Reaming is a machining operation in which a rotary tool takes a light cut to improve the accuracy of the round hole and reduce the roughness of the hole surface. This article describes its process capabilities and provides information on workpiece material and hardness, as well as the machines used. Reamer materials and design, speed and feed, bushings and fixtures, and cutting fluids used are also discussed. The article outlines the factors to be considered while selecting a reamer. It also discusses the applications of the principle types of reamers, namely, straight-flute chucking, spiral-flute chucking, adjustable, end-cutting, shell, floating-blade, gun, and special-purpose reamers, with examples.

This article discusses various machining techniques of zinc alloy die castings. These include turning, boring, drilling, reaming, tapping, die threading, milling, and sawing. In addition, the article describes the factors that influence machinability of the zinc alloy die castings.

This article is a comprehensive collection of machining data, presented in tables, covering most of the commonly used machining operations including turning, face milling, end milling (peripheral), drilling, reaming, and tapping of several materials. It provides starting recommendations for the range of speeds and feeds for various machining operations, parameters for the selection of tool geometry, and guidelines on the selection and identification of cutting fluids.

This article discusses the classifications of high-speed tool steels and describes alloying elements and their effects on the properties of high-speed tool steels. It analyzes the heat treatment of high-speed tool steels, namely, preheating, austenitizing, quenching, and tempering. Surface treatments for the high-speed tool steels are reviewed. The article emphasizes the properties and applications of high-speed tool steels and provides information on the factors in selecting high-speed tool steels.

This article describes the selection of tool steels on the basis of specific product applications. It contains tables that list nominal speeds and feeds for the machining of various tool steels. The machining processes include turning, boring, broaching, drilling, reaming, tapping, milling, and sawing. The article explains the machining of the following tool steels: water hardening; types A, D and O cold-work; hot work; high speed, low-alloy special-purpose; and low-carbon mold. It details the machining of tool steel gears. The article also discusses the grinding of tool steels based on steel classification and the effects of steel composition and hardness on grindability. It reviews the types of grinding, namely, surface grinding, cylindrical grinding, centerless grinding, internal grinding, thread grinding, flute grinding, and low-stress grinding. Grinding of types-A, D, F, L, O, P, S and W steels, hot-work steels, and high speed steels, is also detailed.

Magnesium is machined in low-volume production on small, manually operated machine tools and on large, specially built, completely automated transfer machines operating at high production rates. This article focuses on the factors that affect the machining of magnesium. It discusses chip formation and distortion due to thermal expansion, cold work, and clamping and provides information on magnesium-matrix composites. The article describes materials, design, and sharpness as factors for selection of tool for machining magnesium. It illustrates turning and boring, planing and shaping, broaching, drilling, reaming, counterboring, milling, sawing, and grinding operations performed on magnesium. Safety measures related to machining, handling of chips and fines, and fire extinguishing are also discussed.

This article discusses the fundamentals of broaching, including broach tooth terminology, broach cutting action, and broach size. It describes two types of broaching machines: horizontal and vertical. The article illustrates three general categories of broaches: solid, shell, and insert-type. It tabulates feeds and speeds for broaching various steels with high-speed tool steels and carbide tools. The article also describes the advantages and limitations of broaching and provides a brief discussion on burnishing. The causes and prevention of broach breakage are also discussed. The article concludes with information on broach repair.

Nickel-base alloys can be machined by techniques that are used for iron-base alloys. This article discusses the effects of distortion and microstructure on the machinability of nickel alloys. It tabulates the classification of nickel alloys based on machining characteristics. The article describes the machining operations performed on nickel alloys, such as turning, planing and shaping, broaching, reaming, drilling, tapping and threading, milling, sawing, and grinding. It provides information on the cutting fluids used in the machining of nickel alloys. The article also analyzes nontraditional machining methods that are suitable for shaping high-temperature, high-strength nickel alloys. These include electrochemical machining, electron beam machining, and laser beam machining.

Tool steels are any steel used to make tools for cutting, forming, or shaping manufactured parts. Most tool steels are wrought products alloyed with relatively large amounts of tungsten, molybdenum, vanadium, manganese, and/or chromium. The article describes a wide variety of tool steels, including high-speed steels, hot and cold-work steels, shock-resisting steels, and special-purpose steels. Hot-work steels are designed to withstand excessive amounts of heat, pressure, and abrasion, suiting them for punching, shearing, and high-temperature forming applications. Cold-work tool steels have exceptional dimensional stability and wear resistance, but lack the alloy content necessary to resist softening at temperatures above 205 to 260 deg C. The article examines standard designations for all tool steel types and provides corresponding composition and property ranges. It also discusses surface treatments, fabrication issues, and in-service measures of performance.

The horsepower requirements to cut various metal alloys provide an indication of the relative ease and cost of machining, but several other important factors include cutting tool material, chip formation, cutting fluids, cutting tool wear, surface roughness, and surface integrity. This article reviews these general machining factors as well as specific cutting tool and cutting parameters for the six basic chip-forming processes of turning, shaping, milling, drilling, sawing, and broaching. Best practices for each of the six chip-forming processes are suggested for optimized machining of aluminum alloys. The article lists the inherent disadvantages of machining processes that involve compression/shear chip formation. It discusses the machining of aluminum metal-matrix composites and nontraditional machining of aluminum, such as abrasive jet, waterjet, electrodischarge, plasma arc, electrochemical, and chemical machining.

