Heading to the show of shows

Here we are again. IMTS 2014 is just days away (or hours away or already taking place, depending on when you receive this issue). I get excited about the show and the technologies on display, so I’m fortunate I work only about an hour away from Chicago’s McCormick Place and get to attend every other year. Did you know, though, that from 1955 to 1970 the show was only held every 5 years in Chicago and has only been held at McCormick Place since 1972?

Looking back on manufacturing technology throughout the years, the first automated machine tool I worked with and programmed was an NC turret lathe. It only allowed incremental programming and used paper tape, which was upgraded to Mylar tape because the paper was easily damaged. All it took was a tear or a crease in the paper to cause a problem.

I used a 300-baud dial-up modem to connect to the service provider, which had a mainframe computer. The first service bills for our tape punch machine were in excess of $2,000 per month. That was considered state-of-the-art in the late 1970s and early 1980s, around the time CAD/CAM was appearing on PCs. Our first venture into PC-based CAD/CAM, including the computer and software, cost $24,000, which was easy to justify just in service-provider cost savings alone.

The first CNC machining center I used was a monster. Purchased at IMTS 1982, it was a 3-axis machining center that could circular interpolate, helical mill, tap and more. We needed an external A/C unit to keep the control cool on warm days or it would overheat and shut down.

Remember the octahedral hexapod machining center that was supposed to revolutionize machining? I saw it at IMTS in the late 1990s and early 2000s. It promised superior accuracy, stiffness and speed, as well as a lower price, shorter delivery time, simpler assembly and greater accessibility than the competition.

Of course, it didn’t replace the competition and now machining centers have rapid feed rates in excess of 2,000 ipm and programmable feed rates approaching that. Most machine tool builders have 5-axis machines that can do 3D contouring and provide spindle speeds unheard of back then. Multitask machines, a pipe dream in the past, are common today. Likewise, turning centers with live tools are almost standard. This was virtually unheard of 30 years ago.