Unit – 3

Milling & Grinding Machines

Milling is one of the basic machining processes. Milling is a very
versatile process capable of producing simple two dimensional flat
shapes to complex three dimensional interlaced surface
configurations.
The milling process:
– Typically uses a multi-tooth cutter
– Work is fed into the rotating cutter
– Capable of high MRR
– Well suited for mass production applications
– Cutting tools for this process are called milling cutters
Types of Milling Machines
According to configuration and motion of the work-holding table / bed

Knee type:
In such 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.
Bed type:
Usually of larger size and capacity; the vertical feed is given to
the milling head instead of the knee type bed
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, viz., lathe
beds, table and bed of planning machine etc.
1 Rotary table type:
2 Such open or closed ended high production milling machines
possess one large rotary work-table and one or two vertical
spindles as typically shown in Fig.; the positions of the job(s)
and the milling head are adjusted according to the size and
shape of the job.

3
According to the orientation of the spindle(s).
Plain horizontal knee type
This non-automatic general purpose milling machine of small to
medium size possesses a single horizontal axis milling arbor; the
work-table can be linearly fed along three axes (X,Y, Z) only; these
milling machines are most widely used for piece or batch production
of jobs of relatively simpler configuration and geometry

Horizontal axis (spindle) and swivelling bed type

These are very similar to the plain horizontal arbur knee type machines but
possess one additional swivelling motion of the work-table
Vertical spindle type
In this machine, the only spindle is vertical and works using end mill
type and face milling cutters; the table may or may not have
swivelling features
Specification of milling machine:
• Table size
• Max. length of longitudinal, cross, vertical travel of table
• Number of spindle speeds
• Number of feed
• Spindle nose taper
• Power

Milling Cutters
Milling machines are mostly general purpose and have wide range of
applications requiring various types and size of milling cutters.
Intermittent cutting nature and usually complex geometry necessitate
making the milling cutters mostly by HSS which is unique for high
tensile and transverse rupture strength, fracture toughness and
formability almost in all respects
Tougher grade cemented carbides are also used without or with
coating, where feasible, for high productivity and product quality.

Broad classifications of milling cutters

Milling cutters are broadly classified as,
(a) Profile sharpened cutters – where the geometry of the machined
surfaces are not related with the tool shape, viz;
1 i. Slab or plain milling cutter : straight or helical fluted
2 ii. Side milling cutters – single side or both sided type
 3 iii. Slotting cutter
4 iv. Slitting or parting tools
5 v. End milling cutters – with straight or taper shank
6 vi. Face milling cutters

(b) Form relieved cutters – where the job profile becomes the replica
of the tool-form, e.g., viz.;
1 i. Form cutters
2 ii. Gear (teeth) milling cutters
3 iii. Spline shaft cutters
4 iv. Tool form cutters
5 v. T-slot cutters
6 vi. Thread milling cutter

Use of profile sharpened cutters

The profile sharpened cutters are inherently used for making flat
surfaces or surface bounded by a number of flat surfaces only.
• Slab or Plain milling cutters : -
Plain milling cutters are hollow straight HSS cylinder of 40 to 80 mm
outer diameter having 4 to 16 straight or helical equi-spaced flutes or
cutting edges and are used in horizontal arbor to machine flat surface.
• Side and slot milling cutters
These arbor mounted disc type cutters have a large number of cutting
teeth at equal spacing on the periphery.
Each tooth has a peripheral cutting edge and another cutting edge on
one face in case of single side cutter and two more cutting edges on
both the faces leading to double sided cutter.
One sided cutters are used to produce one flat surface or steps
comprising two flat surfaces at right angle.
Both sided cutters are used for making rectangular slots bounded by
three flat surfaces.
Slotting is also done by another similar cutter having only one straight
peripheral cutting on each tooth. These cutters may be made from a
single piece of HSS or its teeth may be of carbide blades brazed on the
periphery or clamped type uncoated or coated carbide inserts for high
production machining.
 1 • Slitting saw or parting tool
These milling cutters are very similar to the slotting cutters having
only one peripheral cutting edge on each tooth. However, the
slitting saws
1 are larger in diameter and much thin
2 possess large number of cutting teeth but of small size
3 used only for slitting or parting

End milling cutters or End mills

The common features and characteristics of such cutters are:
• mostly made of HSS
• 4 to 12 straight or helical teeth on the periphery and face
 • diameter ranges from about 1 mm to 40 mm
• very versatile and widely used in vertical spindle type milling
machines
• end milling cutters requiring larger diameter are made as a
separate cutter body which is fitted in the spindle through a
taper shank arbor.

