FACULTY OF MECHANICAL & AUTOMOTIVE

ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY

BMM1722
ME ENGINEERING LAB 1

BENCHWORK
Fitting Process
Laboratory Date

Submission Date

Lecturer
1)
JP/PJP 2)
3)

Learning objectives

By the end of semester, students should be able to:

1. Identify various types of hand tools.
2. Describe the application of various types of hand tools.
3. Use various types of hand tools properly within safe practice.
4. Determine the correct tools for threading process.
5. Apply the knowledge to produce bench work project.

Members ID Section Signature

1. Purpose
To study the uses of common hand tools and appreciate the importance of fitting work in the trade.

2. Machine:
Drilling machine

3. Tools & Equipment:

Bench vise, Marking out table, hammer, Files, Center punch, ,Steel ruler, File card, Scriber, Vernier high
gauge, Vernier caliper, L square, Hacksaw, Angle plate, Dividers, Reamer 6H7, Hand tap set M6, Chisel
etc.

4. Material:
Mild Steel plate 102mm x 52mm (approximately 6 mm in thickness). Refer to drawing given.

5. Basic Theory
The workbench is the craftsman’s headquarters, where operations involving the use of hand tools such as
sawing, filing, chiseling and marking out are appropriately carried out. In this section, students will be
introduced to the basic complement of hand tools commonly used in all branches of mechanical
technology such as bench vise, files, hacksaw and center punch, and scriber.
Bench Vise
The bench vise is used to help grip the workpiece for filing, hack sawing, chiseling and bending light
metal. The bench vice mainly consist of a fixed jaw, movable jaw and jaw plates (Figure 1). Most bench
vises have hardened insert jaws that are sharply serrated and will dig into finished workpieces enough to
mar them beyond repair. Hence, soft jaws made of copper, other soft metals or wood are often slip over
the vise jaws to protect the workpiece’s finished surface. Figure 1: Bench Vise Bench vise should be
mounted correctly on the workbench where the top of the vise jaws should be at elbow height.
Inappropriately mounted bench vises causes poor workpiece to be produced.

Figure 1: Bench Vise

Bench vise should be mounted correctly on the workbench where the top of the vise jaws should be at
elbow height. Inappropriately mounted bench vises causes poor workpiece to be produced.

Filing
Filing involves the small scale removal of material from a surface, corner, or hole, including the removal
of burrs. Files are usually made of hardened steel and are available in a variety of cross sections such as
flat, round, half round, square and triangle (Figure 3).They are commonly manufactured in four different
cuts: single, double, curved tooth and rasp. Each cut design has its own purpose. For instance, rasp files
are frequently used with wood while curved tooth files are used with soft materials such as aluminium,
brass, plastic, or lead. Files also vary in their coarseness; rough, coarse, bastard, second cut, smooth and
dead smooth.

Figure 2: Basic components of a file

Figure 3: Various file cross sections

In order to produce a flat surface, work should be held firmly in the vise with the minimum amount of
projecting and with the surface to be filed to be truly horizontal. The right hand pushes and presses while
the left hand only presses with the same amount of pressure. Pressure should only be applied during
forward stroke only. The Figure 4 below illustrates the proper technique of Hand filing. Success in filing
flat is dependant on hand control to keep the file horizontal throughout its stroke and an equal
distribution of pressure. In order to test the surface of work during filing, a straightedge can be placed on
it. If rays of light can be seen between the two surfaces of the workpiece and the straightedge, then the
surface of the workpiece is not flat.

Figure 4: Hand movement during filing

Care should be taken while filing to avoid dulling and breakage of its teeth. Teeth on files will break if the
tools lie on top of each other and if too much pressure is applied while filing. Dulling of teeth is caused
by the filing of hard materials or by filing too fast. A good rule of thumb is the harder the material, the
slower the strokes should be; the softer the material, the coarser the file should be.
Sawing
The hacksaw is one of the more frequently used hand tools. It consists of the frame, the handle and the
saw blade (Figure 5). The spacing of the teeth on a hand hacksaw blade is called the pitch. Standard
pitches are 14, 18, 24 and 32 teeth per inch, with the 18-pitch blade used as a general-purpose blade. The
hardness and thickness of a workpiece determine to a great extent which pitch blade to use. Generally, a
coarse tooth blade should be use on soft materials and a fine tooth blade on harder materials. There are a
few points that should be noted in order to obtain maximum performance from a blade:-
 Make long steady strokes using the full length of the blade.
 Maintained sufficient pressure on the forward stroke to keep the teeth cutting. Too much
pressure on the saw blade will cause its teeth to dull.
 Do not apply any pressure at the blade during return stroke since this will also dull the teeth
 The sawing speed should be at the rate of 40~60 strokes per minute. Cutting stroke that is too
fast causes friction that will overheat the teeth and dull it.

Figure 5: Main components of a hacksaw

A cut on a workpiece should be started with only light cutting pressure, with the thumb or fingers on one
hand acting as a guide for the blade. A small vee-notch could also be filed onto the material to help start a
blade. In order to avoid vibration and chatter, ensure that the cutting is done close to the vise jaws.

Center Punch
The centre punch is used when circular dot marks are required. When job has been marked out it is usual
to follow along the lines with small dot marks in case the line becomes obliterated. It is also used to mark
the centre point of drilling holes for the purpose of giving starts to the drill and to mark the centre of
circles to provide a point for placing the leg of the dividers to scribe the circle. Various types of center
punch are illustrated as below.

Figure 6: Types of center punch

 Scriber
The scriber is a round steel piece of about 150mm to 300mm long and 3mmto 5mm in diameter. Its one
end is sharp and pointed and the other end is also sharp but bent. The bent end is used to scratch lines in
places where the straight end cannot reach.

Figure 7: Scriber

6. General planning the job

a. Study the drawing and lab sheet given. Ensure you understand them and know exactly what has
to be done to the workpeice. i.e. Has any excess material to be left on sizes for grinding or
hardening?

b. Check material for machining allowance.

c. Plan out sequence of operation. Ask yourself the following questions:

i. Can any operations be combined?
ii. Can any operation be eliminated?
iii. Is sequence the best possible?

d. Select method of working-the simplest is usually the best. Ensure it will hold the workpiece
securely.

e. Select tools – the selection to the operations to be perform, the material and the type of machine
you are operating.