Tool Gadgets: 2009

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

Go-NoGo gauge

A Go-NoGo gauge (or Go/no go) refers to an inspection tool used to check a workpiece against its allowed tolerances. Its name derives from its use: the gauge itself has two tests; the check involves the workpiece's having to pass one test (Go) and 'fail' the other (No Go).

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It is an integral part of the quality process that is used in the manufacturing industry to ensure interchangeability of parts between processes, or even between different manufacturers.

A Go NoGo gauge is a measuring tool that does not return a size in the conventional sense, but instead returns a state. The state is either acceptable (the part is within tolerance and may be used) or it is unacceptable (and must be rejected).

They are well suited for use in the production area of the factory as they require little skill or interpretation to use effectively and have few, if any, moving parts to be damaged in the often hostile production environment.

These gauges are referred to as plug gauges; they are used in the manner of a plug. They are generally assembled from standard parts where the gauge portion is interchangeable with other gauge pieces (obtained from a set of pin type gauge blocks) and a body that uses the collet principle to hold the gauges firmly. To use this style of gauge, one end is inserted into the part first and depending on the result of that test, the other end is tried.

In the right hand image, the top gauge is a thread gauge that is screwed into the part to be tested, the labeled GO end will enter into the part fully, the NOT GO end should not. The lower image is a plain plug gauge used to check the size of a hole, the green end is the GO, red is the NO GO. The tolerance of the part this gauge checks is 0.30mm where the lower size of the hole is 12.60mm and the upper size is 12.90mm, every size outside this range is out of tolerance. This may be initially expressed on the parts drawing in a number of styles, three possibilities may be:

12.75mm +/- 0.15mm
12.60mm +0.30 -0.00
12.90mm +0.00 -0.30

Machine tool

Machine tools can be powered from a variety of sources. Human and animal power are options, as is energy captured through the use of waterwheels. However, machine tools really began to develop after the development of the steam engine, leading to the Industrial Revolution. Today, most are powered by electricity.

Machine tools can be operated manually, or under automatic control. Early machines used flywheels to stabilize their motion and had complex systems of gears and levers to control the machine and the piece being worked on. Soon after World War II, the numerical control (NC) machine was developed. NC machines used a series of numbers punched on paper tape or punch cards to control their motion. In the 1960s, computers were added to give even more flexibility to the process. Such machines became known as computerized numerical control (CNC) machines. NC and CNC machines could precisely repeat sequences over and over, and could produce much more complex pieces than even the most skilled tool operators.

Before long, the machines could automatically change the specific cutting and shaping tools that were being used. For example, a drill machine might contain a magazine with a variety of drill bits for producing holes of various sizes. Previously, either machine operators would usually have to manually change the bit or move the work piece to another station to perform these different operations. The next logical step was to combine several different machine tools together, all under computer control. These are known as machining centers, and have dramatically changed the way parts are made.

From the simplest to the most complex, most machine tools are capable of at least partial self-replication since they are machines, and produce machine parts as their primary function.

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Jig borer

Before the jig borer was developed, hole center location had been accomplished either with layout (either quickly-but-imprecisely or painstakingly-and-precisely) or with drill jigs (themselves made with painstaking-and-precise layout). The jig borer was invented to expedite the making of drill jigs, but it helped to eliminate the need for drill jigs entirely by making quick precision directly available for the parts that the jigs would have been created for. The revolutionary underlying principle was that advances in machine tool control that expedited the making of jigs were fundamentally a way to expedite the cutting process itself, for which the jig was just a means to an end. Thus the jig borer's development helped advance machine tool technology toward later NC and CNC development. The jig borer was a logical extension of manual machine tool technology that began to incorporate some then-novel concepts that would become routine with NC and CNC control, such as:

coordinate dimensioning (dimensioning of all locations on the part from a single reference point);
working routinely in "tenths" (ten-thousandths of an inch, 0.0001") as a fast, everyday machine capability (whereas it formerly was the exclusive domain of special, time-consuming, craftsman-dependent manual skills); and
circumventing jigs altogether.
Franklin D. Jones, in his textbook Machine Shop Training Course (5th ed),[2] recorded insightfully:

