Articles

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Michael Deren

Can you follow instructions?

Do you process existing jobs the same way every time? If not, you may be throwing money away every time those jobs are run by having to reinvent the process over and over. If a few weeks or months go by in between runs of the same part, you may forget some nuance, whether it's a specific cutter, a dedicated fixture or a unique method for locating the part.

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Keith Jennings

Adapting to today’s customer

Welcome to the start of another year, where machine shops will be pushed to adhere to even stricter standards as customers deal with consolidation, relocation, certification, lean-system implementation and other versions of doing more with less.

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Alan Richter

Reducing unnecessary parts

Streamline the digital parts library used to produce workholders. Strategic parts management software.

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Alan Richter

Teaming up to boost productivity

Increase threading productivity while reducing scrap. High-performance, through-coolant thread formers.

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Tom Lipton

Roll grinding to finish corners

A technique I call roll grinding is used to finish corners to match bend radii. Long weld seams that need to be rounded can be handled using a rolling technique with the disc grinder. It takes a little practice, but once you've mastered it, the results look just like a formed corner.

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Christopher Tate

A CMM can benefit any shop

Introduced in 1959, coordinate measuring machines have become increasingly common over the last 2 decades. The complexity and cost once meant CMMs were only suitable for large manufacturers. Advances in CMM technology and manufacturing techniques have reduced the cost of ownership, and the machines are now found at all types and sizes of shops.

Articles • January 1, 2015 • Kip Hanson

Shops have plenty of choices when gripping small parts

Wedge, cam, square and pull-down clamps, micro vises and chucks, hexagons and rounds. These are just some of the workholding options available to shops that mill small workpieces. Finding the right clamps isn't a problem, but how they're utilized may be. This article examines some of the options and provides tips on how to use them.

Articles • December 1, 2014 • Jeffrey A. Badger, Ph.D.

How to purposely burn workpieces

Dr. Jeffrey Badger, Cutting Tool Engineering's Ask the Grinding Doc columnist, cautions readers not to be timid when slowing the workpiece speed to induce burn.

Articles • December 1, 2014 • Alan Richter

Machine tools for cutting composite materials have unique requirements

The cover story for the December 2014 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering examines the unique requirements of machine tools used for cutting composite materials.

Articles • December 1, 2014 • Kip Hanson

One size fits all

The pros and cons of turning with the "perfect" insert.

Articles • December 1, 2014 • Evan Jones Thorne

Burning question: When it makes sense to outsource EDM jobs

While many machine shops have an EDM, they still have to decide when it makes sense to outsource certain jobs.

Articles • December 1, 2014 • Kip Hanson

Lightly touched: Choosing the best marking method for delicate workpieces

Cutting Tool Engineering Contributing Editor Kip Hanson offers insight into choosing the best method for marking parts.