Ae4 Class of 2009: Week 1 (U Block, Scribe & Punch)

During the week 1 of LTT training, we have learned 2 basic skills by doing 2 exercises assigned. First one was filing an U block followed by Scribe and Punch!

The first 3 days was spent doing filing as filing is the most basic skill we must master as any projects we need to do will require us to file first! Filing may seem like a child's play but in order to file straight and even throughout the surface, it takes a lot of skills and practice. Learning proper filing techniques also allows us to work more efficiently and prevent uncessary injuries!

We were given this material and are required to file to the specific dimension with a little tolerance and file off the rust for a shiny and smooth surface.

There are some problems we faced during the U Block project. Firstly, the material is mild steel, it is very hard to remove a lot of material at once. Hence, the process is slow and tedious! We also need to be very careful with the dimensions as we may file and file without measuring and therefore the workpiece will be undersized. The tolerance is for us to compensate if we make any mistakes. Deburring the workpiece is also crucial as there are sharp edges and may cause injuries if not properly handled. So deburring the workpiece will reduce the risk of cutting ourselves.

After 3 days of filing and more filing...

There you have it! A shiny smooth finish on the U Block! Compared to the U Block 3 days ago, we feel a sense of achievement behind able to remove almost 100% of the rust! Trust me. This is not child's play after all!

Our next assignment for the first week is Scribe & Punch. We will be introduced to two new tools in this assignment. One is the scriber and the second are the number and alphabet punches to engrave on our workpiece. The scriber is an essential tool for us as it is used to do markings on the workpiece so as to minimise errors while drilling or punching on the workpiece.

There are also techniques to dot punching! It has first to be aligned with the scriber or pencil marking and then held perpendicular to the workpiece before being hammered.

This is the completed Scribe & Punch project!

The problems faced in this project are rather minor and can be solved easily. Firstly, scribing the material too hard may expose too much of the raw material and may cause it to be oxidised. Secondly, dot punching the material too hard may cause a dent at the opposite side and it can be avoided by using adequate strength to dot punch the workpiece. Using not enough strength is also a problem as the mark may not be seem and punching over it a second time may produce another seperate mark which is unpresentable. Number/Alphabet punching also require skills are each has to be spaced equally apart and straight. If students are not careful, they may have letters floating around and may not look presentable.

Next I will introduce to some of the tools we used for the first 2 assignments!

The mother of all assignments! Files!!! We have the file flat, round file, half round file, triangular file, square file!

Brushes! These brushes are essential to keep the working environment safe and clean!

Set Squares! This tool enables us to get measure and get a perfecr 90 degrees so we can ensure if our workpiece is even throughout the surface.

Vernier Caliper! This is a precision measuring tool and it enables us to do measurements up to .05 mm of accuracy! We can also measure depth, circumference and do marking with this tool!

Dot Punch! This is a tool for us to do marking on materials!

The Hacksaw enables us to cut away excess materials!

The hammer allows us to do dot punching and alphabet/number punching!

I have typed a whole chunk of words on top. Now let me show you guys what I really mean!

The process...

The file is flat on the surface!

Standing at an angle helps to prevent injuries and it ease the filing process!

Applying force on the forward stroke is the correct technique displayed. No force is required while returning the file as the file cuts only on the forward stroke.