General Purpose Machine Tools

1. General classification of machine tools

• Conventional or traditional machine tools like

Lathes, Milling machines, etc. are used more widely
for faster material removal by shearing or brittle
fracturing.
• Non-conventional or non-traditional machine
tools: like EDM, ECM, USM, etc. which remove
material from exotic materials slowly by electro-
physical, electro-chemical processes.
• Modern numerical and computer controlled
machine tools: Like CNC lathe, CNC milling
 General Purpose Machine Tools
The basic machine tools which are commonly used for general
purposes are:
1. Lathes
2. Drilling machines
3. Shaping machines
4. Planning machines
5. Slotting machines
6. Milling machines
7. Boring machines
8. Hobbing machines
9. Gear shaping machines
10. Broaching machines
11. Grinding machine
 Classification Of Lathes
(a) According to configuration
• Horizontal -Most common for ergonomic conveniences
• Vertical - Occupies less floor space, only some large lathes
are of this type.

(b) According to purpose of use

• General purpose
Very versatile where almost all possible types of operations are
carried out on wide ranges of size, shape and materials of jobs;
example: centre lathes
• Single purpose: Only one (occasionally two) type of operation
is done on limited ranges of size and material of jobs; example
– facing lathe, roll turning lathe etc.
• Special purpose - Where a definite number and type of
operations are done repeatedly over long time on a specific
type of blank; example: gear blank machining lathe etc.
 Classification Of Lathes
(c) According to size or capacity
• Small (low duty) - In such light duty lathes (upto 1.1 kW), only
small and medium size jobs of generally soft and easily
machinable materials are machined
• Medium (medium duty) - These lathes of power nearly upto 11
kW are most versatile and commonly used
• Large (heavy duty)
• Mini or micro lathe - These are tiny table-top lathes used for
extremely small size jobs and precision work; example : swiss
type automatic lathe
 Classification Of Lathes
(d) According to degree of automation
• Non-automatic - Almost all the handling operations are done
manually; example: centre lathes
• Semi-automatic - Nearly half of the handling operations,
irrespective of the processing operations, are done
automatically and rest manually; example: capstan lathe, turret
lathe, copying lathe relieving lathe etc.
• Automatic - Almost all the handling operations (and obviously
all the processing operations) are done automatically; example
– single spindle automat (automatic lathe), swiss type automatic
lathe, etc.

e) According to type of automation

• Fixed automation - Conventional; example – single spindle
automat, swiss type automatic lathe etc.
• Flexible automation - Modern; example CNC lathe, turning
centre etc.
 Classification Of Lathes
(f) According to configuration of the jobs being handled
• Bar type - Slender rod like jobs being held in collets
• Chucking type - Disc type jobs being held in chucks

(g) According to precision

• Ordinary
• Precision (lathes) - These sophisticated lathes meant for high
accuracy and finish and are relatively more expensive.

(h) According to number of spindles

• Single spindle -Common
• Multispindle (2, 4, 6 or 8 spindles)
Such uncommon lathes are suitably used for fast and mass
production of small size and simple shaped jobs.
Kinematics System And Working Principle
Of Lathes
Machining Operations Usually Done In Centre Lathes
• Facing
• Centering
• Rough and finish turning
• Chamfering, grooving, etc
• Axial drilling and reaming by holding the cutting tool in the tailstock
barrel
• Taper turning by
1. offsetting the tailstock
2. swivelling the compound slide
3. using form tool with taper over short length
4. using taper turning attachment if available
5. combining longitudinal feed and cross feed, if feasible.
• Boring (internal turning); straight and taper
• Forming; external and internal
• Cutting helical threads; external and internal
• Parting off
• Knurling
Machining Operations Usually Done In Centre Lathes

•Turning

• Facing
Machining Operations Usually Done In Centre Lathes

• Grooving

• Parting
Machining Operations Usually Done In Centre Lathes

• Threading

• Drilling
 Machining Operations Usually Done In Centre Lathes

• Boring

• Reaming

Tapping
•Basic purposes of use of drilling machines
Drilling machines are generally or mainly used to
originate through or blind straight cylindrical holes in
solid rigid bodies and/or enlarge (coaxially) existing
(pre-machined) holes :
– of different diameter
– of varying length depending upon the requirement
and the diameter of the drill
– in different materials excepting very hard or very
soft materials like rubber, polythene etc.
 Classification of drilling machines
A) General purpose drilling machines of common
use

