Alan Richter, a 40-plus-year veteran journalist, has spent the last 25 years covering the metalworking industry for Cutting Tool Engineering and currently serves as its editor-at-large. Contact him at [email protected].
The Look Ahead department in the April 2013 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering also looks at a mechatronic cutting tool for large back counterboring and back spotfacing applications.
Produce parts faster without investing in additional fixturing. Efficiently reprogram the parts with the company's CAM software after moving part production to a multitask lathe.
Overcoming a bottleneck caused when programming different machine tools with various CAD/CAM systems. A single CAD/CAM system that can program multiple machine brands.
A pump on a waterjet machine generates the high-pressure water needed for cutting by taking low-pressure water into a cylinder, compressing the water with a plunger and then pushing the high-pressure water out of the cylinder.
Thermal compensation of a coordinate measuring machine's principle structural components and the part being measured helps ensure measuring accuracy over an extended temperature range when the CMM is installed outside of a temperature-controlled area. Such a temperature-compensation system is comprised of temperature sensors and cabling running through the machine to its controller.
All metals are not created equal. Therefore, neither are the machine tools for cutting them. Parts for extreme aerospace applications, such as in engines, landing gear and flap tracks, must be made of a heat- and corrosion-resistant metal, which typically has a high Young's modulus of elasticity and is difficult to machine.