BENCH WORKING AND FITTING SHOP

1.1 INTRODUCTION

Fitting work has its own position in all sort of engineering works. Machine tools are capable
of producing work at a faster rate, but, there are occasions when components are processed at
the bench. This involves a certain amount of hand fitting. The accuracy of work done
depends upon the experience and skill of the fitter.
The term ‘bench work’ refers to the production of components by hand on the bench, where
as fitting deals which the assembly of mating parts, through removal of metal, to obtain the
required fit. Both the bench work and fitting requires the use of number of simple hand tools
and considerable manual efforts. The operations in the above works consist of filing,
chipping, scraping, sawing drilling, and tapping.

1.2 HAND TOOLS AND ACCESSORIES:-

All the above types of works require the use of large number of hand tools and the fitter must
have good working knowledge of all these tools and instruments. Their construction and uses
are described in following articles.

1.2.1 HOLDING TOOL:-

Bench vices
The bench vice is a work holding device. It is the most commonly used vice in a fitting shop.
It is fixed to the bench with bolts and nuts. The vice body consists of two main parts, fixed
jaw and movable jaw. When the vice handle is turned in a clockwise direction, the sliding jaw
forces the work against the fixed jaw. Jaw plates are made of hardened steel. Serrations on
the jaws ensure a good grip. Jaw caps made of soft material are used to protect finished
surfaces, gripped in the vice. The size of the vice is specified by the length of the jaws.
The vice body is made of cast .

Figure 1.1: Bench Vice

1.2.2 V‐block
V‐block is rectangular or square block with a V‐groove on one or both sides opposite to each
other. The angle of the ‘V’ is usually 900. V‐block with a clamp is used to hold cylindrical
work securely, during layout of measurement, for measuring operations or for drilling for this
the bar is faced longitudinally in the V‐Groove and the screw of V‐clamp is tightened. This
grip the rod is firm with its axis parallel to the axis of the v‐groove.

1.2.3 C‐Clamp
This is used to hold work against an angle plate or v‐block or any other surface, when
gripping is required. Its fixed jaw is shaped like English alphabet ‘C’ and the movable jaw is
round in shape and directly fitted to the threaded screw at the end .The working principle of
this clamp is the same as that of the bench vice.

Figure 1.2: V‐block Figure 1.3: C‐clamp

1.2.4 Hand Vice

Hand vice is used for gripping very small object. These vices are made in various shapes and
sizes. It consists of two steel leg hinged together at the bottom and carrying the hardened
steel jaw at top. A spring attachment is provided between the two leg, which always tend to
keep the jaws separate. The piece to be held is gripped between the separated jaws by
tightening the wing nut. The vice as a whole, together with the gripped piece, is held in one
hand and the required operation is performed by the other hand.

1.2.5 Pin Vice

It is used to hold wire or small diameter rods. It consists of a self-cantered three jaw chuck
made up of a tool steel. The work is gripped between the jaws of the chuck by rotating the
handle.
 Figure (a) Hand vice (b) Pin Vice

1.2 MARKING AND MEASURING TOOLS

Measuring and marking tools are used to measure the required dimension in work piece and
mark them with the help of suitable tools.

1.2.1 Surface plate

The surface plate is machined to fine limits and is used for testing the flatness of the work
piece. It is also used for marking out small box and is more precious than the marking table.
The degree of the finished depends upon whether it is designed for bench work in a fitting
shop or for using in an inspection room; the surface plate is made of Cast Iron, hardened Steel
or Granite stone. It is specified by length, width, height and grade. Handles are provided on
two opposite sides, to carry it while shifting from one place to another.

Figure 1.4: Surface plate Figure 1.5: Angle plate

1.2.2 Try square

It is measuring and marking tool for 900 angle .In practice, it is used for checking the
squareness of many types of small works when extreme accuracy is not required .The blade
of the Try square is made of hardened steel and the stock of cast Iron or steel. The size of the
Try square is specified by the length of the blade.
1.2.3 Scriber
A Scriber is a slender steel tool, used to scribe or mark lines on metal work pieces. It is made
of hardened and tempered High Carbon Steel. The Tip of the scriber is generally ground at
12oto 15o. It is generally available in lengths, ranging from 125mm to 250mm .It has two
pointed ends the bent end is used for marking lines where the straight end cannot reach.

Figure 1.6: Try square Figure 1.7: Scriber

1.2.4 Punches
These are used for making indentations on the scribed lines, to make them visible clearly.
These are made of high carbon steel. A punch is specified by its length and diameter (say as
150’ 12.5mm). It consists of a cylindrical knurled body, which is plain for some length at the
top of it. At the other end, it is ground to a point. The tapered point of the punch is hardened
over a length of 20 to 30mm.
Dot punch is used to lightly indent along the layout lines, to locate center of holes and to
provide a small center mark for divider point, etc. for this purpose, the punch is ground to a
conical point having 60° included angle.
Center punch is similar to the dot punch, except that it is ground to a conical point having
90° included angle. It is used to mark the location of the holes to be drilled.

1.2.5 Calipers
They are indirect measuring tools used to measure or transfer linear dimensions. These are
used with the help of a steel Rule to check inside and outside measurements. These are made
of Case hardened mild steel or hardened and tempered low carbon steel. While using, but the
legs of the calliper are set against the surface of the work, whether inside or outside and the
distance between the legs is measured with the help of a scale and the same can be transferred
to another desired place. These are specified by the length of the leg. In the case of outside
caliper, the legs are bent inwards and in the case of inside caliper, the legs bent outwards.

