Articles

Articles • June 1, 2000 • Tim McKeever

Killing Time

One company instituted a comprehensive plan for reducing setup times and saw its average setup time drop from 252 minutes to 39 minutes. The plan involves everything from standardizing tooling to consolidating raw materials to creating families of parts. The author outlines a step-by-step program that readers can apply to their metalworking setup operations.

Articles • June 1, 2000 • Alan Richter

Size Matters

The trend toward developing finer and finer carbide grains continues. The author looks at recent developments in the production of nanosized tungsten-carbide grains, which are smaller than 0.2 microns in diameter. Though not used widely at present for the production of cutting tools, some predict that will change as the technology evolves.

Articles • May 1, 2000 • Kimberly R. Pontius

Abrasive Personality

High-silicon aluminum--aluminum that consists of at least 11.8 percent silicon--has qualities such as lightness and strength that appeal to automakers. The abrasives nature of the material, however, makes it difficult to machine. The author offers suggestions for milling, tapping, drilling, turning and grinding high-silicon aluminum.

Articles • May 1, 2000 • Kip Hanson

From Maudsley to CNC: The Evolution of Thread Cutting

A look at the different types of inserts used for single-point threading and how to figure feed rates for cutting threads on a CNC lathe. Also offers programming tips and recommendations for reducing tool wear.

Articles • May 1, 2000 • Kip Hanson

Smoother Roughing

The author discusses the disadvantages of using a finishing endmill for roughing applications. He also presents a quick, systematic, step-by-step series of calculations that allows machinists to optimize metalcutting when applying coarse-pitch, cobalt-HSS roughing endmills.

Articles • May 1, 2000 • Doug Holley

Back to Basics

Gundrilling: going deep

Articles • May 1, 2000 • Alan Richter

Talking Points

A conversation with Lee Iacocca, chief spokesman and a member of the board of directors of The Online Asset Exchange (onlineassetexchange.com), a service for buyers and sellers of machine tools. Iacocca also is involved with a company that produces electric bicycles. The former president of Ford Motor Co. and of Chrysler Corp. was at WESTEC 2000, where he met with CUTTING TOOL ENGINEERING to discuss manufacturing's role in the economy, his perceptions of the machine tool industry and business-to-business e-commerce.

Articles • May 1, 2000 • Brent Chandler

Tool Men

Establishing a good relationship with your cutting tool salesperson can benefit your operation. A good salesperson can help solve problems you don't have time to tackle and offer recommendations for machining difficult parts. The author also addresses what to do when a relationship sours.

Articles • April 1, 2000

Expanding Possibilities and Self-Improvement

Round-up of five recently introduced indexable tools: stub drill, universal nmilling cutter, center-cutting endmill, dovetail cutter and insert clamp.n

Articles • April 1, 2000 • Derek Phillips

Company Saves Big with Custom Indexable Tool

Switching from a brazed-tip trepanning tool to an indexable-insert tool nreduced downtime for a manufacturer of cast iron cylinder heads by 45 nminutes. And, incredibly, the price-per-piece dropped so much that the ncompany could save $690,000 annually.

Articles • April 1, 2000 • Derek Phillips

Don’t Toss that Indexable Tool

Ninety-nine percent of indexable tools that break can be repaired, according to companies that repair tools. And, they say, a broken indexable tool can nbe repaired so it performs as well as or better than the original.

Articles • April 1, 2000 • Mark Richardson

High Expectations

People in the aerospace industry expect a lot from reamers. The author, an nengineer who works for a manufacturer of aerospace components, discusses nstrategies for job shops interested in developing a precision reaming nprogram.