WORKSHOP THEORY AND PRACTICE

INTRODUCTION: A workshop is a room or building in which goods are

manufactured or repaired.
TYPES OF WORKSHOP: There are three main types of machine workshops and
these are:

i.
ii.
iii.

Job Shop
Limited Production Shop
Mass Production Shop

JOB SHOP
A job shop is a machine shop that is equipped with machines and workers that
can undertake a wide range of machining jobs of limited quantity and usually of
a specialized nature. A job shop may be called upon to develop a prototype of an
idea thought up by a design engineer or inventor. Job shops are often used to
repair machinery (e.g engines, airframes, circuits etc) for manufacturers who do
not have a mechanical maintenance department.
LIMITED PRODUCTION SHOP
This falls between a job shop and a mass production shop. It specializes in
producing identical parts in limited quantities.
MASS PRODUCTION SHOP
This is a shop where parts are manufactured in vast numbers. Automatic and
numerically controlled machines are utilized to the fullest extent.
Every personnel operating in these workshops must abide by the rules and
regulations of those workshops, failure by which:

Time and money will be lost

Tools and equipment will be damaged
Jobs will be spoiled
Injury and disabilities can occur
Property can be lost or damaged

Each and every member of a workshop must exercise caution to avoid accidents
that could lead to the above stated happening.
In order to practice as aircraft maintenance engineer a range of basic
engineering skills are needed; regardless of where in the industry an individual
wish to be employed. These skills will be beneficial to all personnel no matter
whether they are in the field of aircraft structures, systems or component
manufacture, fabrication, repair or maintenance.
Emphasis is made on safety in the workshop as work is being carried out. Safety
involves the measures taken to prevent injury, damage to equipment and
machinery; generally this has to be in three aspects:
Yourself
Your neighbor and
The workshop (Hanger) and equipment in it.
The responsibility of maintaining the designed safety of the aircraft lies with the
engineer who repairs it.

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The designed safety is lost through scratches, marks, cracks, insufficient edge
distance for rivets, faulty rivets, rivet spacing, dull drill bits, or in general bad,
unrecommended and unsafe practices.
The engineer must ensure total responsibility and have utmost respect for
designed safety. Therefore any information that would help the maintenance
engineer to promote and maintain safety is most valuable.

RULES FOR SAFE WORKING HABITS

NO SAFETY RULE WILL HURT YOU UNLESS YOU CHOOSE TO
BREAK IT

Always listen carefully to your instructor and understand the rules in any
given situation; practice them until they become part of you.
Keep hands away from moving or rotating machine
Protect yourself from flying chips by wearing goggles
Know where the emergency buttons are positioned in the workshop. If you
see an accident at the other side of the workshop you can use the
emergency stop button to turn off all electrical power to machines.
Wear gloves when touching objects with sharp and ragged corners
Keep your floors clear of oil and short pieces of metal stock
The walkways should be free from obstructions most especially around
machines
Where you dont know, always ask for assistance
Be aware of possible hazards associated with the job you are doing
Horse play is not allowed in the workshop
Report any damage to machine/equipment as this could cause an
accident.
Do not use a machine if you have not been shown how to operate it safely
by the instructor.
When removing chips from a table or a machine bed always use a brush,
never handle chips with bare hands.
When you intend to operate a machine, ensure that safety guards are in
position.
Always use the right tool for the job
When lifting heavy equipment manually, Keep the back as straight as
possible and lift
Avoid practical jokes.

HOUSEKEEPING (GOOD)
The industrial housekeeping covers almost everything and everyone that is why
it is so vital to safety. Good housekeeping in the industry therefore means an
orderly arrangement of tools, equipments, operations, storage facilities and
materials. Bellow is highlighted some of the activities that would ensure good
housekeeping:
The work benches must be kept clean and tidy and only tools needed for
the job must be on the bench.
Every tool should be in its proper place
The floor, passageways and space around the machine should be kept
clear and clean.
Passageways should be clearly marked.
Use separate bins for rugs and dirt and each bin being provided with a lid

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Wipe out spilt oils immediately

Make provision for adequate room around machinery and other working
places
The bottom line is that everything that is supposed to be in the workshop
must be kept in its place and must be tidy.