Figure 1.10: Callipers

1.4 CUTTING TOOLS
Cutting tools are used to cut metal pieces as per the requirement of the product in different
length and sizes. Following are the commonly used cutting tools in fitting shop.

1.4.1 Hack Saw

The Hack Saw is used for cutting metal by hand. It consists of a frame, which holds a thin
blade, firmly in position. Hacksaw blade is specified by the number of teeth for centimeter.
Hacksaw blades have a number of teeth ranging from 5 to 15 per centimeter (cm). Blades
having lesser number of teeth per cm are used for cutting soft materials like aluminum, brass
and bronze. Blades having larger number of teeth per centimeter are used for cutting hard
materials like steel and cast Iron.

Figure 1.13: Hacksaw frame with blade

1.4.2 Chisels
Chisels are used for removing surplus metal or for cutting thin sheets. These tools are made
from 0.9% to 1.0% carbon steel of octagonal or hexagonal section. Chisels are annealed,
hardened and tempered to produce a tough shank and hard cutting edge. Annealing relieves
the internal stresses in a metal. The cutting angle of the chisel for general purpose is about
60°.

Figure 1.15: Flat chisel

1.4.3 Twist Drill

Twist drills are used for making holes. These are made of High speed steel. Both straight and
taper shank twist drills are used. The parallel shank twist drill can be held in an ordinary self
– centering drill check. The tapper shank twist drill fits into a corresponding tapered bore
provided in the drilling machine spindle.

1.5 FINISHING TOOLS

1.5.1 Reamers
Reaming is an operation of sizing and finishing a drilled hole, with the help of a cutting tool
called reamer having a number of cutting edges. For this, a hole is first drilled, the size of
which is slightly smaller than the finished size and then a hand reamer or machine reamer is
used for finishing the hole to the correct size.
Hand Reamer is made of High Carbon Steel and has left‐hand spiral flutes so that, it is
prevented from screwing into the whole during operation. The Shank end of the reamer is
made straight so that it can be held in a tap wrench.

Figure 1.20: Reamers

1.5.2 Files
Filing is one of the methods of removing small amounts of material from the surface of a
metal part. Files are multipoint cutting tools. A file is hardened steel, having small parallel
rows of cutting edges or teeth on its surfaces. On the faces, the teeth are usually diagonal to
the edge. One end of the file is shaped to fit into a wooden handle. The figure shows various
parts of a hand file.
The hand file is parallel in width and tapering slightly in thickness, towards the tip. It is
provided with double cut teeth. On the faces, single cut on one edge and no teeth on the other
edge, this is known as a safe edge. It is used for remove the material from the workpiece by
rubbing it on the metal surface.

Figure 1.21: Parts of a hand file

Files are classified according to their shape, cutting teeth and pitch or grade of the teeth. The
Figure shows the various types of files based on their shape.

Figure 1.22: Single and double cut files

 Figure 1.23: Types of files

1.6 MISCELLANEOUS TOOLS

1.6.1 STRIKING TOOL

Hammers are only tool that are used for striking in fitting shop. A Hammer consists of heavy
iron body with a wooden handle. Weight of these ranges from 0.25 to 2 kg.
a) Ball‐ Peen Hammer
Ball‐ Peen Hammers are named, depending upon their shape and material and specified by
their weight. A ball peen hammer has a flat face which is used for general work and a ball
end, particularly used for riveting.
b) Cross‐Peen Hammer
It is similar to ball peen hammer, except the shape of the peen. This is used for chipping,
riveting, bending and stretching metals and hammering inside the curves and shoulders.
c) Straight‐Peen Hammer
This is similar to cross peen hammer, but its peen is in‐line with the hammer handle. It is
used for swaging, riveting in restricted places and stretching metals.
 Figure 1.26: Ball peen hammer Figure 1.27: Cross peen hammer

TYPES OF FITTING PROCESSES:-

Bench working or fitting involves a number of hand operations to finish the work to desired
shape and size with required accuracy. The main operations of these are the following:
1. Marking: - It is the basic and one of the most important operations in bench work to
obtain an accurate finished product. Marking on work can be done by setting out
required dimensions with the help of drawing of final product. The surface to be
marked is first cleaned and then marking is done with the help of proper marking
tools.
2. Sawing: - It is the cutting and slotting operation on the work piece with cutting tools.
Before sawing operation the work piece is held in holding device to restrict the
motion of the work piece during the operation.
3. Filing: - Filing is required after chipping or cutting operation to remove burr and
clean the face of the cuts and to finish the final shape of the work piece. Filing is done
with different types of files depending upon the degree of the surface finish required.
In order to test the surface during filing try square is placed along its straight edge and
the line of contact is viewed for daylight.
4. Drilling: - It is the operation used for producing circular holes in the metal piece. It is
done with the help of a DRILLING machine.
5. Tapping and Dieing: - Cutting INTERNAL threads in drilled holes by hand
operation is common operation done in fitting shop. This operation is known as
Tapping. The tool used for tapping operation is known as tap.
This operation is employed for cutting EXTERNAL thread on the round stems of
objects like bolt and studs. The tool used for this operation is known as die block,