This article begins with a discussion on the classification of aluminum alloys and the selection of alloy and temper based on machinability. It provides an overview of cutting force and power, tool design and material, and general machining conditions. In addition, the article discusses distortion and dimensional variation and machining problems during the machining of high-silicon aluminum alloy. It also provides information on tool design and material, speed and feed, and the cutting fluid used for various machining processes, namely, turning, boring, planing and shaping, broaching, reaming, tapping, milling, sawing, grinding, honing, and lapping. The article concludes with a discussion on drilling operations in automatic bar and chucking machines and drill presses.

This article describes various machining techniques of refractory metals, namely, niobium, molybdenum, tantalum, and tungsten. These include turning, boring, trepanning, reaming, milling, tapping, drilling, and sawing. Parameters for the machining of the refractory metals are also tabulated. In addition, the article provides information on cutting fluids and tools that are used in machining of the refractory metals as well as on the safety precautions to be followed in the machining process.

This article focuses on the machining of reactive metals which refer collectively to the elements titanium, hafnium, and zirconium. It provides guidelines for machining titanium and titanium alloys and describes machining operations, such as turning, milling, drilling, tapping, reaming, grinding, and sawing, performed on titanium and its alloys. The article also provides information on electrochemical machining (ECM), chemical milling (CHM), and laser beam machining (LBM) for titanium and titanium alloys. Guidelines for machining zirconium alloys and hafnium are also provided. The article provides a short description of turning, milling, and drilling operations performed on zirconium alloys and hafnium. It also discusses health and safety considerations related to zirconium and hafnium.

Roller burnishing is a method of working a metal surface to improve its finish and dimensional accuracy and can provide some degree of work hardening. This article discusses the workpiece requirements used for roller burnishing. It illustrates the types of roller burnishing tools, such as internal tool, external tool, and tools for the roller burnishing of tapered holes and circular flat surfaces. The article contains a table that lists typical inside and outside diameter speed and feed rates for roller burnishing tools. It exemplifies typical lubrication techniques and the conditions used in the roller burnishing of magnesium alloy castings. The article reviews fillet rolling that is used to improve fatigue resistance of the materials. It concludes with a discussion on the process considerations for three basic types of bearingizing tools for the finishing of bores: bottoming, semi-bottoming, and through-hole.

This article provides information on the operating principle, tool material and design changes, and safety and protection of various multifunction machines as well as the cutting fluids used. These include single-spindle automatic lathes, manual turret lathes, single-spindle automatic bar and chucking machines, Swiss-type automatic bar machines, multiple-spindle automatic bar and chucking machines, and multiple-spindle vertical chucking machines. The article provides examples that illustrate typical variations in dimensions obtained with a multiple-spindle machine. It also describes the machinability and provides information on the physical condition of the work metal. The article discusses the various factors to be considered in the selection of an appropriate machine. It presents examples that describe the techniques and equipment selected for specific production applications. In addition, the article discusses the types, applications, advantages, and disadvantages of machining centers and transfer machines. Finally, it provides the goals, objectives, and production techniques of flexible manufacturing systems.

Rust-preventive compounds are removable coatings used for the protection of the surfaces of iron, steel, coated or galvanized products, and other alloys. This article describes the basic parts of rust-preventive compounds, namely, carrier, film former, polar materials, and specialty additives. It explains types of rust-preventive compounds, including dry films and water-based dry films. The article also discusses the methods of application of various compounds, such as petrolatum compounds and emulsion compounds. It contains tables that provide information on the characteristics, applications, and physical properties of rust-preventive materials covered by military specifications. Finally, the article describes the various considerations and parameters for selecting rust-preventive materials.

This article focuses on machines that are designed, constructed, and used for drilling. It provides information on the design, materials, selection, and classification of drill. The article describes drills that are specially designed for hard steel and other specific applications. A variety of drill point styles, such as single-angle points and reduced-rake points, are described. The article discusses the factors considered to obtain expected dimensional accuracy of holes. It explains the determination of the optimum speed and feed for drilling, which depends on the workpiece material, tool material, depth of hole, design of drill, rigidity of setup, tolerance, and cutting fluid. The article illustrates the effects of operating variables on drill life of hardened steel. The advantages, limitations, design considerations, insert configurations, and applications of indexable-insert drills are discussed. The article concludes with a discussion on the requirements to drill small holes that differ from those used in conventional drilling.

This article describes procedures for producing powder metallurgy high-speed tool steel powder by inert-gas atomization, followed by compaction by hot isostatic pressing. These include the anti-segregation process (ASP) and the crucible particle metallurgy (CPM) process. The article reviews the properties of ASP and CPM and summarizes the procedures to heat treat ASP high-speed tool steels. It discusses the processing steps, advantages, and applications of the FULDENS process that uses water-atomized powders compacted by vacuum sintering. The article also provides information on the applications of tool steels.

This article focuses on the use of indium and bismuth in low-melting-temperature solders and fusible alloys. It describes how the two elements typically occur in nature and how they are recovered and processed for commercial use. It also provides information on designations, classification, composition, properties (including temperatures ranges), and some of the other ways in which indium and bismuth alloys are used.

This article discusses the characteristics, composition limits, and classification of wrought tool steels, namely high-speed steels, hot-work steels, cold-work steels, shock-resisting steels, low-alloy special-purpose steels, mold steels, water-hardening steels, powder metallurgy tool steels, and precision-cast tool steels. It describes the effects of surface treatments on the basic properties of tool steels, including hardness, resistance to wear, deformation, and toughness. The article provides information on fabrication characteristics of tool steels, including machinability, grindability, weldability, and hardenability, and presents a short note on machining allowances.