READOS / Manufacturing
Machining and Metal Parts
Cutting, finishing, tooling, casting and measuring metal parts accurately and economically.
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- 01Designing parts that are economical to machine: set-ups, features, tolerances and cutting economicsMachining cost is set by set-ups, cutting time, tooling and tolerances, most of which the designer controls. Practical design rules and the cutting economics behind a fair price.
- 02Cutting tool materials and coatings: choosing carbide grades, inserts and coatings that payHow high-speed steel, carbide, cermet, ceramic, CBN and PCD tools differ, how ISO material groups and insert codes work, what coatings do, how tools wear and how to choose tools on cost per part.
- 03Workholding and toolholding: vices, chucks, zero-point systems, tapers and holdersHow standard workholding and toolholding choices affect accuracy, tool life, set-up time and safety, from vices and chucks to zero-point pallets, spindle tapers, collets and shrink-fit holders.
- 04Drilling, reaming and tapping: making holes that are the right size, in the right placeA practical guide to holemaking for designers, buyers and workshop leaders: drill types and points, deep holes, reaming allowances, boring, countersinks, tap selection and tapped-hole design.
- 05Milling cutters and milling strategies: speeds, feeds, chip thickness and parts that are easy to millHow milling works, the main cutter types, climb versus conventional milling, calculating speed and feed, chip thinning, adaptive toolpaths, chatter and design rules that make milled parts cheaper.
- 06Specialised machining operations: broaching, keyways, splines, knurling and indexingHow keyways, splines, hexagon holes, knurls and evenly spaced features are made, when broaching pays, the CNC alternatives and the design details that keep these features economical.
- 07Grinding, honing and lapping: finishing hard parts to tight tolerancesHow abrasive processes work, how to read a grinding wheel specification, the main grinding methods, honing and lapping, avoiding grinding burn and the design details that make finishing easier.
- 08EDM, micromachining and other non-traditional processes: when cutting tools are not the answerHow wire and sinker EDM work, what they can and cannot do, the recast layer, other non-traditional processes such as ECM, etching and ultrasonic machining, and the challenges of very small features.
- 09CNC programming and CAM: from CAD model to proven program without crashes or scrapHow CNC programs work, the coordinate systems and offsets behind them, the CAM workflow from model to post-processor, safe prove-out and the controls that keep programs, tools and drawings in step.
- 10Choosing a cutting process for plate and sheet: laser, plasma, oxy-fuel, waterjet, sawing and punchingThe cutting process decides edge quality, accuracy, heat effects, downstream work and cost. How laser, plasma, oxy-fuel, waterjet, EDM, sawing and punching compare, and how to choose.
- 11Press tools and dies: how sheet metal parts are blanked, pierced and formed in volumeHow press tools work, punch and die clearance, estimating press force, single, compound, progressive and transfer dies, strip layout, forming and springback, press safety and when tooling pays.
- 12Choosing tool steels for dies, punches, moulds and fixturesHow tool steel families differ, the trade-off between wear resistance and toughness, matching grades to dies, moulds and fixtures, and the heat treatment decisions that make or break tooling.
- 13Designing parts for casting: walls, draft, cores, shrinkage and working with your foundryHow solidification shapes casting design, the rules for wall thickness, fillets, draft, cores and machining allowances, how to choose between sand and die casting on volume, and how to avoid porosity.
- 14Choosing and using measuring instruments: callipers, micrometers, indicators, gauges and CMMsHow to match measuring instruments to tolerances, why technique, temperature and calibration matter as much as resolution, and how to plan inspection so that measurements can be trusted.
These topic-based reading collections are organised alphabetically; chapters may be read in any order.
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