ABSTRACT
In most workshops, available machine tools usually comprise lathes, milling machines, grinders and boring machines. For large flexures, these machine tools, in combination with standard fastening techniques (including welding and gluing), probably represent the optimal manufacturing method. Commonly, either separate components are made and subsequently assembled or the flexure may be directly machined into a solid to form a monolithic mechanism. For the production of small, instrument flexures, a broad range of alternative processing techniques may better achieve a particular design. Also, in some cases, it may be necessary to produce the flexure from hard or brittle materials that are not amenable to single point cutting or grinding processes. Under these circumstances, it is necessary to utilize less conventional production methods. Techniques commonly used for the manufacture of flexures include
• Conventional machining
• Electro~discharge machining • Lithographic etching
• Electroplating (or electr~forming) • Diamond grinding
These are discussed, in turn, below
8.1.1 Conventional machining
The objective of this brief section is to provide a few tips on the use of conventional machine tools to produce leaf or notch-type flexure geometry's. Detailed machining parameters for most materials can be found in available literature and therefore are not covered here.
