Material removal 239 240 Fabrication and Welding Engineering

6.4.1 Principles of shearing

In a shearing machine used for straight-line cutting, be it hand or power-driven, one
blade is fixed (normally the lower blade) and an upper, moving blade (inclined to
the fixed blade) is brought down to meet the fixed blade as shown in Fig. 6.34(a). If
the blades were arranged to be parallel to each other, the area under shear would be the
cross-section of the material to be cut, i.e. length ⫻ thickness, as shown in Fig. 6.34(b).
This would require a massive shearing force and a very substantial and costly machine,
so the shearing force is reduced by inclining the top blade at an angle of approximately
5° so that the length of cut and, therefore, the area under shear at any given moment in
time is greatly reduced and so is the shearing force required. The inclination of the top
blade is called the shearing angle. This is shown in Fig. 6.34(c).
Figure 6.35 shows how the shearing action is used to cut metal. The shear blades
have a rake angle of approximately 87°. There is no clearance angle in this instance
but a clearance gap of approximately 5–10% of the metal thickness between the
blades depending upon the properties of the metal being cut. The importance of this
clearance will be discussed later in this section.

1. The top cutting blade is brought down until the stock material to be cut is trapped
between the top and bottom blades as shown in Fig. 6.35(a). As the top cutting
blade moves downwards and brought to bear on the stock metal with continu-
ing pressure, the top and bottom surfaces of the metal are deformed as shown in
Fig. 6.35(b).
2. As the pressure increases, the internal structure (crystal structure) of the metal is
subjected to increasing plastic deformation prior to shearing.
3. After a certain amount of plastic deformation the cutting blades start to penetrate
the metal as shown in Fig. 6.35(c). The uncut metal between the blades work-
hardens due to the increasing deformation, and becomes brittle.
4. The work-hardened metal commences to fracture from the cutting edges of the
blades. When the fracture lines meet, the stock metal is sheared and separates
despite the fact that complete separation has not occurred. This is shown in
Fig. 6.35(d).

The importance of blade clearance has already been referred to. Blade clearance
should be set to suit the thickness and properties of the material being cut to ensure
Figure 6.33 Radius arm type of routing machine optimum shearing results. Figure 6.36 shows the results of incorrect and correct set-
ting of the shear blade clearance. Table 6.4 relates metal thickness and properties to
blade clearance.
stack of sheets and the stationary guide collar is at the top (shank end) of the cutter.
The template and stack of blanks are securely fixed to the work-table of the machine.
6.4.2 Guillotine shear (types)
Figure 6.37 shows a treadle-operated guillotine shearing machine capable of cutting
6.4 Shearing sheet metal tin plate and thin sheet steel up to 1.6 mm thick by 1260 mm in length. This type of
shearing machine is only suitable for straight line cutting. They are usually used for
Sheet metal and thin plate is usually cut to shape by the use of shears. Hand shears cutting large rectangular sheets into smaller rectangular blanks. For thicker sheets
(snips) are used for tin plate and thin sheets. Motorized power shears are used for and thin plate work power-driven machines (mechanical and hydraulic) are available
thicker sheets and thin plate. The principle of shearing is the same whichever type for cutting sheets up to 2600 mm in length. Heavy-duty power-operated shears have
of shearing equipment is used. a power-operated pressure pad (‘hold-down’) which descends just before the cutting
blade in order to hold the sheet down tightly whilst it is being cut.
 Material removal 241 242 Fabrication and Welding Engineering

Moving blade (inclined)

Shear angle

Fixed bottom blade

(a)

Entire length of material under shear

Thickness

(b)

Figure 6.35 The action of shearing metal

Thickness

Area under shear

Length of material to be cut

The force required for shearing a material is equal to the area under shear multiplied by
the ‘shear strength’ of the material
(c)

Figure 6.34 The effect of shear angle (shearing machine): (a) shear blade
movement; (b) paralled cutting blades; (c) top cutting blade inclined

6.4.3 Guillotine shear (setting)

Treadle and power guillotine shears are fitted with front, side and back gauge bars
(stops). The fixed side gauge, which is at 90° to the fixed cutting blade, is often Figure 6.36 Results of incorrect and correct setting of shear blades
referred to as a squaring guide. The front gauge bar is adjustable across the bed or
 Material removal 243
Table 6.4 Blade clearances for optimum cutting

Metal thickness Blade clearance*

(in) (mm) Low tensile strength High tensile strength

(e.g. Brass) (e.g. Steel)
(in) (mm) (in) (mm)

