Laser cutting and waterjet cutting: two great technologies that go great together? Or best when they play solo? As ever, the answer is it depends—on what work a shop has coming in the door, what materials are being processed most often, operator skill levels and, ultimately, the available equipment budget.

With the ongoing shortage of skilled workers and the pickup in the economy, suppliers of welding equipment are finding ways to making welding easier for those working in manufacturing. Automation is the leading technique among many.

While some people think bridge-style machining centers are only for very large parts, these rigid, highly accurate CNC machine tools come in a range of sizes and configurations are good for parts of all sizes.

Two things everyone knows about diamonds: they’re very hard and they’re very expensive. And so it is with polycrystalline diamond (PCD) as well as cubic boron nitride (CBN) cutting tools.