Misplaced Pages

#555444

36-695: Allen created the Allen key in 1913 and created the Allen Manufacturing Company Inc advertisement for the Allen Safety Set Screw, a brand of set screw , in the Automobile Trade Directory, January 1913. Originally named Allen Manufacturing Company, the business produced hexagonal set screws and wrenches to fasten them. The terms "Allen wrench" (American English, though "Allen key" is also common in

72-428: A bolt ), being screwed instead in a threaded hole drilled in only one of the two objects to be secured. A set screw is often headless and threaded along its entire length, so that it will sit entirely inside that hole; in which case it may be called a grub screw or blind screw . Once fully and firmly screwed into the first object, the projecting tip of the set screw presses hard against the second object, acting like

108-449: A clamp . The second object may have a machined detent (recess) to ensure that it cannot slide under the tip of the screw. On a shaft, this may be simply a flattened area. A set screw may have any type of drive , such as hex or square head, slot, or recessed --- cross (Phillips), hex (Allen), star (Torx), or square (Robertson). In the UK , the term "set screw" or "setscrew" refers simply to

144-451: A bolt which is fully threaded, with no smooth shank; called cap screw in the US. Set screws are not always the best way to resist the torque of driven shafts. To reduce the chance of slipping and to increase load capacity, a detent (often called a "flat") may be milled or ground at the part of the shaft where the set screw's point contacts. The detent, however, must be closely aligned with

180-421: A drill bit can only cut in the axial direction, most milling bits can cut in the radial direction. Not all mills can cut axially; those designed to cut axially are known as end mills. End mills are used in milling applications such as profile milling, tracer milling, face milling, and plunging. Several broad categories of end- and face-milling tools exist, such as center-cutting versus non-center-cutting (whether

216-451: A high temperature-high pressure environment. The vein is formed in a blank and then the material is ground out along the vein to form the cutting edge. Although the tools can be very costly, they can last many times longer than other tooling. Advances in end mill coatings are being made, however, with coatings such as Amorphous Diamond and nanocomposite PVD coatings beginning to be seen at high-end shops (as of 2004). Although coatings have

252-455: A long time, with the straight slot being the oldest drive type (due to its ease of machining ), but the demand for headless set screws experienced a marked increase in the first and second decades of the 20th century, when a penchant for better industrial safety, a campaign with the slogan "safety first", swept the industrialized nations of North America and Europe as a part of the larger Progressive Movement . This surge in safety consciousness

288-538: A smaller diameter, or a tighter tolerance, are required; modular tooling introduces additional margins of error that can compound with each new component, whereas a solid tool can provide a smaller tolerance range for the same price level. End mills are sold in both imperial and metric shank and cutting diameters. In the USA, metric is readily available, but it is only used in some machine shops and not others; in Canada, due to

324-445: A typical color, manufacturers may modify the coating process or add additives to change the appearance without affecting the performance as part of their branding. Bright blues, reds and turquoise are among the "unnatural" colors. End mills are typically made on CNC (computer numeric controlled) tool and cutter grinder machines under high-pressure lubricants such as water, water-soluble oil, and high-flashpoint oil. Grinding inside

360-429: A very fast rate. Traditionally used in a roughing operation. 2 Flute: Allows for more chips to be removed from the part. Primarily used in slotting and pocketing operations in non-ferrous materials. 3 Flute: Similar to the 2 Flute end mill but can be used to cut ferrous and non-ferrous materials 4+ Flute: Designed to run at faster feed rates but due to having more flutes it causes issues with chip removal. Roughing:

396-429: Is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This product article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Set screw In American English , a set screw is a screw that is used to secure an object, by pressure and/or friction, within or against another object, such as fixing a pulley or gear to a shaft . A set screw is normally used without a nut (which distinguishes it from

SECTION 10

#1732801908556

432-455: Is a type of milling cutter , a cutting tool used in industrial milling applications. They can have several end configurations: round (ball), tapered, or straight are a few popular types. They are most commonly used in "milling machines" that move a piece of material against the end mill to remove chips of the material to create a desired size or shape. It is distinguished from the drill bit in its application, geometry, and manufacture. While

468-414: Is common for applications requiring high torque resistance or transmission. Splines offer yet more strength. For longer life, set screws are usually made of alloy steel and case hardened . Hardened set screws often leave a plastic deformation, in the form of a circular or semicircular mark, in the shaft that the screw sets against. This has both pros and cons. On the pro side, such deformation increases

