Award in the Operation of General Engineering Machine Tools Conventional Lathes and Milling – Introduction

Courses commenced 21.11.2023. 

Next cohort being planned for 2024.

For further information please contact us on [email protected] 

The unit provides learners with the skills needed for entry into the engineering machining field through basic hands-on practice on centre lathes and vertical milling machines to produce basic engineering components. Topics include the set-up, tool selection and different work holding devices used to produce engineering components of different materials most commonly used in the engineering industry.

The unit covers the skills and knowledge needed to achieve the required competences to set up machine tools in accordance with approved procedures and safe working practices. This would include the selection of appropriate work holding devices, the right tool for the job and the correct alignment to machine components to the required degree of accuracy.

During the course, the learner will be expected to: select the appropriate parameters of speeds and feeds in relation to the type of tooling being used and the material to be machined; check for defects and mounts; secure tooling to the relevant tool holding devices and / or machine spindle. Learners will also be expected to set-up and align tool/ workpiece in the correct relationship to the machine spindle and to set the machine operating parameters to produce an engineering component to the required specifications. Making adjustments to settings to achieve specification and solving machine related problems during production, will also be part of the skills delivered in this unit.

The programme will cover theoretical and practical aspects of machining an engineering component using a variety of machine tools, such as a centre lathe, a milling machine, a drilling machine and grinding machines to re-sharpen most commonly used lathe tools. By the end of the unit, learners will be expected to produce their own engineering component using a combination of a centre lathe and a milling machine operation.

Unit Content:

• LO1 – Identify potential hazards when operating machine tools with reference to the appropriate health and safety regulations and risk assessment criteria.
  • Common causes of accidents when using machine tools.
  • Selection of Personal Protective Equipment for different machining operations.
  • Common methods for stopping machine tools in an emergency and making it safe.
  • The need for guarding equipment on different machine tools.
  • Safety in the use of cutting fluids.
  • Safety features in the use of chuck keys when using different work holding devices.

• LO2 – Recognise how a range of secondary machining techniques are used.
  • Centre lathe elements – Bed, headstock, tailstock, saddle, cross slide, compound slide, apron and centre lathe controls.
  • The universal, horizontal and vertical milling machine.
  • Work holding devices used for turning operations on centre lathes – Three jaw self-centering, four jaw independent, face plate, four jaw self-centering, turning between centres, tailstock revolving chucks and collet chucks.
  • Centre lathe operations – Turning, facing, parting, drilling and reaming, thread cutting, taper turning and boring.
  • Milling machine elements – Column and base, knee, saddle, table, spindle and guarding.
  • Setting up of a centre lathe and a milling machine for producing a combined engineering activity.
  • Work / tool holding devices for milling machines – machine vices, use of clamps, collet chucks and angle plates (fixed and adjustable).
  • Use of different cutters – slot drills, end mills, face mills, radius cutters dovetail cutters and bull nosed end mills.
  • Up-cut and down-cut milling operations.
  • Basic elements of direct indexing (dividing head and rotary tables).

• LO3 – Perform basic operations on a centre lathe, a vertical milling machine and a drilling machine for the production of an engineering component to a given specification.
  • Alignment of work holding devices / tooling when using a centre lathe, a milling machine and a pedestal drilling machine.
  • Use of different measuring equipment to align tools / work holding devices when using a centre lathe and a vertical milling machine.
  • Different methods of taper turning on centre lathes –off-set method, compound slide and taper turning attachments (tailstock attachment and cross slide attachment)
  • Basic principles of external and internal thread cutting on centre lathes.
  • Basic principles of milling operations using various types of cutting tools to perform a variety of operations – End mills, slot drills, bull nose cutters, face mills, radius cutters.