Articles

Articles • December 1, 2015

Flexible Hone Plays Role in Raising the Costa Concordia

The Flex-Hone Tool, characterized by the small, abrasive globules that are permanently mounted to flexible filaments, has long been used for everything from automated metal finishing to maintenance and repair operations. Now the Flex-Hone can add one more claim to its resume: playing a small, but important, role in one of the largest engineering feats in marine history—the raising of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Kip Hanson

Shot peening offers cost-effective way to make stronger metal products

Medieval soldiers did it to strengthen their armor, Civil War engineers did it to improve gun and cannon barrels, railroad men did it to locomotive axles before they rolled into the untamed West and Henry Ford did it to enhance parts bound for his new invention, the assembly line. More recently, aircraft manufacturers began doing it to virtually every square inch of their metal wares before sending them skyward. What shared action connects these warriors, inventors and manufacturers? The cold working of metal workpieces.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Alan Richter

Private equity funds, venture capitalists partner with precision parts manufacturers poised for growth

Running a successful machine shop takes more than having advanced machine tools, high-performance cutting tools and machinists that boost productivity. A manufacturer of precision metal parts might also need a strategic partner that has the network, expertise and — last but not least — capital to penetrate new markets, overcome capacity constraints and make investments to help the business grow.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Matthew Jaster

Options to consider when selecting custom work-positioning device

In the market for a rotary table? The checklist of requirements starts with speed, accuracy and rigidity. CTE spoke with multiple rotary table manufacturers to discuss market trends, product innovations and add-ons that can improve overall machine tool performance.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Evan Jones Thorne

Stabilizing, monitoring air helps ensure part measurement accuracy

As children, we likely all learned the hard way that drastic temperature changes cause objects to change size—whether it was leaving a soda in the freezer too long to get it cold or breaking your turtle's terrarium by cleaning it with hot water after it had been resting on the cold ground (sorry, Mom and Dad!). However, in the realm of precision measurement, even minute differences in atmospheric conditions can have huge impacts—to the point that parts manufactured within spec can fail inspection and be needlessly reworked or even scrapped.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Alan Richter

Future of manufacturing

CTE Editor Alan Richter visited the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute at Chicago's Goose Island in September for a peek into the future of manufacturing at an event coordinated by Blaser Swisslube Inc.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Keith Jennings

Offshoring again

Even with a good fourth quarter and my natural optimism, reports from contacts at some of our larger customers concern me, reports the Manager's Desk columnist in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Michael Deren

Better to have a degree

If you have aspirations for being an engineer or programmer, but do not have a college degree, this column is for you, according to the Machinist's Corner column in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Markus Stolmar

Overcoming material challenges

Companies that make cylindrical cutting tools from PCD and other materials face two key challenges: meeting the surging demand for PCD tools while retaining the ability to produce HSS, carbide, ceramic and cermet tools, observes the Machine Technology column in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Steve Kidd

Constant chip load machining

A Seattle shop reaps the benefits of constant chip load machining, according to the October Get With The Program column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • Christopher Tate

Lean drives modularity

Cutting Tool Engineering's Shop Technology column in October addresses how lean manufacturing principles have changed the way engineers program machine tools and select tooling.

Articles • October 1, 2015 • James Harvey

Intro to CNC trade secrets

The end of manual machining isn't near. There are certain tasks you can do with conventional machines that CNC machines are just not good at, such as "blending," reports the October Shop Operations column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.