WORK DRESS
Avoid wearing woolen sweaters
Wear safety boots or shoes
Avoid wearing an oversized overall; most suitably wear is a one piece
overall or boiler suite in good condition, torn materials can be caught in
moving parts of a machine.
Overall buttons must be kept fastened, ties, rings, wristwatch, bracelet
and scurfs must be avoided.
Sleeves are out of danger when they are rolled up. Roll sleeves to above
the elbows in case of operating machines with moving parts, but where
necessary to protect the skin, gear with closely fitting sleeves should be
worn and these sleeves should go up to the wrist.
In case of people working overhead wear a Helmet.
When handling hot or injurious object wear gloves(not surgical gloves)
Goggles should be worn to protect your eyes. Chips can fly in any direction
to hit anybody in the shop. Ever body in the shop needs protection of
safety goggles.
Long and uncovered hair can easily become entangled in the machine.
Hair must be kept shot, wear a cap or tie it at the back.
In case of handling solvents etc, barrier cream must be applied to prevent
chemical dermatitis.
Do not put sharp objects in the pocket

RULES REGARDING TOOLS AND MACHINES

The tools, the machines and skilled workers in the machine trade have played a
most important part in every step that man has taken as he has traveled from
medieval times to the space age. Tools are designed to help in the proper
execution of the job in an easy way with minimum effort and save the parts or
components from damage.
Tools may be categorized into two basic subdivisions:
1. Universal tools
2. Specific tools
The maintenance engineer should always take good care of his/her tools as they
are the means to perform the job and reflect good workmanship.
The following rules should be observed always by the engineer:
I.
Use the correct tool for the intended purpose misuse of tools, waste time,
spoils materials and is the tell-tale sign of an uninstructed or sloppy
craftsman.
II.
Maintain your tools in good working order. A maintenance engineer is
always as good as his tools. Improperly cared for tools will result in inferior
work and/or excessive labor for the job performed.
III.
Do not be a borrower of tools. Acquire the tools you need and take good
care of them.
IV.
Do not use equipments or tools that you are not familiar with. Be
instructed and eliminate the chances of learning the hard way.

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V.

Keep tools in their proper place. Arrange your tools box properly; this
would enable you to find the required tool quickly. Return tools to their
proper place on the tool board. Dont leave tools laying around.

RULES REGARDING YOURSELF

1. Be honest with yourself and the people you are working for and with. Many
people in every phase of manufacturing or repair, rather than admit a lack
of knowledge of the job they are trying to perform, will attempt to push it
through by brute strength and awkwardness. It is wise to make a practice
of being instructed if you do not know.
2. In this respect do not rely on your memory in recalling dimensions, service
instructions, installation notes etc. check your drawing, service manual, or
information source before proceeding. Memory is fatal in aviation, know
you are right- then proceed.

RULES FOR USING A FILE

Be sure that the file has a handle and it fits securely; in short never use a
file without a handle.
Remove burrs etc, from the handle before using it.
Never use a file as a hammer.
Do not strike a file with a hammer because splinters may fly out causing
injury.
Do not use a file as a pry.
Always keep files separate from each other.
Do not use oiled files, slippage would cause skinned knuckles.

HAMMERS

Always check that the hammer and the handle are safely secured
together.
Avoid hammers with broken or split handles.
Never use hammers on hardened surfaces.
Use the right hammer for the job.

WRENCHES (SPANNERS)
Keep them clean
Always switch off machines before using a wrench on them.
Ensure that the wrench fits on bolts or nuts snugly.
RULES FOR USING A HACKSAW
Use correct number of teeth blade for a particular job. Course blade for
thick material and fine blade for thin material.
Mount the blade with teeth facing forward and apply pressure on the
forward stroke only. The backward stroke is used for cleaning.
Grip your work in a vise firmly.

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Start the saw with light, even strokes while holding the frame at an angle.
After the cut has been established hold the frame level and saw the full
length of the jaw.
Do not use a dull blade for this will necessitate application of high pressure
which would cause breakage and injury.
When you are using an old blade and it breaks start with the new blade on
the opposite side.
Cut at the rate of 50 to 60 strokes per minute or slower in case of harder
metals.
Slow down when you are about to completely cut through the material.
Use most of the blade when cutting.

