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BENDING RIG PLATE

Job description:
To mill one plate of mild steel to size and drill holes and pocket as specified in the drawing. The
finished part would make up the base of a bending rig that would be used to test tensile samples.
The job would be made on a CNC machine; in this case the machine was a DMG 1035 V eco, which
uses a Heidenhain-Siemens control panel. The job card I was given and the corresponding drawings
are pictured below.

The job card is pictured above.
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The Assembly drawing is pictured above.

The DMG 1035 evo that I used is pictured above.
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The 330X125X20(mm) Mild steel plate is pictured above.
Set up/preparation:
The setup of my job was crucial. Not only for the quality of my job and my safety but also because of
the machine I was using. Using a CNC machine requires patience, logic and trust. CNC machines
generally tend to be very expensive and delicate/fragile; so maintenance, repair and replacement
parts are just as expensive. The machine I worked on can work at very high speeds and RPMs so I
constantly needed to be watching and using the feed and rapids to ensure a problem free machining
experience.


When setting up my job I used a vice that was clamped down with four clamps; the vice also had two
ground tenons in purposely machined grooves under the clamp, meaning it was relatively square,
however, I still used my dial test indicator to clock and square up the vice. I made sure to clean the
table of the machine to endure no chips or rust had collected, before clamping down and setting up
the vice. I also used some machine jacks to stop the part from vibrating when being machined
because it was quite big.
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The vice, parallels and jacks setup pictured above.

Once the vice was set up I used two 4 parallels to sit my job onto. I lightly clamped the vice. I then
used a rubber dead blow hammer to gently tap the job; making sure that is was properly seated on
the parallels. I knew the job was well seated when I could not move the parallels, at this point I set
the vice to setting 2 (2 tonne), and tightened it until the handle became loose, showing the vice had
reached 2 tonne of clamping force.

The job in the vice is pictured above.



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I had to turn the onto its sides to machine the longest edges down to side, so it meant re setting the
job up in the vice, this time I didnt use parallels. I used a universal taster probe to set the reference
(datum) points on the job. The universal taster is used to set reference points and can be seen in use
by myself below; the hand wheel is used to manually move the taster probe.











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The setup of the second face milling cycle is pictured below.


Process:

First I had to start by writing the program cycles for machining. I had various cycles to write, they
included face milling, end milling, chamfer, pocket and drilling programmes. All of the programmes
worked from a datum that was set to the centre of the job. The first two face milling programmes
involved milling a total of 5mm off the top and bottom faces of the plate so it would to size at 15mm
thick. The heidenhain-seimens controller is a very powerful system, it uses both external
programming and shopmill, which means simple programming i.e. face milling programmes can be
written on the machine.









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The control panel can be seen below.


To face mill the two faces I used a 60MM indexable face mill that uses 5 carbide tips as cutting
edges. I ran the program at a speed of 1000RPM and feed of 200mm/min for roughing and 3000RPM
and a feed of 200mm/min for the finishing cuts. I used these speeds and feeds for roughing and
finishing for the rest of my cycles as they are standardised/recommended cutting speeds for the
material criteria and are far below the actually cutting capabilities of the tooling.
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The picture above shows the face milling programme in progress, it also shows the coolant that is
used which is fuchs ecocool oil mixed with water at 4% dilution.
Once the two faces were machined, making the block 15mm thick, I used a chamfer programme that
I had pre-written, to put a 0.5mm chamfer around the block. The chamfer was not only to show
professionalism but also for safety, as it removes burrs and sharp edges.

The chamfer tool can be seen above.
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Next was the face milling cycles for the longest top and bottom faces, Once set up I wrote yet
another face milling program to machine the width of the block down to 120mm. I machine 1mm of
the first face, then 4mm off the next face.
The programme can be seen running below.

I then re-wrote the chamfer programme to ensure all edges of the block were chamfered.
I then had to end mill the last two edges, clamping on the newly machine faced to ensure the block
was square and accurate. The end mill programme was also wrote using shop-mill (below)

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The surface finish can be seen below.

I used a 750mm vernier calliper, a depth micrometer for the pockets, and various size micrometers
to measure the block as I progressed.

The 750mm vernier calliper can be seen above.



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The last program was the pocket and holes. This was again written using shop mill, the pocket was
5mm deep and had to be 95X250mm. The programme can be seen below.

I can be seen setting the block up and changing the datum manually below.

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I had to reset all datums to ensure the block would be machined precisely and accurately, the image
below shows me using the manual hand wheel to re-set the datums using the universal taster
probe.

The machine can be seen milling the pockets below.


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The finished product can be seen below.

The working bending rig and assembled work pieces can be seen below.

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PPE & Risk assessment:

The PPE (personal protection equipment) is vital for the health and safety of the operator, health
and safety laws and regulations state that PPE must be provided for operators of dangerous
machinery to prevent injuries and ill health caused by the nature of work. The chips made by the
machining are collected at the bottom of the machine, I used a dustpan and brush to collect the
chips and emptied them into a swarf bin.
The PPE I wore are as follows:
Safety glasses Safety glasses are used to protect the eyes from any projectiles that might
possibly be launched towards you i.e. chips/swarf.
Safety boots Safety boots have steel toe caps that protect the feet/toes from any falling
objects, broken feet and toes used to be a massive issue in warehouses and factories
because of heavy objects falling on peoples feet, so steel toe cap boots have become PPE
necessary for people who work with heavy objects and machinery.
Safety gloves Gloves are used to protect the hands from sharp edges and burrs, and
depending on what the gloves are made of they can also offer protection to chemicals
(Nitrile gloves.) Chainmail gloves can be used to protect against blades.
Laboratory coat A laboratory coat offers protection to clothing from anything that might
usually have landed on clothing, as well as making the operator look more professional.
Safety Gloves and glasses can be seen below.

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My safety boots are pictured below.

My lab coat and safety glasses is pictured below.







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The E-stop key and safety features of the machine can be seen pictured below.




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I had pre-existing risk assessments for using CNC machining centres, and the corresponding COSHH
(control of substances hazardous to health) and SSOW (Safe systems of work.) The cutting fluid used
is stored in barrels that are stored in chemical cupboards. Any dirty coolant is removed from the
machine and put into and IBC.


The pre-existing risk assessment can be seen above.