"In many cases, a jig borer is a 'jig eliminator.' In other words, such a machine may be used instead of a jig either when the quantity of work is not large enough to warrant making a jig or when there is insufficient time for jig making."
One wonders whether Jones could have suspected the revolutionary implications of the abstract principle behind that very practical observation (i.e., that advances in machine tool control that expedited the making of jigs were fundamentally a way to expedite the cutting process itself, for which the jig was just a means to an end). The technological advances that led to the jig borer and NC were about to usher in the age of CNC and CAD/CAM, radically changing the way humans manufactured many of their goods. The awesome potential of control technology that would gradually eliminate many needs for jigs—and also often eliminate the need for the jobs of the operators who used them—was little appreciated outside of a few R&D laboratories when Jones recorded his insight.

Drill jig

drill jig is a type of jig that expedites repetitive hole center location on multiple interchangeable parts by acting as a template to guide the twist drill or other boring device into the precise location of each intended hole center. In metalworking practice, typically a hardened bushing lines each hole on the jig to keep the twist drill from cutting the jig.

Drill jigs started falling into disuse with the invention of the jig borer.

Since the widespread penetration of the manufacturing industry by CNC machine tools, in which the servocontrols are capable of moving the tool to the correct location automatically, the need for drill jigs (and for the jobs of the drill press operators who used them) is much less than it previously was.

Toolbank

ToolBank is a registered term used to identify the nonprofit tool lending program model created by the Atlanta Community ToolBank. A ToolBank amplifies the impact of its local charitable sector by lending tools to organizations for use in volunteer service projects and facility maintenance/repair projects. A common ToolBank inventory of equipment might include tools for landscaping, carpentry, plumbing, masonry as well as power tools, ladders, and others. The Atlanta Community ToolBank is currently the largest ToolBank in existence, and lends more than 140 tool types to Atlanta's nonprofit organizations. The available inventory of the Atlanta Community ToolBank can be found here. The Atlanta Community ToolBank equips more than 50,000 volunteers per year with its available tool inventory.

The ToolBank program model differs from the more common tool lending library model in that the ToolBank inventory is not open to individals. The ToolBank inventory is designated for the purpose of increasing the impact of the nonprofit sector and less formalized grassroots organizations. Typical users of ToolBank resources include faith-based organizations, public schools, neighborhood organizations, public/private partnerships with community-oriented missions, social clubs with a service mission, gardening clubs, and others. Proof of charitable intent must be provided before accessing ToolBank tools.

The ToolBank performs three primary functions:

1. Tool Lending: The ToolBank lends tools of all kinds for use in volunteer projects, facility maintenance and improvement projects, community improvement events, and special events.

2. Tool Advocacy: ToolBank staff advocates for the complete and timely return of all borrowed tools, to guarantee the long-term sustainability of available inventory. Staff also seeks compensation for lost tools and tools returned late.

3. Tool Maintenance: The ToolBank performs routine maintenance and repairs on all equipment to ensure good condition and to extend the lifespan of the inventory. This function is typically performed by volunteers and community service workers.

Through these three functions, local community organizations may benefit by:
ensuring that all participating volunteers are properly equipped;
engaging larger volunteer groups;
performing a broader scope of service projects;
engaging more highly-skilled volunteers; and
eliminating tool purchase, repair, and storage costs.

ToolBank is a registered mark of the Atlanta Community ToolBank. The Atlanta Community ToolBank granted a Right to License to ToolBank USA in 2008. ToolBank USA is a nonprofit organization created in February 2008, charged with the successful nationwide replication of the ToolBank program model. ToolBank USA was launched by a founding grant from The Home Depot Foundation