Articles & Columns

In his October 2012 Machine Technology column, Dr. Scott Smith, professor at the William States Lee College of Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, outlines the reasons stable milling zones appear the way they do.

Auto parts manufacturer Mann+Hummel reaps the benefits of optical scanning.

END USER: K-Fab Inc., (408) 727-5311, www.k-fabinc.com. CHALLENGE: Increase spindle utilization for a vertical machining center while reducing labor requirements. SOLUTION: A nonrobotic automation system for VMCs. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Simons Design Innovation, (408) 398-3296, www.simonsdesigninnovation.com

Shop Operations columnist Tom Lipton offers some suggestions for improving the design of manual milling machines in the October 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

END USER: LMC Industries Inc., (636) 282-8080, www.lmcindustries.com. CHALLENGE: Heat treat tooling components in-house to reduce costs and turnaround times. SOLUTION: A dual-chamber heat-treatment furnace. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Lucifer Furnaces Inc., (800) 378-0095, www.luciferfurnances.com

Wire EDMing requires a range of equipment and complex operations, which can lead to a variety of problems. But the capability and flexibility of the electrical adaptive control technologies that monitor the EDM process—such as flushing, wire tension, automatic wire threading, wire consumption levels, geometry control, surface quality, water resistivity level and water chiller/thermal stability—have greatly improved over the past 10 years. 

Automated parts handling with robotic work cells is an affordable option for job shops and other parts manufacturers.

END USER: PDQ Corp., (860) 529-9051, www.pdqcorp.com. CHALLENGE: Find a more efficient method for machining complex, tight-tolerance parts primarily for the aerospace industry. SOLUTION: Two 6-axis mill/turn machine tools. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Eurotech, (352) 799-5223, www.eurotechelite.com

Alan Rooks, Cutting Tool Engineering's editorial director, looks forward to the day he can sit in a traffic jam alongside George Jetson in his September editorial.

Dr. Scott Smith, who writes the Machine Technology column for Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, covers some practical steps to improve accuracy and reduce scrap.

Yesenia Salcedo, senior editor of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, interviews Steve McLean, president of contract manufacturer WP Manufacturing, Longmont, Colo.

Shop Operations columnist Tom Lipton writes about cutting multiple-start threads on a manual lathe in the September 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Cutting tool product review as published in the September 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

END USER: 80/20 Inc., (260) 248-8030, www.8020.net. CHALLENGE: Overcoming limitations of older machine tools that could each only perform one step when making a part. SOLUTION: New CNC machine tools with more capabilities and flexibility. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Haas Automation Inc., (800) 331-6746, www.haascnc.com

Get With The Program, a regular column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, covers how to extend tool life with dynamic toolpaths.

Using continuous improvement to reach automotive fuel-economy goals.

The second Look Ahead item in the September issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine covers bandsaw technology that automatically adjusts feed rate as the density of a structural workpiece changes.

Abrasive waterjet cutting machines are flowing into small shops as complementary equipment.

One of the Look Ahead items in the September issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine features a robotic fiber laser machine without a working optical fiber in which the laser beam is integrated in the robot.

Machinist's Corner columnist Michael Deren observes the importance of speaking with the people working in the area of the assembly line that has been targeted for improvement.