Up vs. down grinding
December 2010 Grinding Doc column in Cutting Tool Engineering answers questions from our readers.
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2010: Valuable and stressful: People & Companies
December 2010 Manager's Desk column for Cutting Tool Engineering reflects on lessons learned from 2010.
Maximizing multitasking with CAM: General Industry Coverage
END USER: Central Utah Tool, (801) 374-2745, centralutahtool.com. CHALLENGE: Minimize time for programming complicated machining on a multitask machine. SOLUTION: CAM software for multitasking.
Better toolpaths help keep work onshore
END USER: Bob's Design Engineering Inc., (503) 648-7418, www.bdeinc.com. CHALLENGE: Retain contract for electronics components against offshore competition. SOLUTION: High-performance toolpath generation engine. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Celeritive Technologies Inc., (888) 253-6701, www.celeritive.com.
Ground to order: Inspection Efficiency
END USER: General Broach Co., (517) 458-7555, www.generalbroach.com. CHALLENGE: Increase capacity and maintain quality while grinding broaches for aerospace applications. SOLUTION: CNC surface and creep-feed grinder with auxiliary grinding head and large work volume.
Threading Large: General Industry Coverage
With the right tools, threadmilling large bore diameters doesn't have to be daunting. Read the article and check out a brief video of several threadmilling demonstrations offered by Allied Machine & Engineering Corp.
As the Tap Turns: Turning Performance
Tapping isn't easy and one of the toughest challenges is preventing oversized threads. New tools can help. Read these tips from YG-1 Tool Co. and take a look at a 2-minute video of the company's slideshow presentation on multifunctional taps.
New Balance: Inspection Efficiency
Manufacturers continue to make process improvements in everything from surface finish to grinding wheel life, but one of the simplest improvements is leveling an out-of-tolerance machine.
Testing Hyper-Carbide limits: Turning Performance
When SRL Nano Corp. developed carbide-grade tools that use a patented binder material with a melting threshold similar to that of carbide—about 2,870º C, naturally the Rosemead, Calif., company dubbed the new material Hyper-Carbide. And once you view the video below that captures a series of cutting tool tests, it's easy to see why.
Presetting plus
Productive machining is all about keeping spindles turning and making chips. Time spent touching off tools, adjusting tool length and offsets in the spindle and doing test cuts is time—and money—wasted. That's the value proposition presented by manufacturers of tool presetters, and it's one that, surprisingly, is a bit of a hard sell in some shops.
Skimming coolant costs
END USER: Tank Component Industries, (417) 831-5100, www.tankcomponents.com. CHALLENGE: Remove tramp oil that's contaminating coolant. SOLUTION: Portable oil skimmer that extends coolant life and minimizes the need to clean machines. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Abanaki Corp., (800) 358-SKIM, www.abanaki.com.
Racing to ROI with nesting software
END USER: Trek Bicycle Corp., (920) 478-2191, www.trekbikes.com. CHALLENGE: Improve material yields and speed generation of nesting patterns for carbon fiber composite parts. SOLUTION: CAM software that automatically generates nesting patterns to maximize material yields.