Table top small sensitive

drilling machine: These small
capacity (≤ 0.5 kW) upright
(vertical) single spindle drilling
machines are mounted (bolted)
on rigid table and manually
operated using usually small size
(φ≤ 10 mm) drills.
 Classification of drilling machines
A) General purpose drilling machines

Pillar drilling machine :These

drilling machines are quite similar
to the table top drilling machines
but of little larger size and higher
capacity (0.55 ~ 1.1 kW) and are
grouted on the floor (foundation).
 Classification of drilling machines
A) General purpose drilling machines

Column drilling machine:

These box shaped column type
drilling machines are much more
strong, rigid and powerful than
the pillar drills. In column drills
the feed gear box enables
automatic and power feed of the
rotating drill at different feed
rates as desired.
 Classification of drilling machines
A) General purpose drilling machines

Radial drilling machine:

This usually large drilling
machine possesses a
radial arm which along with
the drilling head can swing
and move vertically up and
down. The radial, vertical
and swing movement of
the drilling head enables
locating the drill spindle at
any point within a very
large space required by
large and odd shaped jobs.
 Classification of drilling machines
A) General purpose drilling machines

CNC column drilling machine: In

these versatile and flexibly automatic
drilling machine having box-column
type rigid structure the work table
movements and spindle rotation are
programmed and accomplished by
Computer Numerical Control (CNC).

Hand drills: hand drill is a portable drilling

device which is mostly held in hand and
used at the locations where holes have to
be drilled.
 Classification of drilling machines
B) General purpose drilling machines with more
specific use

Gang drilling machine: This is

almost single purpose and more
productive machine a number (2
to 6) of spindles with drills (of
same or different size) in a row
are made to produce number of
holes progressively or
simultaneously
 Classification of drilling machines
B) General purpose drilling machines with more
specific use

Turret (type) drilling machine:

Turret drilling machines are
structurally rigid column type but are
more productive like gang drill by
having a pentagon or hexagon turret.
 Classification of drilling machines
B) General purpose drilling machines with more
specific use

Multispindle drilling machine:

In these high production machine
tools a large number of drills work
simultaneously on a blank through
a jig specially made for the
particular job. The entire drilling
head works repeatedly using the
same jig for batch or lot
production of a particular job.
 Classification of drilling machines
B) General purpose drilling machines with more
specific use

Deep hole drilling machine :

Very deep holes of L/D ratio 6 to even
30

Machining Parameters:

•Cutting motion
•Feed motion

In drilling machines, generally both the cutting motion and feed

motion are imparted to the drill.
Milling machines
 Classification of Milling machines
According to configuration and motion of the work-holding table

Knee type: small and medium duty

machines the table with the
job/work travels over the bed
(guides) in horizontal (X) and
transverse (Y) directions and the
bed with the table and job on it
moves vertically (Z) up and down.
 Classification of Milling machines
According to configuration and motion of the work-holding table

Bed type : Usually of

larger size and capacity;
the vertical feed is given to
the milling head instead of
the knee type bed
 Classification of Milling machines
According to configuration and motion of the work-holding table

Planer type : These heavy

duty large machines, called
plano-miller, look like
planing machine where the
single point tools are
replaced by one or a
number of milling heads;
generally used for
machining a number of
longitudinal flat surfaces
simultaneously.
 Milling machines

Rotary table type : This

high production milling
machines possess one
large rotary work-table and
one or two vertical spindles.
the positions of the job(s)
and the milling head are
adjusted according to the
size and shape of the job.
 Classification of Milling machines
According to the orientation of the spindle(s).

Horizontal spindle type:

 Classification of Milling machines
According to the orientation of the spindle(s).

Vertical spindle type:

 Classification of Milling machines
According to the orientation of the spindle(s).

Universal head milling

machine: