February 2013
Articles in this issue
Finding a 5-axis solution
Tim St. Martin knew there had to be a better way of fixturing parts on his company's 5-axis machine tools. "We'd visited some of our suppliers and saw how they…
Cutting costs with tool reconditioning
High-performance cutting tools can provide increased efficiency and productivity, but they can also be a drain on tooling budgets. Cost-justifying these tools …
Still more tips for a manual mill
Continuing and concluding the theme of my previous two columns, this month's installment provides additional tips for enhancing the operation of a manual milli…
The chase is over
Prevent sealed bearings from overheating in a live tooling head. A live tooling head with coolant-fed bearings.
Fast to the finish
Enhance PCD cutting tool design while decreasing processing times. SOLUTION: A 6-axis rotary erosion machine.
Coolant filtration enhances grinding precision
Provide centerless grinding machines that can produce parts with continually tightening size and surface finish requirements. Customized coolant filtration equ…
Doing the shop hop
Over the past few months, I've experienced an increasing number of friends, acquaintances and even referred strangers hitting me up for jobs. Most ask about em…
The science of milling sounds
Milling sounds range from loud to quiet, and experienced machinists <br />often use those sounds to judge what is occurring in the cutting zone. It is difficul…
Out with the old
A model-based design and verification method for reducing the time to build complex vehicles and aircraft.
An eye for wear
A machine vision system for inspecting cutting tool wear.
Fight, fight for old Manufacturing U.
When I read about The Brookings Institution's proposal to develop 20 U.S. manufacturing universities, my first thought was "what will the mascots be for the fo…
Why so cross?
Drilling cross-holes in some parts is no big deal. These are often simple parts, such as aluminum valve bodies, where the holes aren't too deep and meet on-cen…
X-ray specs
X-ray scanning a part with internal features is useful because it creates 2-D images of those features in a nondestructive manner. Industrial computed-tomograp…
Shifting gears
Imagine a gear milling method where the toolpath -- not the tool shape -- determines gear characteristics such as diametral pitch or pressure angle. A new conc…
Tool train
The heart of rail technology beats in Germany, where the Bombardier Transportation division of the Canadian conglomerate is headquartered in Berlin. Its plant …
Calculated forces when turning
The cutting force when turning is a resultant force that combines tangential, feed and radial force components. These force components can be measured with a t…
Keeping cool grinding stainless
Dear Doc: I grind the ODs and IDs of stainless steel bearings and have a much tougher time than when grinding hardened steel. Why?