March 2013
Articles in this issue
5-Axis Workholders Enable Flexible Fixturing and Access
A collection of workholding products compiled by the editors of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.
Boost cutting efficiency with training
Dynamic and aggressive cutting tool demonstrations are common at trade shows. Toolmakers present phenomenal displays, where chips spark and fly and machines mo…
Generating spherical surfaces
A unique manual milling method is available for generating geometrically true spherical surfaces. This technique can be used to machine convex and concave sphe…
Multitask machining heroes
Produce parts faster without investing in additional fixturing. Efficiently reprogram the parts with the company's CAM software after moving part production to…
Big requirements for small tools
Achieve tight-tolerance requirements when producing microtools. Grinding machines designed to produce microtools.
From three to one
Overcoming a bottleneck caused when programming different machine tools with various CAD/CAM systems. A single CAD/CAM system that can program multiple machine…
Dealing with the unexpected
My recent past has, unfortunately, included the passing away of several acquaintances, one only 38 years old. I also read an obituary in the local paper about …
Eyes wide open
Several weeks ago, my wife and I attended a dinner party at her sister's home. One of the guests heard I was in manufacturing and introduced himself. He's 48, …
Measuring performance in real time
Real-time measurements during metalcutting can offer significant insight into machine tool performance. The parameters to be measured include position, velocit…
Metal on metal
A pump on a waterjet machine generates the high-pressure water needed for cutting by taking low-pressure water into a cylinder, compressing the water with a pl…
Compensation without cables
Thermal compensation of a coordinate measuring machine's principle structural components and the part being measured helps ensure measuring accuracy over an ex…
Going toe to toe on robotics
One fond memory from my long-ago youth was playing Rock'Em, Sock'Em Robots with my next-door neighbor. My parents wouldn't get me the game, for reasons I forge…
Picking low-hanging CNC ‘fruit’
As someone who visits job shops and manufacturers almost daily, I know why some are thriving, while others struggle. The ones that are thriving have invested a…
Hard metal machines
All metals are not created equal. Therefore, neither are the machine tools for cutting them. Parts for extreme aerospace applications, such as in engines, land…
Chuck the chips
The process of displacing metal instead of cutting it is called many things. But whether they call it form tapping, cold form tapping, thread forming, cold rol…
Trending toward productivity
The U.S. economy appears to be on the mend. In January, the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation gave a tentative thumbs up to sustained busi…
Gap guidance
The spark gap is the physical distance the electric current has to jump off the wire to burn the workpiece when wire EDMing. Controlling the spark gap is criti…
Power play
Like most machine tool builders, Mori Seiki Co. Ltd. is focused on making its machines more energy efficient. In addition, the company is focused on making the…
Machine Tool product review for March 2013
A collection of machine tool products compiled by the editors of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.