4. Planers

к Planers like shapers and shapers are machine tools that employ single-point tools generate flat surfaces. In each of these the relative motion of the cutting tool and the work is rectilinear and either tool or the work feeds in a direction perpendicular to the cutting stoke. All three machines finish surfaces in a similar manner, and their selection depends primarily upon the nature of the work. The planer is generally used for machining large work requiring long cuts. The work is held on a horizontal table and moves back and forth past a stationary tool. The planer is also known to be used when a large number of like parts are to be finished. In this case the parts are frequently placed on the planer table in rows, and a number of parts are planed at one setting. This operation is referred to as string planning.

Planers and shapers are used for machining surfaces to a high degree of accuracy, and in general require less power per cubic inch of metal removed than machine tools employing multi-toothed cutters. Planer and shaper tools are considerably less expensive than milling cutters; the planer may therefore be used in preference to a milling machine if the castings are poor and subject to hard spots¹. There are several standard types of planers that are in extensive use in jobbing and production shops such as double-housing planers; open-side planers; tandem planers, and rail planers. The double-housing planer (Fig. 53) has two vertical housings and is used for rapid roughing and finishing such works as engine and lathe beds, etc.

Fig. 53. Double-Housing Planer:

A - tool rests:, В - portal; С - tool rests feed gearbox; D - cutting drive;

E -side rest feed gearbox; F - side rest; G - bed; H - table; 1 - two vertical housings;

J -cross rail; 1 - vertical feed tool slides quadrant; 2 - pendant control;

3 - tool rest feed change levers; 4 - horizontal feed tool rest quadrant;

5 - tool rest feed lever; 6 - working speed table handwheel; 7 - idle travel handwheel;

8 -vertical feed change side rest lever; 9 -side rest feed lever;

10 - feed side rest lever; 11 -horizontal feed side rest lever; 12 –supports

Ample strength and support of the housings are assured by their thick-walled, box-section internal bracing. The housings are keyed and bolted to the bed, forming a unit as rigid as a one-piece construction. The large-size planer of this type is provided with two cutter heads* mounted on the cross-rail. The heads serve for holding two tools, which may cut material simultaneously, thus increasing the work capacity of the planer. In a planer with two cutter heads both vertical and side feeds** being independent of each other, are performed automatically. In addition, some planers are equipped with a side-head moun4ed on each housing. This arrangement makes it possible to machine simultaneously both the side and the top surface of a work to be treated. The work to be planed is bolted or otherwise securely fastened to the table. The table is made of alloy iron and is of a box-section construction with top and bottom plates tied with side walls and the center rib running the mil length², and with cross-ribs. The upper part of the table has three or more tee slots running lengthwise, and numerous holes for inserting stops and clamping blocks, while the under side is provided with two accurately machined guides which slide in guide ways on the planer bed. The table moves between two housings against one or more cutting tools, which are held by the cross-rail and side-heads screwed to the housings, at a speed adapted to the material to be cut. The return stroke, during which no cutting takes place, is usually constant, but is from two to four times as fast as the cutting stroke so as to economize

on time³. Planer size is determined by the maximum stroke of the table and the width and height of the work that will pass through the housings and underneath the cross-rail. A double housing 30X30X8" planer, for instance, will machine a part 30" high, 30" wide and 8" long. Open-side planers are classified by the cross-rail height and the length of stroke, and are generally used for handling work that is somewhat wider than its height. The open-side planer has but one vertical housing⁴ with the cross-rail attached to it. The tandem planer is equipped with two work tables sliding on the same bed. This permits to load one table while the other is in operation, or to use the two simultaneously when working on a large workpiece. The rail planer is a machine used for machining rails, which is provided with, a narrow long table. Planer work may be held in a vice bolted to the planer table, or the work may be clamped directly to the table.

Castings can generally be clamped in place⁵ by using straps or clamps on projecting portions of the work. All planers are equipped with single-point cutting tools, which are similar to shaper tools, but are usually larger and stronger. In many cases, gang planer tools, carrying three or more tool bits closely adjacent, are used. As each chip is comparatively small, a planer equipped with a gang tool will carry a far greater total feed and depth of cut than are possible with a single-point tool.

