Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
The numbered faces in this image also indicate the order in which the three faces are cut.
Although there are three faces to cut and each of them has two angles to set, the front and side faces
both have two critical angles and two non-critical. The top face has two angles, both of which are
important.
Tool geometry.
The end and side faces both have a clearance/relief angle and another edge cutting angle. The relief
angles are needed to stop the tool rubbing. A tool with a greater relief angle usually has a lower rate
of wear, but because there is less material to support the cutting edge the tool can break more easily,
it also cannot conduct heat away so efficiently.
The top face has two rake angles because it can cut both 'into' and 'along' the work piece. These
angles are identified as a 'side rake' angle and a 'back rake' angle. The rake angle sets the angle of
shear for the cut. A greater rake angle reduces cutting forces and gives a better tool life, but too much
rake can make the tool fragile.
The diagram below shows the terminology used to describe cutting tools (click for a larger image).
Different materials are best cut using slightly different angles and the table below gives some
suggested angles for the critical faces; but in summary harder materials have a smaller rake angles
and softer ones greater rake angles. The exception is Brass and bronze which are usually cut with
zero or negative rake to prevent 'digging in' of the tool.
A Tool Grinding Rest
Throughout this sequence the tool temperature was kept reasonable by frequent dipping in a pot of
water. Also - always ensure that the safety guards are in place on the grinding wheel, and always wait
for it to stop before adjusting the rest.
The first face to be cut was the side face.
The grinding rest was tipped to give the required side clearance relief and the fence adjusted to give
the side cutting edge angle. The work was fed across the edge of the grinding wheel with a light
inward pressure to make the cut.
The angle set by the table is the important angle here as is sets the side relief. The angle of the fence
is non-critical and is simply used so that the side relief doesn't have to be ground all the way along
the tool.
Finally the top face was cut. This face had a side
and back rake angle.
\
I grind most lathe tools using a bench grinder. This is equipped with a small grinding
rest as shown here which is scribed with lines at 10 degree intervals. The rest height
and angle can be adjusted. More details of the grinding rest are here. For normal lathe
tools it is easy to set up the rest to have the correct angle and then using the scribed
lines as a guide to grind the facets on the tool tip. However, this method is not very
satisfactory for grinding threading tools where the angle of the tip must be accurate.
The little jig shown in the header photo was constructed for grinding threading tools. It
can also be used to grind other lathe tools if the angle must be exact. The jig is very
simple and consists of a piece of 1/8" x 3" steel with a 6 mm square pivoting arm
secured by a small M3 socket head screw. The pivot point is very close to the edge of
the sheet. The pivot arm can be set at any angle in the range +/- 90 degrees. On the jig
shown are two scribed lines at 60 degrees from the zero (centre ) line. These lines are
for setting the pivot arm for grinding a 60 degree tool tip. Other lines could be added for
different tool angles or the pivot arm can be set using a protractor.
This photo shows the back of the jig. The bar is a stop and guide that runs against the
back edge of the grinding rest to keep the jig parallel to the grinding wheel.
This shows the set up for grinding the first face of the tool. The tool is held against the
bar with the forefinger and the jig slid from side to side to grind the face.
This shows the grinding of the second face. The pivot has been swung round to the
other side.