• Face milling cutters

The shape, geometry and typical use of face milling cutters are
shown in the following fig.
The main features are:
1 • usually large in diameter (80 to 800 mm) and heavy
2 • used only for machining flat surfaces in different
orientations
3 • mounted directly in the vertical and / or horizontal
spindles
 4 • coated or uncoated carbide inserts are clamped at the
outer edge of the carbon steel body as shown
5 • generally used for high production machining of large
jobs.

Use of form relieved cutters (milling)

The distinguishing characteristics of such cutters, in contrast to profile
sharpened cutters, are ;
1 • form of the tool is exactly replica of the job-profile to be
made
2 • clearance or flank surfaces of the teeth are of archemedian
spiral shaped instead of flat
3 • teeth are sharpened by grinding the rake surface only
4 • used for making 2-D and 3-D contour surfaces
• Form cutters
Such disc type HSS cutters are generally used for making grooves or
slots of various profiles
Form cutters may be also end mill type like T-slot cutter

Gear teeth milling cutters

Gear milling cutters are made of HSS and available mostly in disc
form like slot milling cutters and also in the form of end mill for
producing teeth of large module gears.
The form of these tools conforms to the shape of the gear tooth-gaps
bounded by two involutes
 Such form relieved cutters can be used for producing teeth of straight
and helical toothed external spur gears and worm wheels as well as
straight toothed bevel gears.

Spline shaft cutters

These disc type HSS form relieved cutters are used for cutting the
slots of external spline shafts having 4 to 8 straight axial teeth.
Tool form cutters
Form milling type cutters are also used widely for cutting slots or
flutes of different cross section e.g. the flutes of twist drills, milling
cutters, reamers etc., and gushing of hobs, taps, and short thread
milling cutters
Thread milling cutter
Such shank type solid HSS or Carbide cutters having thread like
annular grooves with equi-spaced gushings are used in automatic
single purpose milling machines for cutting the threads in large lot
production of screws, bolts etc.
Both internal and external threads are cut by the tool
The milling cutter is used in long thread milling (e.g. lead screws,
power screws, worms etc.)
 Milling Processes
Three types: Slab Milling (Peripheral Milling)
Face Milling
End Milling

1) Slab Milling (Peripheral Milling)

Operation performed to produce a machined surface parallel to the
axis of the rotation of cutter
Cutting force may not be uniform throughout the length of cut by each
tooth
Quality of surface generated and the shape of chip formed is
dependent upon the rotation of cutter relative to the direction of feed
movement of the work
Based on the relative movement between the tool & work slab milling
is classified into two types
• Conventional milling or Up milling
• Climb milling or Down milling
Conventional milling or Up milling:
Process of metal removal by a cutter which is rotated against the
direction of travel of work piece
Thickness of chip is minimum at the beginning of the cut and it
reaches to the maximum when cut terminates
Cutting depth increases from zero to the maximum value per tooth
movement of the cutter.
Cutting force is directed upwards and tends to lift the work from
fixtures
As the cutter progresses, the chip accumulate at the cutting zone and
carried over with the cutter spoiling the work surface

Climb milling or Down milling

Process of removing metal by a cutter which is rotated in the same
direction of travel of the work piece
Thickness of chip is maximum when the tooth begins the cut and it
reduces to the minimum when the cut terminates
Cutting force is maximum when the tooth begins its cut and reduces to
minimum when the tooth leaves the work
Chip disposal is easy and does not interfere with the cutting process.

2) Face Milling
Operation performed by a milling cutter to produce a flat surface
perpendicular to the axis of rotation of the cutter
Peripheral cutting edges of cutter do the actual cutting and face cutting
edges finish up the work surface by removing a very small amount of
material
When the cutter rotates through half of the revolution the direction of
movement of cutter tooth is opposite to the direction of feed
Condition reverses when the cutter rotates through other half of the
revolution
Chip thickness is minimum at the beginning & at the end of cut and is
maximum when the work passes through the center line of cutter
3) End Milling
Considered as the combination of peripheral & face milling operation
Cutter has teeth both on the end face & also on periphery
Suitable for pocket milling & slot milling operation
 Indexing
Process of dividing the periphery of a work piece into any number of
equal parts
Equal spacing of teeth on the gear blank is performed by indexing
Indexing can be adopted for producing hexagonal and square head of
bolts, cutting splines on shafts, fluting drills etc.
Indexing is accomplished by using a special attachment known as
dividing head or index head.
Dividing head are of 3 types
• Plain or simple dividing head
• Universal dividing head
• Optical dividing head
Indexing methods
• Direct / Rapid indexing
• Plain / Simple indexing
• Compound indexing
• Differential indexing
• Angular indexing
Direct / Rapid indexing
Used when a large number of identical work piece are indexed by very
small divisions
With a rapid index plate having 24 holes, it is possible to divide the
work into equal divisions of 2, 3, 4, 4, 6, 8, 12 and 24 parts.
Rule for direct indexing
To find the index movement, divide the total number of holes in the
direct index plate by the number of divisions required on the work.
No. of holes to be moved = 24 / N [(Number of holes in index plate) /
(Number of divisions)]

