All shops want to be more productive and reduce downtime. For some, this means an investment in a high-end CNC machine tool. Others give quick-change toolholders a try, or pursue an IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) machining strategy.
End mills, traditionally made with two to four flutes, are used in one of the oldest mechanized machining processes—milling.
Mar-Bal Inc. has merged its AltraSet Composite Technologies company with Lattice Composites, Riverside, Calif.
Additive manufacturing company ExOne Co. has been awarded a U.S. Department of Defense contract to develop a fully operational, self-contained 3D printing “factory” housed in a shipping container.
November 2020 U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $151.3 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI) and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.
Okuma America Corp. has announced that select machines from Okuma's core product line now come equipped with the Advanced One Touch-Interactive Graphics Function.
Greenleaf Corporation has announced XSYTIN-360, a new line of high-performance solid ceramic end mills, to the global market.
Driven spindles are the technical core of a machine tool, supplying the power to turn the cutting tools that shape our products and our world. Attaching one to a five-axis movement creates an advanced CNC machine.
The three-axis vertical machining center (VMC) has long been the go-to machine tool for many small to medium-sized shops. Their use is well-understood. Compared to more complex machinery, it’s easier to find operators for three-axis machines.
Horizontal machine tools (HMCs) have typically been used for longer run production jobs. But as lot sizes decrease, machine builders and their partners have introduced new technologies that speed setups and generally make HMCs nimbler. So much so that one should probably rethink the role HMCs serve.