Articles

Articles • August 1, 2008 • Rich Moellenberg

Small Engines, Big Performance

Honing an engine's cylinder bores enhances their geometry, surface finish and dimensional accuracy, improving their fit and alignment with pistons and thereby increasing the engine's life and power density while decreasing its vibration, friction and emissions.

Articles • August 1, 2008

Staying Sharp August 2008

Staying Sharp, Manager's Desk, Back to Basics, Machine Technology, Part Time, Shop Operations, Ask the Grinding Doc

Articles • July 1, 2008 • Bill Kennedy

Competently Cutting Composites

Learn when to apply motorized, hand-held drills; fine-toothed, diamond-cut routers; compression routers and veined PCD tools to machine composite materials.

Articles • July 1, 2008 • Dr. LaRoux K. Gillespie

Drag Race

Drag finishing—fixturing parts and dragging them through abrasive media—can prevent part-to-part contact, achieve tight edge tolerances, impart fine finishes and be used on parts with a number of characteristics: delicate, high value, complex geometries and multiple contours.

Articles • July 1, 2008 • Alan Richter

Striving for Consistency

Reliably drilling high-quality holes in ductile cast iron requires understanding the material's structure, avoiding problems such as core shifting, keeping machining temperatures down and other considerations.

Articles • July 1, 2008 • Alan Richter

Tiny Tech

A recap of some of the applied microsystem technology innovations presented at the Hannover Messe trade fair.

Articles • July 1, 2008 • Joseph Hazelton

Kicking Out Bad Vibration

High-speed, vibration-free endmilling of aluminum workpieces requires cutting tools with certain features and requires certain types of toolholders. Also, it can be aided by cutting strategies.

Articles • July 1, 2008

Staying Sharp July 2008

Staying Sharp, Manager's Desk, Part Time, Machine Technology, Shop Operations, Get with the Program, Machinist's Corner

Articles • June 1, 2008 • Victor Cassidy

Bantam Broaching

Manufacturers use broaching to make small parts for medical and aerospace applications.

Articles • June 1, 2008 • Daniel Rousseau

Mitigating Mist

There are several good ways to design and install a mist collection system. Choosing the right design depends on a shop's size and needs.

Articles • June 1, 2008 • Dr. LaRoux K. Gillespie

(Non) Risky Business

Thinking about and managing the risks of operating a job shop and machining parts is a straightforward process when using tools such as risk matrices and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis.

Articles • June 1, 2008 • Jeremy W. Peterson

PCD in the Fast Lane

Improving medium-grade PCD for high-speed milling, including interrupted milling of high-silicon aluminum.