Building bridges
Quality Industries Inc. has always been quick to react to new trends by reinventing itself.
Author
Bill Kennedy
Bill Kennedy, based in Latrobe, Pa., is a former contributing editor for Cutting Tool Engineering. He has an extensive background as a technical writer.
Contributing Editor
Turn Right
Thread turning is a well-known but not well-understood practice. Toolmakers recommend how to do it the right way.
Uncommon Knowledge
A joint Sandvik Coromant and Mazak seminar provided counterintuitive information on the metalworking market in general and machining heat-resistant superalloys in particular.
Military Strategies
Small shops can take advantage of big opportunities by making military parts.
Mastering the Metalcutting Macarena
Machine tool builders and CAM software developers work to make 5-axis machining more flexible and accessible.
Flex Time for Grinders
Multifunction grinders, which include other machining operations, enable shops to complete parts in a single setup, among other benefits.
Competently Cutting Composites
Learn when to apply motorized, hand-held drills; fine-toothed, diamond-cut routers; compression routers and veined PCD tools to machine composite materials.
Chopper Shop
A small, Philadelphia-area shop is using a 55,000-psi, 2,000-mph abrasive waterjet to help grow its primary business: making parts for Boeing aircraft.
Ceramic Healing
Advanced ceramics' properties make them suitable materials for medical instruments and implants, as well as for parts in medical devices. Making ceramic parts, however, requires manufacturing techniques similar to those used to make P/M parts and may require applying diamond-impregnated tools and wheels.
Chips Happen
When single-point boring, parts manufacturers can break and control the long chips from low-carbon steels by taking into account setup, cutting parameters, nose radii and insert shape and sharpness.
Youth Must Be Served
Companies work to interest youths in manufacturing through outreach efforts and partnerships with schools to offer courses that lead to college degrees in manufacturing.
Keeping It Together
Machine shops and other companies discuss the workpiece materials, machine tools and metalcutting processes needed to make the fasteners that keep aircraft and spacecraft together.