Articles & Columns

CTE Editor Alan Richter visited the Digital Manufacturing and Design Innovation Institute at Chicago’s Goose Island in September for a peek into the future of manufacturing at an event coordinated by Blaser Swisslube Inc.

The Look Ahead department in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering features a high-speed spindle that reduces natural vibrations.

Cutting Tool Engineering's Shop Technology column in October addresses how lean manufacturing principles have changed the way engineers program machine tools and select tooling.

Even with a good fourth quarter and my natural optimism, reports from contacts at some of our larger customers concern me, reports the Manager's Desk columnist in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

In the market for a rotary table? The checklist of requirements starts with speed, accuracy and rigidity. CTE spoke with multiple rotary table manufacturers to discuss market trends, product innovations and add-ons that can improve overall machine tool performance.

Companies that make cylindrical cutting tools from PCD and other materials face two key challenges: meeting the surging demand for PCD tools while retaining the ability to produce HSS, carbide, ceramic and cermet tools, observes the Machine Technology column in the October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

The October issue of Cutting Tool Engineering includes a Look Ahead item about an additively manufactured hydraulic chuck.

Running a successful machine shop takes more than having advanced machine tools, high-performance cutting tools and machinists that boost productivity. A manufacturer of precision metal parts might also need a strategic partner that has the network, expertise and — last but not least — capital to penetrate new markets, overcome capacity constraints and make investments to help the business grow.

Productive Times Challenge: Reduce post-machining polishing time. The Solution: Tooling toolholder assemblies with high-torque retention knobs.

Medieval soldiers did it to strengthen their armor, Civil War engineers did it to improve gun and cannon barrels, railroad men did it to locomotive axles before they rolled into the untamed West and Henry Ford did it to enhance parts bound for his new invention, the assembly line. More recently, aircraft manufacturers began doing it to virtually every square inch of their metal wares before sending them skyward. What shared action connects these warriors, inventors and manufacturers? The cold working of metal workpieces.

As children, we likely all learned the hard way that drastic temperature changes cause objects to change size—whether it was leaving a soda in the freezer too long to get it cold or breaking your turtle’s terrarium by cleaning it with hot water after it had been resting on the cold ground (sorry, Mom and Dad!). However, in the realm of precision measurement, even minute differences in atmospheric conditions can have huge impacts—to the point that parts manufactured within spec can fail inspection and be needlessly reworked or even scrapped.

Time for a literature review.

Many times in making parts for aerospace engines with high temperature alloys like IN-718, Rene-95 and Waspaloy it is necessary to remove large amounts of material. Traditionally companies use, milling, turning or broaching to remove most of the material and then finish-grind to size. The engineers at Norton/Saint-Gobain's Higgins Grinding Technology Center have determined that for these materials grinding can, in many instances, remove the material more quickly and economically than turning or milling.

Five factors shaping the ceramic tool market.

Whether you are grinding HSS or Tungsten Carbide, the flute grinding process is the most difficult feature to grind in round tool manufacturing. Though there are many reasons why, the main reason is that this operation is where most material is being removed from the tool, introducing the most heat and spindle load. There are several techniques that can be used to allow the grinding wheel to perform this operation more effectively.

You never know when a simple comment will have a significant impact; sometimes that's not even the source's intention.

A Look-Ahead item on a green laser-line metrology scanner.

Many options are available for removing stock and shaping workpieces. Broaching is one of the most productive, underutilized -- and least understood.

Apply modern manufacturing methods to grow a custom motorcycle business. Automate production and improve part quality and machining efficiency with a CNC machine tool and CAM software.

This column, which is my final installment, is like that special odds and ends drawer in your toolbox, the one with all the weird stuff in it for which you can't seem to find the perfect storage space.