Breaking the beam
The benefits of performing tool breakage detection with a noncontact, laser-mounted monitoring system.
Editorial
Alan Richter
Alan Richter, a 40-plus-year veteran journalist, has spent the last 26 years covering the metalworking industry for Cutting Tool Engineering and currently serves as its editor-at-large. Contact him at [email protected].
Editor-at-large
Email: [email protected]
Monster machines
Applications, accuracy issues and infrastructure requirements for large-part machine tools.
As the robots turn
Integrated automation of turning centers can be the solution to meeting production schedules and profit goals.
A world of skills
Youth skills training for machinists takes place in schools with metalworking programs and in connection with competitions, such as WorldSkills.
Finish line
Finishing hardened workpieces on multitask machines that provide grinding and hard turning and/or hard milling capabilities can prove beneficial.
The new ‘carbide’ saw
Production and application of cermet-tipped circular saw blades continues to grow, eating into carbide's market share.
Tech swap
Creating awareness about productivity boosting machining technologies and implementing them are playing a major role in making military parts.
Driving diesel developments
Machining large compacted graphite iron castings for diesel engine components is challenging, but applying the proper tools and techniques can help.
Bending the rules
Because high-speed steel inserts can bend without breaking, they are an effective choice for select applications.
Reducing a machine tool’s energy consumption helps achieve ‘green’ machining
Manufacturing is an energy-intensive activity. The U.S. government estimates that manufacturing consumes about one-third of the energy used in the country, stated Scott Hibbard, vice president of technology for Bosch Rexroth Corp., Hoffman Estates, Ill., in his paper "Six keys to sustainable manufacturing."
Mills Made-to-Order
Applying "off-the-shelf," standard milling tools to get the job done provides several benefits: the tools are readily available and usually from numerous suppliers, their prices are competitive and the results are predictable. Nonetheless, even with a multitude of standard tools available for nearly every milling application, parts manufacturers often require specials engineered for a specific application.
Clean, green and lean
Shops can be both lean and green by using work cell-based approach to parts washing and environmentally friendly cleaning compounds and technologies.