GEORGE BROWN MACHINING COURSE

In January of 2019, I completed the George Brown Machining Course where I was introduced to various machine shop tools, their functions, and the safety procedures followed. As it was a hands-on learning experience, the tools were introduced and utilized to make a one-piston engine powered by an air pump. 

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The lathe was used to cut the piston, which was a cylinder initially, into its final shape, and was used to cut down the surfaces of all the cylinders to make them smoother. Furthermore, the lathe was used to mount the cylinders in order to sand out their harsh edges evenly. Safety procedures included the proper mounting of materials onto the head stock, secure mounting of the spindle gouge on the tail stock, and the placement of the safety guard down before turning on.  

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The mill was used to cut the grooves into the piston socket as well as shorten it to our desired length. After setting a zero reference, all dimensions required were put into the mill to create very precise measurement cuts. Safety procedures included proper mounting of the part, turning the power off when changing cutters/orientation of the part, and milling largest surfaces first. 

The drill press was used to drill a hole in the piston socket, and was smoothed out using a reamer. Before using the desired drill bit, a smaller bit was used to make a pilot hole in order to reduce the chance of the drill bit breaking. When choosing a drill bit size, it should always be a little smaller than the hole size desired, as reaming and unwanted drill movement can cause for a larger hole to be made. Safety procedures included making sure the drill bit was fastened into the machine, ensuring a pilot hole was made before drilling, and pushing the bit in and out of the hole to dislodge turnings. 

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In all cases, safety glasses and cleaning up after using a machine was common to all. This was a great learning experience and allowed me to have some background before using the machine shops at the University of Toronto, and has proved to be very helpful for the machining I have/will do on the Autonomous Rover Team.