Manufacturing one-off tooling for spring making activities
Overview
This standard identifies the competences you need to produce simple, one-off tooling for spring making activities, in accordance with approved procedures. You will produce the tooling using hand fitting, forming and machining techniques, such as milling, turning, grinding and drilling. You will be expected to produce tooling that requires you to use a range of different machines and equipment, and this will involve setting up the workholding arrangements, workpiece and machine tooling.
You will also be expected to use a range of hand tools and shaping and fitting techniques that are appropriate to the type of material and operations being performed. These activities will include such processes as hand sawing, filing, drilling, threading, and off-hand grinding. The tooling produced will, typically, be such items as mandrels, arbors, bushes, bending and forming tools, cropping tools, jigs and fly press tooling, gauges and other similar types of tooling.
Your responsibilities will require you to comply with organisational policy and procedures for the manufacturing activities undertaken, and to report any problems with the equipment, materials or activities that you cannot personally resolve, or that are outside your personal responsibilities, to the relevant people. You will be expected to work with a minimum of supervision, taking personal responsibility for your own actions and for the quality and accuracy of the work that you carry out.
Your underpinning knowledge will provide a good understanding of your work, and will provide an informed approach to applying appropriate manufacturing procedures for one-off tooling used in spring making activities. You will understand the machining and fitting processes used, and their application, and will know about the machines, tooling, ancillary equipment, materials and consumables, in adequate depth to provide a sound basis for carrying out the activities, correcting faults and producing the components to the required specification.
You will understand the safety precautions required when working with the machines, and with their associated tools and equipment. You will be required to demonstrate safe working practices throughout, and will understand the responsibility you owe to yourself and others in the workplace.
Performance criteria
You must be able to:
- work safely at all times, complying with health and safety and other relevant regulations, directives and guidelines
- follow instructions and any relevant specifications to produce the component
- produce the required components using appropriate manufacturing methods and techniques
- check that the finished component meets the requirements and make any necessary adjustments
- complete the required production documentation
- deal promptly and effectively with problems within your control and report those that cannot be solved
Knowledge and Understanding
You need to know and understand:
- how to work safely at all times, complying with health and safety and other relevant regulations, directives and guidelines
- the hazards associated with the manufacture of one-off tooling for springs and how to minimise them and reduce any risks
- the safety mechanisms on the machines, and the procedure for checking that they are operating correctly
- how to operate all the machine controls, in both hand and power modes, and how to stop the machine in case of an emergency
- the importance of wearing appropriate protective clothing (PPE) and equipment, and of keeping the work area clean and tidy
- how to extract and use information from engineering drawings and related specifications (to include symbols and conventions to appropriate standards) in relation to work undertaken
- how to interpret first and third angle drawings, imperial and metric systems of measurement, work reference points and system of tolerancing
- how to determine the design of components from existing/similar components, sketches, spring data and other relevant information
- how to take measurements and produce working sketches of parts to be made, where no drawings are available
- terminology used in spring toolmaking activities
- the basic principles of operation of the tooling being manufactured, and the performance characteristics that the tooling will need to have
- the various hand forming/finishing methods and techniques that can be used to produce or hand finish the required components
- how to determine the drill size for tapped holes, and the importance of using the taps in the correct sequence
- how to cut external threads using hand dies, and the method of fixing and adjusting the dies to give the correct thread fit
- how to select saw blades (for different materials and different operations)
- the use of vice jaw plates to protect the workpiece from damage
- the various machining methods and techniques that can be used to manufacture the replacement components
- good practice/approved procedures to be followed during the manufacturing of the tooling components
- the operating requirements of the machine tools and accessories being used
- the various shapes and types of tooling that can be used
- how to handle and store tools and equipment, safely and correctly
- factors which affect the selection of cutting feeds and speeds, and the depth of cut that can be taken (workpiece rigidity, machine condition, type of tooling being used, material type, finish and tolerance required)
- the application of cutting fluids with regard to a range of different materials and processes
- the techniques and implications of clamping a workpiece in a chuck/workholding device
- how to recognise machining faults, and how to identify when tools need re-sharpening
- the problems that can occur with the machining and fitting activities, and how these can be overcome
- the extent of your own authority and to whom you should report if you have problems that you cannot resolve
Scope/range
Scope Performance
- Carry out all of the following during the manufacturing activities:
- determine the design of the tooling/component from similar existing tooling/components, and the drawing of the spring that has to be made
- adhere to procedures or systems in place for risk assessment, personal protective equipment and other relevant safety regulations
- check that the machines and equipment to be used are in a safe and usable condition
- check that cutting tools and ancillary equipment are in a serviceable condition
- ensure that workpieces are held securely, without damage or distortion
- apply safe and appropriate manufacturing techniques at all times
- use correctly adjusted machine guards and safety devices
- leave the machine and work area in a safe and clean condition on completion of the activities
- Produce one-off tooling components for spring manufacture, made from two of the following materials:
- low carbon steel
- high carbon steel
- special tool/alloy steel
- non-ferrous
- Produce one-off tooling for three of the following types of spring:
- open ended right-hand helix
- single torsion
- power
- open ended left-hand helix
- double torsion
- scroll/spiral
- closed end right-hand helix
- conical
- volute
- closed end left-hand helix
- hourglass
- extension
- tension
- variable pitch
- barrel
- garter spring
- clock
- other specific wire forms
- Produce three of the following types of spring making tooling:
- coiling mandrels
- cropping tools
- coiling fingers
- coil/pitch setting tools
- bending tools
- gauges
- coiling wire guide bushes
- bending sides
- forming tools
- jigs/fixtures
- punches
- dies
- other specific components
- Produce spring tooling using a range of hand forming and finishing methods, to include four from the following:
- hand sawing
- grinding
- threading external
- band/power sawing
- polishing
- threading internal
- drilling
- countersinking/counterboring
- hardening and tempering
- filing
- bending/forming
- other specific technique
- Produce replacement components using two of the following machining processes:
- turning
- shaping/slotting
- drilling
- grinding
- electro-discharge machining
- milling
- Produce one-off tooling for springs which include six of the following features:
- external diameters
- faces that are square to each other
- reamed/bored holes
- internal diameters
- angular/tapered surfaces
- bends
- flat faces
- circular/curved/radial profiles
- concave or convex form
- parallel faces
- threads
- special forms
- steps/shoulders
- drilled holes
- Produce one-off tooling components for spring manufacturing activities, in compliance with all of the following quality and accuracy standards:
- dimensional tolerances are suitable for the work to be carried out
- the surface finish is suitable for the tooling application
- tooling components are free from false tool cuts, burrs and sharp edges
- tooling components are fit for purpose