0.015 0.381 0.000 3 0.007 5 0.000 5 0.013

0.032 0.813 0.001 5 0.038 0.001 8 0.046
0.065 1.651 0.002 0 0.051 0.002 5 0.064
0.100 2.540 0.002 2 0.056 0.003 0 0.076
0.125 3.175 0.003 0 0.076 0.004 0 0.10
0.250 6.350 0.005 5 0.14 0.007 0 0.18

*Tested by Feeler gauges

Figure 6.37 Guillotine shears

table of the machine and further along the extension bars (slotted arms fitted to the
front of the machine. Figure 6.38(a) shows a plan view of the side and front gauges,
whilst Fig. 6.38(b) and Fig. 6.38(c) show how the front gauge is set.
Most cutting operations are performed using the back gauge. There are various
types of these but the simplest and most usual type consists of an angle iron guide
bar that is adjustable. Two types of adjustable back gauge are shown in Fig. 6.39.
For angular cutting (i.e. gusset plates) a bevel gauge is used. This is secured to
the tee-slots in the machine table as shown in Fig. 6.40. The bevel gauge can be
turned over for left-hand or right-hand cutting.

6.4.4 Bench shears and hand shears (snips)

Unlike the cutting action of the guillotine-type shear describe above, bench shears
and hand shears (snips) have blades that rotate about a pivot (like a pair of scissors)
and it is this pivoting action that creates the shear angle. With all shearing machines,
sufficient force must be applied to the moving blade to overcome the shear strength
of the material being cut. Bench shears and hand shears (snips) rely on the mechan-
ical advantage gained from a system of levers to magnify the effort exerted by
the operator to overcome the shear strength of the material. Figure 6.41(a) shows
a typical bench shearing machine whilst Fig. 6.41(b) shows how this mechanical
advantage is achieved by carefully positioning the pivot points (fulcrums) and pro-
portioning the system of levers of a hand-operated bench shearing machine. Figure 6.38 Front and side gauges (guillotines). (a) Plan view of guillotine table
Figure 6.42(a) shows some typical hand shears whilst Fig. 6.42(b) shows the showing front gauges; (b) setting the front gauge – using a rule; (c) setting the
cutting action of hand shears. front gauge – using a steel tape
 Material removal 245 246 Fabrication and Welding Engineering

Figure 6.39 Details for setting back gauges (guillotines). (a) Simple back gauge
(angle back bar); (b) simple fine adjustment for back gauge

Figure 6.41 Hand operated bench shears. (a) Hand lever bench shears;
(b) the lever system of hand-operated bench shears

Figure 6.40 Use of a bevel gauge

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Figure 6.43 Circle cutting machine

6.4.5 Rotary shears

Manually operated bench-mounted rotary shears employ a pair of rotary cutters in
place of the conventional flat blades employed in the bench shears and hand shears
previously described. The advantage of rotary shears is that there is no restriction on
the length of cut, and a further advantage is that both straight line and circular cuts
can be taken. Figure 6.43 shows a rotary-shear circle-cutting machine. The cutters
rotate, producing a continuous cutting action with very little distortion of the mater-
ial. Heavy-duty, floor-mounted, power-driven rotary shears are also available for thin
Figure 6.42 Hand shears snips. (a) Basic types of hand shears; (b) details of the plate work. These are two basic types of rotary shearing machines for straight line
cutting action of hand shears cutting as shown in Fig. 6.44.
 Material removal 249

Figure 6.44 Rotary shears. (a) Bench rotary machine for straight-line cutting (horizontal spindles);
(b) hand-operated rotary throatless shear (inclined spindles)

6.4.6 Essential requirements of shearing machines

■ All shearing machines must have two cutting blades between which shearing of
the stock material takes place.
■ The operational clearance between the cutting blades is very important to achieve
optimum shearing conditions. This will depend upon the thickness and properties
of the material being cut.
■ The sharpness of the cutting edges: the cutting members must always be kept
sharp to produce a more intense local strain and a cleaner cut with minimum burr.
■ Most cutting members have a face shear angle of about 2° (rake angle) sloping
away from the cutting edge. This, together with blade sharpness, assists the cut-
ting action by increasing the local strain.
■ The rigidity and robustness of the shearing machine should be sufficient to withstand
the cutting forces and so avoid deflection of the cutting blades. The cutting blades
must maintain their correct position relative to each other throughout the cutting cycle.
■ Easy and satisfactory means of blade adjustment should be provided. This enables
the cutting clearance to be adjusted and the positions of the cutting members to be
maintained to suit the cutting conditions.

6.5 Portable power tools

These may be electrically or pneumatically powered. All the examples described

below are electrically powered and can be listed as:
■ Portable drilling machines.
■ Portable shear-type ‘nibbling’ machines.
■ Portable punch-type ‘nibbling’ machines.
■ Portable grinding machines.