Today’s Solid-Carbide Tools Are Top Producers September 25, 2020 Solid-carbide round tools have seemingly been around forever; before them, high-speed steel (HSS) tools ruled the roost, and after them a growing selection of alternative processes like indexables, EDM, waterjet and now additive manufacturing emerged as competition.
Building a Future in Florida September 22, 2020 Florida's advanced manufacturing industries are diverse and include sectors producing intermediate and finished products ranging from plastics and micro-electronics to tortillas and motor vehicles.
Gundrilling for Job Shops September 25, 2020 Today’s job shops can distinguish themselves from competitors by adding deep hole drilling/gundrilling to their offerings. But complex, custom-built machines require more floor space and a bigger investment.
Multi-Purpose Machine Tool May 22, 2020 So you’ve heard all sorts of good things about Swiss-style, sliding headstock CNC lathes and have been thinking about investing in one.
HMCs Offer Perfect Platform for Flexibility, Performance March 27, 2020 Horizontal machining center technology—a long-time mainstay of OEMs and Tier One contract manufacturers—has morphed into space efficient, versatile machining platforms that any high-mix job shop can benefit from.
Replaceable-Tip Tools Get Permanent Spot in Shop Inventories April 13, 2020 When weighing the choice of replaceable-tip mills and drills or solid-carbide tools, consider this succinct statement from one industry expert: carbide equals cost.
How to Choose the Best Toolholding System for Your Shop April 16, 2020 Many job shops hold onto traditional, inexpensive tooling systems. ER collets and Weldon flats are tried and true; they work and are proven. At the same time, newer, advanced machining technology, such as multi-axis machines, may perform better when newer, advanced (and more expensive) toolholders are deployed.
Turning Inserts Face New Challenges December 21, 2020 Originally marketed for their proficiency in heavy metal removal applications while delivering longer tool life and multi-point efficiency, turning inserts have grown more sophisticated in response to advances in materials, machines, methods, and even social factors.
Simplifying and Moving Beyond Five-Axis Machining December 15, 2020 Five-axis machining, once a novel and somewhat forbidding technology, has become routine in many shops. Meanwhile, some organizations are still hesitant to use it, largely due to programming concerns.
Deburring in Forming and Fabricating: Part 2 June 18, 2020 Because it is a production cost, reducing the need for deburring can help the bottom line. In this podcast, part two of two, Alan Rooks, Editor in Chief of Manufacturing Engineering magazine, talks with Dr. LaRoux Gillespie, a researcher, engineer, manager, consultant, and writer with an extensive knowledge base on deburring and finishing. In this episode, the discussion focuses on ways to reduce deburring costs in forming and fabrication operations, such as improving product design; preventing burrs; minimizing burr properties; and removing burrs during the main fab process. Also discussed are how shops can determine if deburring or edge finishing is needed, and how they can choose among the 124 different deburring processes.