History of machine tools

A History of Machine Tools

Machine tools have existed prior to the industrial revolution that brought modern tools to the masses.

Forerunners of the tools included things like potter’s wheels and bow drills, which had been available in Ancient Egypt before 2500 BC, with lathes being available across various regions of Europe since before 1000 to 500 BC. It wasn't until the later Middles Ages that the modern concept of a machine tool actually began to evolve into a major concept. These tools would make metal parts, including machine-guided tool paths.

Clockmakers through the Middle Ages and Renaissance would help expand the human technological concept of preconditions for industrial machine tools. Even Leonardo da Vinci would give a helping hand to the evolution of tools.

Throughout the 18th, 19th and even the 20th centuries, those who would building machine tools would often be the same people who would produce the manufactured goods. However, these evolved into an industry for machine tools, where builders would specialise in producing machine tools in order to sell them to other businesses and individuals.

Historians of machine tools often concentrate on a number of industries that had a major hand in spurring on the development of machine tools. In order of historical emergence, there have been: •

Firearms

•

Clocks

•

Textile Machinery

•

Steam Engines (stationary, marine, rail etc)

•

Sewing Machines

•

Bicycles

•

Automobiles

•

Aircraft

Many others could have an involvement with this list, yet they all seem to hold links to the root causes already listed in the list above. For example, rolling-element bearings are an industry on its own, yet the industry's main development drive were the vehicles listed.

Machine tools existed prior to the revolution The machine tool filled a much needed gap that was created by textile machinery during the English Industrial Revolution through the middle to late 1700s. Until this time, the machinery was mostly made from wood, which often included gearing and shafts. The increase in mechanization often required more metallic parts, which were commonly made of cast or wrought iron. Cast iron could be used to cast molds for larger parts needed, such as engine cyclinders and gears, though it was difficult to work a file and as a result could not be hammered. Room temperature wrought iron would be worked with a file and chisel, which allowed it to be made into gears and other incredibly complex parts.

Henry Maudslay is often pinpointed as the reason behind the advancement in accuracies of machine tools, being refined by Joseph Whitworth. Maudslay established himself as a manufacturer and used a small shop in London around 1809. The traditional method of producing surface gages was to use an abrasive powder that would be rubbed between the plates, yet it was Whitworth’s contribution that allowed for the refinement of replacing the grinding.

The US production of machine tools was a major factor behind the Allied victory at the end of World War II. The production of machine tools tripled in the US throughout the war. It’s been written that that war was won just as much by machine shops as it was machine guns.

Please visit our website to view the Birmingham Machine Tool Services.

What is a Surface Grinder?

The Surface Grinding Applications In your average grinding machine shop, the most common piece of equipment you’ll find is a surface grinder. Being similar to a multi-toothed milling cutter, the surface grinder is a highly important piece of equipment for all builders, although it has a grinding wheel as its cutting tool unlike the milling cutter. The wheel is responsible for removing smaller metal chips, as the tiny chips occur due to the grinding wheel’s composition of thousands of cutting edges.

The grinding wheel uses two different types of materials: silicon oxide and aluminium oxide. Both play a vital role in the machine, yet aluminium is used when you’re machining materials with a high ductility and naturally silicon is used for materials that have a low ductility. The grinding wheel has abrasive grains that produce a smooth end product and it doesn’t matter about the material that’s being worked on. These particles are commonly coated with a dressing of diamond, so materials like steel, glass and aluminium (amongst others) can be ground. The surface grinder is used as a finishing operation more often than not.

A surface grinder has two basic types that both grind flat surfaces. A planer grinder keeps the grinding wheel in a stationary position whilst moving the worktable, with the back-and-forth motion having the ability to be controlled manually or mechanically (this can also be done through hydraulic mechanisms on occasion). The grinder has a spindle that’s used to rotate the wheel and this can be placed vertically or horizontally, depending on the job. A rotary grinder, the second of the basic type, has a revolving, circular worktable. The spindle-assisted rotation can also be either horizontal or vertical as the grinding wheel rotates.

You should use a surface grinder for several reasons. Naturally, the most obvious one is to remove excess material, yet a surface grinder is a machine capable of machining very hard materials like steel and diamond. It produces a high quality finish on the surface of the products.

Although it’s been around for quite a while, surface grinders have naturally evolved with time. Portability issues have created a market for the user-friendly machine, with ergonomic concerns also coming into play for market development. Grinders such as CNC’s (Computer Numerically Controlled) are available to all as the PC-based control system simplifies the process, making the user interface easy to use.