A treatise on the construction and use of universal and plain grinding machines

Our chief desire in publishing this Treatise is to assist the novice in becoming familiar with the construction and use of Universal and Plain Grinding Machines. A complete description is given of each of the machines, although they have a number of features in common, for repetitions are here less objectionable than the annoyance and possibility of misunderstandings occasioned by frequent reference from one machine to another. To the descriptions we have added a number of suggestions in regard to the care and use of the machines and a number of examples showing their adaptation to different kinds of work. We also have included in the book a few pages on the measuring tools advantageously used by those operating Grinding Machines.

The introduction of high-speed machinery, and the demand for increased accuracy in machine construction in general of to-day, call for machines which are better adapted to produce uniform surfaces and accurate work than the lathe and the planer of the past. It is well-known, to all engaged in the manufacture of machinery and tools of precision, that the lathe is incapable of producing accurate work, even in the softer metals, and in operating upon hardened surfaces it fails us altogether. It is very important to have journals and other wearing surfaces smooth and true when they are made. They cannot be depended upon to "wear to a fit" as formerly was sometimes erroneously supposed. If they are imperfectly made, the tendency is to become worse by wear. In high-speed machinery heating of journals is often caused by imperfect fitting. In fact, we may say that the success of high-speed machinery depends very largely upon our ability to do better work than we have been able to produce on the lathe. The only successful field which seems to be open to us, at the present time, to meet this want, is to use the lathe as a roughing tool, or machine to bring the work approximately to the desired size, then to finish by grinding with emery wheels on a suitably designed machine. To meet this want in our own works, a number of years ago, we designed arid constructed grinding machines which have proved to be very useful, in fact indispensable, for the production of first-class work. They have become necessary and economical tools in the manufacture of special and general, as well as standard, machinery and tools. In duplicating parts of small machinery, manufactured on the interchangeable system, such as sewing machine shafts, needle bars, etc., they are unexcelled. They are especially useful, as they can be used to operate on hardened as well as soft work to produce the same degree of accuracy, excellence and economy. Without the use of suitable grinding machines the introduction of hardened spindles and boxes into lathes, milling machines, drilling machines, etc., etc., would be impossible, and the value and desirability of such improvements, in machine tools will not be disputed. By grinding such work as crank pins, valve rods, piston rods, etc., of locomotive and other steam engines, a vast improvement can be made in the quality and durability of the same, as well as a great saving in the cost of production.

The fact that it costs less to finish and fit work by grinding with emery wheels, than it does by the old way on the lathe, has been proved repeatedly by experience. The saving is in the cost of files, emery paper, etc., as well as in the time it takes to do the work. This is true for all kinds of work, whether the grinding is done for making accurate fits, or simply for the sake of finish or polish.

The fact that work can be done more accurately on a grinding machine than on a lathe, is also well sustained by experience. As an example of the quality of work that can be done on these machines, we may refer to the standard gauges which we manufacture, some of which are illustrated in the latter part of this Treatise.

In the want of something better than the lathe and the planer to produce accurate work, frequent attempts have been made in various shops to rig up an emery wheel attachment to lathes and planers, for the purpose of grinding such work as crank pins on the former, and cross-head guides on the latter, but, as might be expected, these would usually give unsatisfactory results, from the fact that these machines were not adapted to produce the quality of work wanted. The simple application of an emery wheel to an article will not improve its character unless the grinding machine is designed for, and adapted to, the kind and quality of work wanted. In doing fine work, defects will frequently appear which would never be noticed in a coarser class; hence it is that a planer, or a lathe, may 'be well adapted to a certain class of work, but when we demand something better from it than that for which it was designed, we shall invariably be disappointed.

The grinding machines, as built by us, are the outgrowth of our own experience in the business of manufacturing. We have, therefore, had ample opportunities, for a number of years, to study the needs and requirements which would adapt them to the use for which they are intended. We are now building them with all the improvements made during the past years of experience.

The Universal Grinding Machines were designed to do a general class and large variety of work, such as may be required in a general jobbing shop. For this kind of work they are well adapted, though they are equally applicable to ordinary manufacturing purposes. For manufacturing on a large scale, however, plain or special machines may be more desirable. Each of the regular machines indicates by its dimensions and capacity the class of work for which it should properly be used.


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A treatise on the construction and use of universal and plain grinding machines