RULES FOR USING A DRILL PRESS

Ensure that you know how to operate the machine before operating it.
Ensure that drill is firmly held in chuck and like wise job is firmly secured in
vice.
Do not drill hand held jobs.
The operator should keep his/her hair short or wear a cap.
Avoid using a dull drill bit.
When drill digs into job and the job is whirled from its fastenings, shut off
power immediately. When all movements have stopped reverse the drill by
hand to dislodge it.

SAFETY WHEN USING A GRINDING MACHINE

Wear goggles when using the machine.

Check for cracks in wheel before mounting on machine spindle.
Ensure that guards are in place.
After starting ensure wheel runs full speed before grinding.
Avoid feeding job with excessive pressure.
Keep your head out of line of the sparks
Keep hands away from the revolving wheel.

PREVENTIVE MAINTENANCE
Preventive maintenance denotes activities carried out in order to perpetuate
serviceability of tools and equipment; this is done in order to contribute to
optimum performance and reliability of parts/equipment.
A preventive maintenance schedule/program is a series of routines, procedure
and steps taken (including tests, measurements, adjustments, and replacement)
to identify and resolve potential equipment problem s before they happen. The
purpose is to ensure that machines last longer, that production quality is
maintained and that delivery schedules are met. A preventive maintenance
program requires systematic replacement of aged parts, plus inspection,
detection and correction of embryonic failures either before they occur or before
they develop into a major problem.
For example, in Aircraft Maintenance all works other than defect rectification is
preventive maintenance. Activities like engine overhaul, engine shock loading,
preflight inspection, checks 1, 2 and 3 are all meant to prevent failure. Materials
like engine oil is scheduled to be replaced every 50 hours of engine operation or
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4 months from the time it was put in the system. Such timings are arrived at by
considering the time it takes for the oil to deteriorate in quality under such
conditions. Before oil reaches this extent it must be changed to prevent
exhausted oil creating a problem to equipment.
In a workshop situation, tools which are prone to corrosion must be kept oiled.
Those with flaked paint need to be touched-up. Serviceable machines need to be
periodically run (Functional checks).
To ensure effective preventive maintenance, schedules are drawn for tools and
equipment. This can be in a form of a card which would include;

Description of tool or equipment

Status
Last date of servicing
Next service due
Signature of inspector
And so on

This card is secured to appropriate equipment. In fact, all equipment must be

tagged to ascertain their condition whether serviceable or unserviceable.
Unserviceable equipment must have on their cards a note indicating the cause of
the unserviceability.
ELECTRICAL/ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
Below are some of the practices required to endure that serviceability of
electrical/electronic equipment is enhanced.

Such equipment should not be positioned in a place where they can easily
be knocked over and dropped by personal moving about the workshop.
Positions like towards the edge of a work bench or edge of a shelf have to
be avoided.
Keep dirt/dust away from equipment and occasionally remove
accumulated dust/dirt from equipment. Dust can be removed effectively
by use of an air blower.
Keep away moisture or remove any moisture that may find itself on and
inside the equipment. Moisture has effects of:
(a) Creating undesirable current paths in an equipment (short circuits)
(b) Creating corrosion of conductors most especially with the combination
of heat. Deteriorated conductors create high circuit resistance which
could lead to malfunction and system and system overheating.
Periodic checking of lubricant/coolant say; in transformers. Low or knock
oil will lead to overheating transformer, burning of insulation and
eventually render transformer unserviceable. Motor and generator
bearings etc, have to be lubricated approximately in order to preserve
their lives.
When about to use a piece equipment ensure connections are correctly
made in case of polarity and that appropriate voltages are used.

AN EXAMPLE OF AN INSPECTION SCHEDULE

AIR COMPRESSOR

Prepared: Mr. K. Phiri

ITE
M
No.
01

DESCRIPTIO
N
Cylinder

BEFORE USING

Clean and check

security
Drain water

AFTER
USING

Drain
water

5 HOURS
Cylinder

02

Oil sump

Check quality of
oil

__

03

Cooler fan

Check security of
mounting bolts

__

__

04

Motor

Check security of
mounting bolts

__

__

05

Pump

__

__

06

Filters

Check security of
mounting
Check clean lines

07

Whole unit

Prepared: Mr. K. Phiri

__

__
__

Change
oil

10 HOURS

Replace
filters
__

Wash
cylinder
and
pressure
test
Change to
next grade
of oil
Replace
mounting
bolts
Clean with
solvent
Clean with
solvent
Replace
filters
If not in
constant
use,
functional
check after
15 days