504-497: The 1910 Annual Convention of International Association of Factory Inspectors. In 1922, Allen Manufacturing Company produced sets of tools under the company name "Bay State", suggesting that they may have privately acquired another hardware manufacturer, namely the Bay State Pump Company. Apex Tool Group owns the current trademark and has since renewed it. In January 2017, Apex Tool Group announced they would end

540-532: The US) and "Allen key" (British English) are derived from the Allen brand name and refer to the generic product category " hex keys ". W.G. Allen filed the first related patent in 1909 for its recessed hex-driven safety screws, a safety improvement over fasteners which protruded from machinery. While other hex keys were patented before and after this date, the name would persist. Allen left the company shortly after. An advertisement for Allen safety screws would appear in

576-446: The corner chamfer and chipbreaker . While more expensive, due to more complex design and manufacturing process, such end mills can last longer due to less wear and improve productivity in high speed machining (HSM) applications. It is becoming increasingly common for traditional solid end mills to be replaced by more cost-effective inserted cutting tools (which, though more expensive initially, reduce tool-change times and allow for

612-754: The country's proximity to the US, much the same is true. In Asia and Europe, metric diameters are standard. A variety of grooves, slots, and pockets in the work-piece may be produced from a variety of tool bits. Common tool bit types are: square end cutters, ball end cutters, t-slot cutters, and shell mills. Square end cutters can mill square slots, pockets, and edges. Ball end cutters mill radiused slots or fillets. T-slot cutters mill exactly that: T-shaped slots. Shell end cutters are used for large flat surfaces and for angle cuts. There are variations of these tool types as well. There are four critical angles of each cutting tool: end cutting edge angle, axial relief angle, radial relief angle, and radial rake angle . Depending on

648-406: The cup point offers superior resistance to wear while maintaining a strong grip. Knurled cup points offer the added advantage of a locking action (similar to that of a serrated lock washer) that prevents the screws from working loose in high-vibration applications. Common points include the following: Knurl point screws are generally used to secure one object within another. The serrated ridge on

684-431: The cutting edges are torn and no longer have full strength to resist unscrewing. ISO standard for Knurled cup point set screw is ISO 4029. Set screws are made with a variety of drive styles , including the following: The concept of set screws is centuries old, predating the metal screw by at least several hundred years. Early materials included wood, bone, horn, antler and ivory. Headless set screws have been around for

720-479: The cutting tools. Carbide inserts are the most common because they are good for high production milling. High speed steel is commonly used when a special tool shape is needed, not usually used for high production processes. Ceramics inserts are typically used in high speed machining with high production. Diamond inserts are typically used on products that require tight tolerances, typically consisting of high surface qualities (nonferrous or non-metallic materials). In

756-405: The early 90s, use of coatings became more common. Coatings can provide various benefits including wear resistance, reduction of friction to assist with chip evacuation, and increased heat resistance. Most of these coatings are referred to by their chemical composition. Though PCD veins is not a coating, some end mills are manufactured with a 'vein' of polycrystalline diamond. The vein is formed in

SECTION 20

#1732801908556

792-568: The easy replacement of worn or broken cutting edges rather than the entire tool). Another advantage of indexable end mills(another term for tools with inserts) is their ability to be flexible with what materials they can work on, rather than being specialized for a certain material type like more traditional end mills. For the time being however, this only generally applies to larger diameter end mills, at or above 3/4 of an inch. These end mills are generally used for roughing operation, whereas traditional end mills are still used for finishing and work where

828-429: The headed ones, so that workers' clothing and fingers were less likely to catch on the exposed rotating screw head. It was this heightened demand that prompted Hallowell's firm to get into the screw-making business and to explore socket-head drive designs. With P.L. Robertson holding fresh patent rights on a practical-to-make square-socket drive, the firm soon pursued the hex socket drive. Endmill An end mill

864-442: The holding power (torque resistance) of the joint, as the screw is essentially "making its own detent" on a small but effective scale. On the con side, if one is aiming to have a blemish-free cosmetic finish on the part being set against, one must take actions to prevent the circular marks. In most set screw applications, this consideration is irrelevant. Another con is that this plastic deformation can cause corresponding high points in

900-399: The knurl cup set screw helps reduce loosening due to vibration. The knurled point combines digging action of the cup point with counter-clockwise locking knurls that have a ratchet-locking action which helps resist loosening, even under the most severe vibrations. Knurl point set screws should not be reused because the cutting edges of the knurls are deflected when tightened. During removal,