Simple / Plain Indexing

More accurate and suitable for numbers beyond the range of rapid
indexing (Index plates with circle holes patented by Brown & Sharp
Mfg. Company) Accepted as standard index plates by Indian machine
tool manufacturers.
• Plate No.: 1 – 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20
• Plate No.: 2 – 21, 23, 27, 29, 31, 33
• Plate No.: 3 – 37, 39, 41, 43, 47, 49
Formula for index crank movement = 40 / N
[worm gear has 40 teeth and 40 turns of the crank will rotate the
spindle through one complete revolution]
(i.e) 1 turn of crank will cause the spindle to be rotated by 1/ 40 of a
revolution.

(ex.) set the dividing head to mill 30 teeth on a spur gear blank
Index crank movement = 40 / 30 = 1⅓ x 7 / 7 = 1 7/21
Therefore, for indexing, one complete turn and 7 holes in 21 hole
circle of the index plate is to be moved by the index crank.
Compound Indexing
Two separate movements of the index crank in two different hole
circles of one index plate to obtain a crank movement which is not
possible in plain indexing
First movement is performed similar to the plain indexing
Second index movement is performed by removing the rear lock pin
and then rotating the plate together with the index crank forward /
backward through the calculated number of spaces of another hole
circle and then lock pin is engaged.
Effective indexing movement will be the summation of the two
movements
Rule for compound indexing
40 / N = n1 / N1 ± n2 / N2
Where, N – No. of divisions required
 N1- Hole circle used by crank pin
N2 – Hole circle used in lock pin
n1 – Hole spaces moved by the crank pin in N1 hole circle
n2 – Hole spaces moved by the plate and crank pin in N2 hole
circle

Differential Indexing
Indexing is obtained by the combination of 2 movements
Movement of the index crank similar to the simple indexing
Simultaneous movement of the index plate when the crank is turned
Rule for differential indexing
Gear ratio = (A – N) 40 / A where ‘A’ is the selected number which
can be indexed by plain indexing and the number is approximately
equal to N.
N is the required number of divisions to be indexed
In the ratio, the nr of fraction indicate driving gears on the index head
spindle and the dr indicate the driven gears on the index plate
Index crank movement = 40 / A
Index crank is to be moved by an amount for N number of times for
complete division of work
Ex. To index 83 divisions
Index crank movement in plain indexing: 40 / N = 40 / 83
Since there is no 83 hole circle, the number cannot be indexed by plain
indexing
Assume A = 86, a number close to 83 and indexed by plain indexing
Gear ratio: (A – N) 40 / A = (86 – 83) 40 / 86
= 3 x 40 / 86
= (72 / 24) x (40 / 86)
Drivers: 72, 40 and Driven: 24, 86
Index crank movement: 40 / 86 = 20 / 43
For complete indexing, the index will have to be moved by 20 holes in
43 hole circle for 83 times
As (A – N) is positive, the index plate should move in the same
direction as the crank

Angular Indexing
Angular indexing is the process of dividing the periphery of a work in
angular measurements and not by the number of divisions
Indexing method is similar to plain indexing
When the index crank is rotated by 40 number of revolutions the
spindle rotates through one complete revolution or by 360 deg.
One turn of crank will cause the spindle and work to rotate through
360 / 40 = 9 deg.

Rule
Index crank movement = Angular displacement of work in degrees / 9
= Angular displacement of work in minutes / 540
= Angular displacement of work in Sec. / 32400
Ex. Index an angle of 19˚40’
= (19 x 60) + 40 = 1180’
Index crank movement = 1180’ / 540’ = 2 5/27
Index crank should be moved two complete turns and 5 holes of 27
hole circle.

Grinding
- Metal cutting operation performed by means of a rotating abrasive
wheel
- Used to finish workpiece with high surface quality & dimensional
accuracy

Cutting action of Abrasive grains

- Two types of grinding
- Rough / non-precision
- Precision
Types of grinding machine
1. Rough grinding machine:
- Floor stand and bench grinders
- Portable and flexible shaft grinders
- Swing frame grinders
- Abrasive belt grinders
2. Precision grinders
- Cylindrical external grinders
- Cylindrical internal grinders
- Surface grinders – reciprocating table and rotating table
- Vertical and horizontal spindle
- Tool and cutter grinders
- Special grinding machine

