Articles

New, ultraresilient workpiece materials with high strength-to-weight ratios have cutting tool vendors and CAM developers scrambling to design new tools and toolpaths to efficiently cut them. To succeed, the vendors and developers must collaborate with unprecedented frequency.

Automation isn't just a boon to complex, multiple-machine manufacturing processes. It can also give a major boost to processes that involve only a single machine.

When your primary market tanks to its lowest level in 30 years, the impact can be drastic, according to the Manager's Desk column in the May 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine. Is your shop well managed and in a position to overcome such a hit?

Craftsman Jasper Röders set up shop during the early 1800s to make pewter tableware for his neighbors in Soltau, Germany. Six generations later, his descendants still produce pewter but have expanded into blow molds and CNC machine tools.

In an interview conducted by CTE Editor Alan Richter at a global press event held at the company's headquarters in Sandviken, Sweden, Klas Forsström, president of AB Sandvik Coromant, discussed his new role, the state of the cutting tool market, the importance of attracting talent to manufacturing, tool recycling and the role of R&D.

Are you being asked to quote secondary machining operations on a handful of 3D-printed metal parts? If so, how do you cut these parts?

A recent report, "Global Ultra Hard Material Cutting Machines Market" by Transparency Market Research, forecasts a healthy compound annual growth rate of 10.8 percent for these machines for the years 2016 to 2024, with the total market reaching $1.8 billion by the end of that period. The report's authors expect rising demand to lead to more competition and lower prices.

Cutting Tool Engineering Editor Alan Richter ponders the machine shop of the future in his Lead Angle column for the May 2017 issue.

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.

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.

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.

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.