936-431: The machine is accomplished with abrasive wheels mounted on a spindle (and in some cases, multiple spindles). Depending on what material is being ground, these wheels are made with industrial diamond (when grinding tungsten carbide ), cubic boron nitride (when grinding cobalt steel), and other materials (when grinding, for instance, ceramics), set in a bond (sometimes copper). Single: Is used to remove lots of material at

972-553: The manufacturing of Allen and Armstrong hand tools in their Sumter, South Carolina manufacturing plant. With this, Apex Communications Director Kelly Rhoads confirmed the line would cease production on March 31. This ended production of the Allen brand in hex keys, L-key, and T-handle styles. In 2018, Apex began manufacturing official hex keys under their company brand Crescent , referred to as Crescent Apex. The previous Allen website routes to them. They are sold in thirteen piece sets as well as three piece holding tools and no longer use

1008-448: The many pulleys to the line shafts, and collars holding the shafts from axial movement. Gear trains of exposed gears were also common at the time, and those, too, often used headed set screws, holding the gears to the shafts. His company's chief products at the time were shaft hangers and shaft collars of pressed-steel construction. The "safety craze" created a burgeoning demand for headless set screws on pulleys, gears, and collars to replace

1044-493: The material being milled, and what task should be performed, different tool types and geometry may be used. For instance, when milling a material like aluminum , it may be advantageous to use a tool with very deep, polished flutes, a very sharp cutting edge and high rake angles. When machining a tough material such as stainless steel , however, shallow flutes and a squared-off cutting edge will optimize material removal and tool life. A wide variety of materials are used to produce

1080-1019: The mill can take plunging cuts); and categorization by number of flutes; by helix angle; by material; and by coating material. Each category may be further divided by specific application and special geometry. A very popular helix angle, especially for general cutting of metal materials, is 30°. For finishing end mills, it is common to see more tight spiral, with helix angles 45° or 60°. Straight flute end mills (helix angle 0°) are used in special applications, like milling plastics or composites of epoxy and glass. Straight flute end mills were also used historically for metal cutting before invention of helical flute end mill by Carl A. Bergstrom of Weldon Tool Company in 1918. There exist end mills with variable flute helix or pseudo-random helix angle, and discontinuous flute geometries, to help break material into smaller pieces while cutting (improving chip evacuation and reducing risk of jamming) and reduce tool engagement on big cuts. Some modern designs also include small features like

1116-423: The purpose is to remove a big chunk of material from workpieces, sometimes to get rid of excess material in order to get closer to the final shape. It attempts to get really close to the finalized shape. Traditionally it's the first major operation in the machining process. Contouring/Profiling: this is a process used to mill different surfaces such as flat or irregular ones. This type of process can be done during

Allen (brand) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1152-411: The screw, they might choose to use a cone point type of screw. One might often need to use a flat point when the screw must press perfectly flat against a surface. The most common type is the cup point. This type works well because the surface is rounded so that a small surface area is in contact, but it does not have extremely high stress at one point like that of a cone point. Durability studies show that

1188-408: The shaft surrounding the circular mark. This can result in difficulties during dis-assembly if a bearing or other tightly toleranced part needs to slide past this area. Use of a flat mitigates this problem. Set screws appear with a variety of tip (point) types. The different shaped tips have different properties that engineers can utilize. If an engineer were to use a detent to ensure proper nesting of

1224-531: The term "allen wrench" in official branding or marketing. As of 2021, the Apex Tool Group website's Allen page has been purged of all content except for the rebranded Allen logo, the Armstrong logo erroneously referred to as the brand image, and the brand site URL, now a redirect to Crescent. No public announcement has been made for the end of productions under the Allen name. This tool article

1260-593: The threaded hole prior to fastening. The operator can often feel the screw push the flat into final alignment as they make the last half- or quarter-turn that tightens the screw. Set screws can successfully hold against heavy-torque applications if the details are right. For example, endmill holders of the solid type typically use large set screws holding against flats to fasten the endmill, and heavy loads are resisted. However, small set screws without flats are prone to spinning and galling if overloaded. The use of keys and keyways instead of, or in combination with, set screws

1296-407: Was a backlash against the often-atrocious industrial safety standards of the era. H.T. Hallowell, Sr., a U.S. industrialist whose corporation was one of several that pioneered the commercialization of the hex socket drive, noted in his memoir that line shafting , which was ubiquitous in the industrial practice of the time, often had headed set screws (with external-wrenching square drive ) holding

#555444