Horizontal spindle reciprocating table surface grinder

Vertical spindle reciprocating table surface grinder

Horizontal Spindle Rotary table

Vertical spindle rotary table

 Centre type Cylindrical grinding

Centre less through feed Grinding

Centre less In feed grinding and End feed grinding

 Bond and bonding processes
- Bond is an adhesive material employed for holding abrasive
grinding the desired shape to the grinding wheels
- Commonly used bonds for the manufacture of grinding wheels
include
- Vitrified bond for vitrified grinding wheels (V)
- Silicate bond for silicate grinding wheels (S)
- Shellac bond for elastic wheels (E)
 - Rubber bond for vulcanized wheels (R)
- Bakelite / Resinoid bond
- Oxy-chloride bond
Vitrified bond
- Abrasive grains and clay-mixed together with sufficient water
- Fluid mixture is poured in moulds and dried in a temperature of
730ºC for 12-14 days
- Clay vitrifies – (ie) it becomes a glass like / porcelain substance that
surrounds and connects the abrasive grains
- Grinding wheel has good strength, good porosity, resistance to
acids/alkalies/chemicals
Silicate bond
- abrasive grains mixed with sodium silicate
- mixture is molded and allowed to dry for several hours
- baking is done at 260-280ºC for 3-4 hours
Shellac bond
- Abrasive grain particles and shellac are mixed and the mixture is
allowed is rolled and pressed to desired shapes
- Baking of wheels is done at 290-300ºC for few hours
- Wheels produced by this process have good elasticity and good
cutting capacity
- Shellac bonded wheels are used for finish grinding of cam shafts,
bearing rollers, etc.
Rubber bond
- Abrasive grains are mixed with rubber and a calculated amount of
sulphur (vulcanizing)
- Mixture is spread between rubber sheets, rolled to desired thickness
and then vulcanized
- Rubber bonded grinding wheels are very hard / tough and posses
good strength
- But they are not heat resistant
Bakelite or resinoid bond
- Abrasive grains and synthetic resins / bakelite
- Mixture is molded into desired shape and baked at 200-250ºC for
few hours
- At this temperature the resin sets to hold the abrasive grains
- Wheels are very hard, strong and capable of working at high speeds
- Used for rough grinding / stock removing

Oxy-chloride bonding
- abrasive grains mixed with magnesium oxide and magnesium
chloride
- mixing of bond and abrasive is performed as in the case of vitrified
bonded wheel
- used for making wheel segments
Grinding wheel selection factor
1. Material
- This influences the selection of abrasive, grain size, grade, structure
and bond
- Al2O3 recommended for material with high tensile strength
- SiC recommended for material with low tensile strength
- Fine grain is used for hard and brittle material
- Coarse grain is used for soft ductile material
- Hard wheel for soft materials
- Soft wheel for hard materials
- Close spacing required for hard and brittle materials
- Wide spacing required for soft and ductile materials
2. Amount of stock to be removed
- Involves accuracy and finish
- Coarse grain used for fast cutting and fine grain for fine finish
- Wide spacing for rapid removal and close for fine finish
3. Wheel speed
- influences the selection of grade and bond
- higher the wheel speed with respect to work speed the softer the
wheel should be.
Recommended wheel speed for different type of grinding:
Cylindrical 1500-2000 m/min.
Surface 1200-1500 m/min.
Internal 600-1800 m/min.
Tool and cutter 1500-2000 m/min.
Centreless 1500-1800 m/min.
4. Work speed
- Higher the work speed with respect to wheel speed harder the wheel
should be
Working speed for different material
Roughing finishing
C.I 60 m/min. 120 m/min.
Al 30 m/min. 60 m/min.
Soft steel 9 m/min. 15 m/min.
Hard steel 20 m/min. 30 m/min.
Wearing of Grinding wheel
Glazing
- Condition in which the face or cutting edge takes a glass-like
appearance (i.e.) the cutting points of the abrasives have become
dull and worm down
Loading of wheel
- Cutting face of the wheel has particles of the metal being ground
adhering to it (i.e.) the openings / pores of the wheel face being
filled up with metal powder
Reconditioning of grinding wheel
- Dressing removes loading and break away the glazed surface so that
the sharp abrasive particles are ready for grinding.
Dressing can be done by using :
Star dresser
Diamond dresser
Star Dresser
- Common type of wheel dresser
- Consist of number of hardened steel wheels with points on their
periphery
- Dresser is held against the face of the revolving wheel and moved
across the face to dress the whole surface
Diamond dresser
- Single crystal diamond tip is used as tool for dressing
- Tip will be inserted in a holder in such a way that the tip alone is
projected outward
- Holder is provided with a magnetic stand which can be placed on
the table of the grinding machine
- Dresser is held against the face of the revolving wheel and moved
across the face.