Articles

Articles • May 3, 2017 • Alan Richter

Productive Times: Bonded by light

END USER: Urschel Laboratories Inc., (219) 464-4811, www.urschel.com. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Blue Photon Technology & Workholding Systems LLC, (855) 777-2040, www.bluephotongrip.com. CHALLENGE: Hold a near-net-shape casting for machining on five sides. SOLUTION: A system that uses grippers, adhesive and UV light to hold workpieces.n

Articles • May 2, 2017 • Michael Deren

Machinist’s Corner: Ya’ gotta love your vendors?

Machinist's Corner Columnist Michael Deren shares a cautionary tale for vendors and machine shops. Do your vendors realize how important they are to you? Do they appreciate your business or do they think they're the only game in town?

Articles • May 1, 2017 • Tom Lipton

Shop Operations: A better way to shorten screws

Every person who works in a machine shop probably has at least one task they absolutely hate. For Tom Lipton, who writes Cutting Tool Engineering's Shop Operations column, one task stands out above most others: shortening small screws and fasteners. He says he just doesn't not like to do it.

Articles • April 28, 2017 • Matt Tegelman

Twin cutter boring head reveals more value over time

Just in time (JIT) manufacturing, by nature, increases setups and shrinks batch sizes. This puts shops in a bind, because more setups and smaller batches are typically less profitable; but saying "no" to work can be even more painful. The burden to search out creative ways to reduce cycle and setup time in order to realize a profit falls to the shops that commonly perform JIT work and on the shops that can't afford to turn it down when the opportunity arises.

Articles • April 26, 2017 • Alan Richter

Micromachining: The art and science of micro-moldmaking

Three primary elements play a heightened role when machining molds for plastic injection molding of microparts compared to moldmaking for the macro realm: part size, feature size and dimensional tolerances.

Articles • April 7, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Look Ahead: Humanizing robotic movement

The Look Ahead column in the April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine features a project to improve robot mobility as much as humanly possible.

Articles • April 6, 2017 • Michael C. Anderson

Look Ahead: Stiff competition

The Look Ahead column in the April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine features a portable 5-axis machine tool made from carbon composites.

Articles • April 5, 2017 • Alan Richter

Productive Times: Brushing away chamfering

END USER: Zodiac Engineering, www.zodiaceng.com. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Brush Research Manufacturing Co. Inc., (323) 261-2193, www.brushresearch.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce programming and cycle time, and eliminate the need to regrind or replace chamfering tools when deburring part edges. SOLUTION: Apply in-line abrasive nylon disc brushes.

Articles • April 4, 2017 • Jeffrey A. Badger, Ph.D.

Grinding steel shafts puts shop in ‘fowl’ mood

A shop that cylindrically grinds steel shafts is having trouble keeping up with tighter and tighter surface-finish tolerances. Though the shop can hold the finish, roundness and size take a hit. So the shop seeks the Grinding Doc's advice.

Articles • April 3, 2017 • Christopher Tate

Choosing the right boring tool

Drilling, reaming and boring are the basic holemaking operations of machining. In simple terms, drilling creates a hole in a workpiece where there was no existing hole. Reaming and boring accurately enlarge holes that already exist.

Articles • March 31, 2017 • Kip Hanson

Rapid prototyping on a CNC machine tool

Machine tool builders, tool suppliers and software developers now deliver technology that makes it possible for CNC operators to set up jobs in minutes rather than hours, and deliver parts in days instead of weeks.

Articles • March 30, 2017 • Tom Lipton

Shop Operations: Workholder setup reduction

To reduce setup—as well as overhead costs—in a job-shop environment, first examine the workholding methods, according to the Shop Operations column in the April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.