Papers - Metal Testing and Technology - Machinability of Free-cutting Brass Rod (With Discussion)

Brass rod for use in automatic screw machines is one of the major products of the brass mills. A large tonnage is consumed each year in the manufacture of an endless variety of finished articles and parts for assembly into other products. The machines that do this work have been developed to a high degree of efficiency, and their manufacturers are still striving for higher production speeds. This development has brought with it a demand for brass rod to meet the increasingly difficult machining conditions. This paper is a report of the results of tests undertaken in an effort to obtain a measure of the effects of such variables as lead content, microstructure and cold work on the machinability of brass rod. It is realized that the term "machinability" has never been well defined. Power, finish and tool life all should have a place in such a definition. In practice it is sometimes found necessary to sacrifice some of these in order to obtain a rod that will not tend to throw up a burr, or will give a burr which is easily tumbled off. Again a specially stiff rod may be necessary because of long overhang from the chuck or a rod of special characteristics is needed to take a given broaching operation without chattering. It is only through an understanding of the effect of basic mill operations on the machinability of the rod that such problems as these may be solved most economically. It is hoped that this paper, together with the discussion it may evoke, will prove to be a basis for such an understanding. Testing Apparatus The testing apparatus used was of the single-tooth milling cutter type, in all respects sirnilar to that first used and described by Airey and Oxford1 and again by Boston. The machine used in the present test is shown in Fig. 1. It is an ordinary milling machine in which a heavy pendulum has been substituted for the pulley on the arbor. If the pendulum is raised