* American - cutting head

** American - lateral feeds

¹. If the castings are poor and subject to hard spots - если отливки плохие

². the center rib running the full length - центральная поперечина , проходящая по всей длине

³. but is from two to four times as fast as the cutting stroke so as to economize on time - но в два-четыре раза быстрее хода резания, для того чтобы сэкономить время

⁴. has but one vertical housing - имеет только одну вертикальную стойку

⁵. castings can generally be clamped in place - отливки обычно могут закрепляться на месте

Exercises

I. Use the following words and phrases in sentences of your own:

planer, rail, housing, stroke, rectilinear, machining, work table, brace, slot, cross-rail, side-head, to employ, to cut, to plane, to equip, to bolt, arrangement, adjacent, gang planer tools

II. Answer the following questions:

1. What is a planer? 2. What is the planer used for? 3. Where is the work to be treated on the planer held? 4. What is string planning? 5. Name the main types of planers. 6. What is the main feature of the double-housing planer? 7. By what is ample strength of the housings assured? 8. What are the housings keyed and bolted to? 9. How many cutting heads are the large-size planers provided with? 10. What are the cutting heads mounted on and what are they used for? 11. What operations

is it possible to carry out on planers provided with side-heads in addition to two cutting heads mounted on the cross-rail? 12. What is the work table designed for? 13. What is the construction of the table and what is it made of? 14. How does the work table move?

III. Give derivatives from the following words and translate them into Russian:

relative, to move, to machine, to plane, to attach, rough, flat, brace

IV. Give different meanings of the following words:

plane, head, rib, poor, bed, table, unit, plate, house

V. Supply synonyms for the following words:

surface, to mount, fast, accurate, speed, to determine,

VI. Supply antonyms for the following words:

flat, vertical, open, narrow, fast, high, hard, long, large, heavy

VII. Find the predicates and state the kind of the subordinate clauses in the following sentences and translate them into Russian:

1. A tool apron extends the full width of the slide and is provided with horizontal T-slots running the full width of the apron so that tool holding bolts may be laterally adjusted to properly hold the tool. 2. This construction allows the greatest variety of possible tool positions and, therefore, greatly reduces the number of tool shapes required. 3. The tool frame supporting the tool apron swivels 20 degrees, either side of the center. 4. Index plate swivels on a large bearing which is cast integral with the index, thus giving added stiffness to the index and providing the most rigid construction for resisting the cutting strains. 5. All controls are so completely centralized that the operator can run the entire machine, except for the left-hand side-head, without moving from his normal working position at the end of the cross-rail.

VIII. Make up questions to which the italicized words are the answers:

1. The planer is a machine for producing flat surfaces on a work. 2. The entire drive from motor to work consists of three gears and one rack. 3. The bed is the strongest construction of the planer. 4. Cross-ribs tie the housings together. 5. The design of the table ways is of great importance. 6. The table is made of alloy iron. 1. The rack is set in a groove machined in the table.

IX. (a) Read and translate the following text without using a dictionary:

The entire drive from motor to work consists of only three gears and one rack. Helical gears are steel, and the spiral gear and rack are both made of high strength alloy iron but of different analysis and hardness so as to provide a combination of materials unsurpassed for strength and wearing qualities. Spiral gear is an involute gear, while the table rack is an involute rack, and the action between them is

equivalent to the action of an infinite number of spur gears and racks. This is the reason why it is the smoothest of all planer drives and it never wears out but always wears in¹. The rack teeth are cut at an angle so that the resultant tool pressures are parallel to the line of motion of the table. This entirely eliminates driving side thrust on the table.

¹. it never wears out but always wears in - никогда не изнашивается, но всегда прирабатывается

(b) Make up some questions on the basis of the text and answer them.

X. Using the following words and word combinations describe the principle of operation and construction of the double-housing planer shown in Fig. 53:

the double-housing planer, two vertical housings, to be used, rapid roughing and finishing, such work, engine and lathe beds, strength and support, the housings, to be provided, internal bracing, to be keyed and bolted, the bed, to form, a rigid unit, two cutting heads, to be mounted, the cross-rail, to hold tools, to cut material simultaneously, the work, to be planed, to be secured, the table, to be made, alloy iron, to have, top and bottom plates, to be tied together, side walls, center rib, cross-ribs, the upper part, three or more tee slots running lengthwise, numerous holes, to insert stops and clamping blocks, the under side, two accurately machined guides, to slide, guide ways, to move, against one or more cutting tools, to be held, the cross-rail and side-heads, the return stroke, to be constant, no cutting, to take place