Saw mill apparatus for castings and method

Apparatus for machining cast bodies for use as engine blocks, cylinder heads, cam carriers, transmission housings and the like and for simultaneously removing casting risers from the casting and forming a substantially finished surface at the plane of removal of the riser, said apparatus for simultaneously removing such riser and forming such finished surface comprising:

• a saw mill cutter,
• said saw mill cutter having a cutter body having a generally circular shape,
• a plurality of removable cutter inserts located circumferentially about the periphery of said cutter body,
• said cutter inserts each having a pair of cutting edges,
• one of said cutting edges adapted to extend axially relative to said cutter body for cutting the casting riser from the casting to form a rough cut surface,
• the other of said cutting edges adapted to extend radially relative to said cutter body for milling the rough cut surface to provide a cast body with the finished surface along a preselected plane,
• central support means for centrally supporting said saw mill cutter for rotation about a preselected axis,
• fixture means for holding the casting,
• feed means operatively connected with said central support means and said fixture means for controlling the relative movement between said saw mill cutter and the casting in a direction transverse to said preselected axis for cutting the rough cut surface and simultaneously milling the rough cut surface to remove the riser and to provide the finished surface along said preselected plane.

Apparatus for machining cast bodies for use as engine blocks, cylinder heads, cam carriers, transmission housings and the like and for milling a rough cut surface on a cast body to a substantially finished surface in a preselected plane, apparatus for forming such finished surface comprising:

• a mill cutter,
• said mill cutter having a cutter body having a generally circular shape,
• a plurality of removable cutter inserts located circumferentially about the periphery of said cutter body,
• said cutter inserts each having a cutting edge adapted to extend radially relative to said cutter body for milling a rough cut surface on the cast body to provide the finished surface along a preselected plane,
• central support means for centrally supporting said mill cutter for rotation about a preselected axis,
• fixture means for holding the cast body,
• feed means operatively connected with said central support means and said fixture means for controlling the relative movement between said mill cutter and the cast body in a direction transverse to said preselected axis for milling the rough cut surface to provide the finished surface along said preselected plane,
• said cutter body being around thirty inches or more in diameter,
• said cutter body having a thickness of around 0.4 inch or more at the circumferentially extending periphery,
• vertical support means operative with said cutter body to restrict deflection of said cutter body, said vertical support means including a plurality of vertical support members operative with one side of said cutter body at circumferentially spaced locations.

In a process for forming engine blocks, cylinder heads, cam carriers, transmission housings and the like from castings having casting risers and for removing such casting risers from the castings to form cast bodies with a substantially finished surface at the plane of removal of the riser, the method of removing such risers comprising the steps of:

• providing a saw mill cutter,
• said saw mill cutter Having a cutter body having a generally circular shape,
• said saw mill cutter having a plurality of removable cutter inserts located circumferentially about the periphery of said cutter body,
• at least some of said cutter inserts having cutting edges adapted to extend axially relative to said cutter body for cutting the casting riser from the casting to form a rough cut surface,
• at least some of said cutter inserts having cutting edges adapted to extend radially relative to said cutter body for milling the rough cut surface to provide the finished surface,
• feeding the casting relative to said saw mill cutter to cut said casting to remove the casting riser while simultaneously milling said rough cut surface to form a casting body with said finished surface at the plane of removal.

In a process for forming engine blocks, cylinder heads, cam carriers, transmission housings and the like from castings having casting risers and for removing such casting risers from the casting to form cast bodies with a substantially finished surface at the plane of removal of the riser and where the castings generally have a length and a width at said plane with the width being shorter than the length, the method of removing such risers comprising the steps of:

• providing a saw mill cutter,
• said saw mill cutter having a cutter body having a generally circular shape,
• said saw mill cutter having a plurality of removable cutter inserts located circumferentially about the periphery of said cutter body,
• at least some of said cutting inserts having cutting edges adapted to extend axially relative to said cutter body for cutting the casting riser from the casting to form a rough cut surface,
• at least some of said cutter inserts having cutting edges adapted to extend radially relative to said cutter body for milling the rough cut surface to provide the finished surface,
• feeding the casting widthwise relative to said saw mill cutter to cut said casting along its length to remove the casting riser while simultaneously milling said rough cut surface to form a cast body with said finished surface at the plane of removal.