Articles

While milling has gone high performance, the newest machining centers at your shop were installed when Bill Clinton was president, and the oldest one still uses paper tape. So how might you benefit from emerging high-tech milling strategies?

A shop asks CTE's Grinding Doc about taper that shows up when cylindrical-OD grinding. The shop seeks advice to mitigate the problem.

When prompted by requests from customers for products that their existing manufacturing supply chains were not producing, Dan Olsen made the leap into manufacturing.

Spindles must run at the correct speeds and feeds to minimize wear, which is why an effective spindle program should consider the specific operational information for individual spindles.

Finding ways to meet, interface with and show appreciation for customers and vendors can help any business. With Spring, and the hope of nicer weather upon us, CTE Manager's Desk columnist Keith Jennings is eager to leverage the season for promotional and "we appreciate you" events, such as luncheons and open houses.

Water Jet Sweden recently introduced the FAWJ Micro Head package for shops that use the company's standard machines and want to make highly precise, narrow cuts that don't need to meet extremely tight tolerances.

With its release of new tool bodies and inserts, Walter USA LLC significantly expands its cutter family for milling large threads, the T2711/T2712 system.

END USER: Backerworks Manufacturing LLC, (505) 342-2943, www.backerworks.com. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: Axis Machine Services LLC, (505) 206-2726, www.axismachineservices.com; Houghton International Inc., (800) 666-4684, www.houghtonintl.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce the amount of coolant makeup and the sticky coolant film that forms on machine surfaces. SOLUTION: A soluble-oil metalworking fluid for multiple-metal machining and grinding.

Before bringing abrasive waterjetting in-house, shops should know it is a deceptively simple process that demands a great deal of thought, effort and planning to ensure a reasonably quick return on investment and increase in operational productivity.

With respect to the norms of the 19th century, Kate Gleason was way ahead of her time. In honor of Women's History Month, CTE remembers groundbreaker Catherine "Kate" Anselm Gleason (1865-1933). During the restrictive culture of her time, she helped shape the global cutting tools industry as a sales engineer for her family's gear cutting machinery business.

As demand grows for finer surface finishes and tolerance specifications become tighter—and competition continues to intensify—parts manufacturers are adopting advanced fluid filtration technologies to achieve their machining and grinding goals.

The use of aluminum molds for production molding applications is the "biggest trend I'm seeing in moldmaking," said a longtime manufacturer of cutting tools.