee that will remove an) unmachined surface. %he casting was ne+t tilted the other wa) and the second surface machined. 0n this case the machining forces were awa) from the angle "late which is not ideal ,ut this was difficult to avoid and with the light cut ,eing taken there was no "ro,lem. <ith the angle "late still on the machine ta,le the casting was moved to the horizontal "osition and the groove in the ,ottom of the 1ee made. -aving finished the 1ee 0 was now a,le to machine the two fi+ing slots ensuring that the) were e.uall) s"aced a,out it. %o do this 0 clam"ed a "iece of round material in the 1ee which gave me a reference "oint for setting the "osition of the slots. Again using the s.uare "osts, hoto @ shows the set u" with the first slot alread) machined. %his now leaves the ends of the we,. %he) need a rather s"ecial setu" to ensure that the 1ee is central to a fair degree of accurac). %he casting was "ositioned on a round "ost fi+ed to an angle "late and set verticall) as shown in hoto A and then machined. Ne+t 0 rotated the casting through 1A0;, setting it verticall) once more and machined the second end using the same down8feed setting as for the first ! hoto :#. %hese o"erations could not though ,e carried out at this stage as the) needed the clam" and its fi+ings to ,e com"leted.

The Clamp
%his is a casting with no o,vious ,est se.uence for machining. 0 am sure some would tackle it differentl). %he "arallel faces are those of the raised ,osses with the sides of the 1ee ,eing ta"ered and narrowest at the "oint. -aving removed an) ma/or roughness on the sides 0 chose to hold this in the vice ,ut using some co""er shims to hel" com"ensate for the ta"er and an) localised raised "ortions. <ith the vice /ust lightl) closed 0 used a soft hammer to encourage the casting to take u" a >

horizontal "osition, checking this using the "rotractor from m) com,ination set. 0ncidentall), the clam" is a mallea,le iron casting and machines .uite differentl) from the main casting. As m) milling machine has not ,een set u" accuratel) to have a level ta,le, 0 first "laced the "rotractor on the ta,le and ad/usted it to read zero. <ith that done 0 then used it to "osition the casting there,) com"ensating for an) error with the machine ta,le, of course "recision is not a re.uirement. %he vice was then full) tightened and in view of the limited amount of machining necessar) 0 was ha"") to machine the two ,osses using this setu" ! hoto 10#. 0t is worth noting that securit) can in man) cases ,e increased ,) a shim of soft co""er, a,out 1mm thick, that will, under "ressure, conform to the minor irregularities of the casting, im"roving the gri" a""recia,l). %his is es"eciall) ,eneficial if working as in this e+am"le. 0 then turned the casting over and again mounted it in the vice, ,ut this time used a "arallel to su""ort it, ensuring the two ends would machine to the same thickness. <hen the Keats angle "late is in use for small diameter work"ieces, the clam" is inverted with "ressure ,eing a""lied ,) the to" of the 1ee. %o avoid this ,eing a shar" edge, a =mm wide flat was made which was also machined whilst the casting was still held in the vice. Ne+t 0 mounted the casting onto the s.uare "osts, seen "reviousl), and machined the first side. %he casting was then turned over and this time making sure the alread) machined side was in contact with the machine ta,le, the second side also machined ! hoto 11#. %his ensured that the two sides were "arallel. %he two sides of the 1ee and the groove in its ,ase were the ne+t to ,e machined using a similar method to that for the main casting. -owever, the a,sence of a flange made it a little more difficult to clam" securel). hoto 12 shows the setu" 0 used. 0n this 0 have again used one of the "osts which 0 set accuratel) at >?; on the angle "late ,efore ,eing mounted on the machine ta,le. %he "art was then first

clam"ed to the "ost there,) easil) setting it at the re.uired angle with the ,ar clam" finall) ,eing added. 7rom this "hotogra"h it can ,e seen /ust how close the ,ottom of the milling machine .uill was to the ends of the casting and wh) the cutter would have ,een inade.uate for machining the 1ee as seen in hoto 6. 0 have not mentioned the ta""ed holes in the main casting or the "lain holes in the clam" ,ut "roduced these at this late stage. (ome worksho" owners would 0 am sure have drilled then earlier and used them to fi+ the castings to the angle "late rather than using the methods 0 have illustrated. 0f )ou have a large enough angle "late then that is certainl) a method worth considering "roviding the slots in the "late are suita,l) s"aced. %he clam" now ,eing finished 0 was a,le to machine the ends of the main casting as was e+"lained earlier and illustrated in hotos A and :. Dou ma) though understanda,l) consider this an unnecessar) feature and choose to ,)"ass this o"eration. -aving done that, there /ust remained for the edges to ,e lightl) chamfered and the non8 machined surfaces "ainted. <ith that, we have the finished item ! hoto 1#, that is unless 0 eventuall) choose to re8machine some of the faces as e+"lained ,elow. At the time of writing this article, 0 have not checked to see if there has ,een an) movement within the casting as a result of the machining, as this is ,est undertaken after a time dela) of at least a few weeks. %he onl) area that is im"ortant is that the two surfaces of the 1ee are at :0; to the main face, a situation that 0 will check using an engineer5s s.uare. 0f 0 find an error in access of what 0 feel is reasona,le 0 will set u" a c)lindrical s.uare on the milling machine ta,le and clam" the Keat5s angle "late to this using its own clam" and with that done ver) lightl) re8surface /ust the main face. 0n the ne+t issue 0 will descri,e how to machine the 1ee angle "late castings.

Figure 1. The finished Keats angle plate.

Figure 2. The castings as supplied, b th f r the Keats angle plate and the !ee angle plate.

Figure 3. The first faces t be "achined are th se n either side f the !ee.

Figure 4. #achining the sec nd face.

Figure $. The "ain face %as "achined %ith that in &h t 3 against the s'uare p sts and that in &h t 4 fir"l( against the "achine table.

Figure ). The cutter used in the pre*i us ph t graphs had insufficient reach t "achine the !ee, s "( b ring head %as used instead.

Figure +. ,sing a sl t drill t pr duce the fi-ing sl ts. The r und bar gi*es a reference p int f r p siti ning the" relati*e t the !ee.

Figure .. Setting the casting *ertical f r "achining the ends.

Figure /. The sec nd end being "achined ha*ing been set up in a si"ilar "anner t that in &h t ..

Figure 10. Facing the fi-ing lugs n the cla"p.

Figure 11. The s'uare p sts again being used %hilst the sides f the cla"p are being "achined.

Figure 12. The !ee being cut.