Machine shops use a variety of techniques to track the condition of their cutting tools, ranging from simple to sophisticated. No matter what monitoring method is used, it can be crucial in preventing catastrophic tool failure. At its best, monitoring also significantly boosts tool life and slashes tooling costs.
Recycling equipment manufacturer Harris Equipment Co., Cordele, Ga., saved 50 percent per job tapping Hardox 450 steel wear plates by switching to taps from Emuge Corp., West Boylston, Mass.
Designing new aerospace engines is challenging, but Rolls-Royce Germany turned to data analytics and AI to meet these challenges. The results? Reduced costs and shortened lead times.
Better wheels and more capable machines add to grinding’s edge on tough materials
Holemaking in steel and cast iron up to one inch in diameter is one of the most widely used metalworking processes. What is driving drilling and tapping performance are advances in substrate, coatings, three-flute designs, and combination tools. Just as important are advances in coolant delivery, using different size holes and shapes to facilitate chip evacuation.
Today’s deep hole drilling systems control coolant much the same as they would a machine’s spindle or axes. Careful management of coolant pressure, filtration, temperature and flow rate is key to optimizing deep hole drilling.
WTO USA, Charlotte, N.C. is offering what it calls a new and affordable solution for micromachining applications, an area where many manufacturing companies and machine shops are striving to increase productivity.
The newly developed 5-axis portal milling machines of the FZP Series from Zimmermann are compact, flexible and highly accurate. This is ensured by the thermosymmetrical design with center-guided Z-slide.
Gene Granata of CGTech Inc. talks to Manufacturing Engineering about software.
Stressed out at the thought of programming, operating, or owning a Swiss-style CNC lathe? Chill out. It’s easier than you think.