Don Nelson

News • March 22, 2018 • Don Nelson

No place like home — for making cutting tools

Customers of Cobra Carbide asked the company for made-in-America cutting tools and the West Coast manufacturer of drills, endmills, reamers and burs met their request. Until late 2016, Cobra sold tools in the U.S. that were produced either at its Riverside, Calif., facility or a plant it owned in India, which the company recently sold. It now produces all its tools in Riverside. "As more and more customers asked for made-in-the-U.S. product, we changed accordingly," said Cobra Carbide's CEO, Rakesh Aghi.

News • November 29, 2017 • Don Nelson

UNISIG tells the deep-hole story at seminar

There were a lot of deep discussions about holemaking at UNISIG's recent open house and seminar series for magazine editors. UNISIG engineers explained different methods of deep-hole drilling, including gundrilling and BTA drilling, and provided an overview of the machines and related systems the company builds to perform these operations. Hands-on demonstrations in UNISIG's 62,000-sq.-ft. plant augmented the classroom discussions.

News • October 18, 2017 • Don Nelson

Cutting tool association gets upbeat news about economy

Good news about the manufacturing economy was shared with members of the United States Cutting Tool Institute who attended the trade association's fall meeting, held Oct. 7-9 in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Articles • March 21, 2017 • Don Nelson

Cutting tool executive cautions manufacturers about ‘Made in USA’ label

U.S. toolmakers should "claim the origin of [their] products," he said during a speech at an industry event hosted by the grinding-machine and EDM builder Vollmer. Viaud-Murat pointed out, though, that manufacturers should not claim a product is U.S.-made if it isn't. Doing so could result in legal action against the offending company, initiated by the Federal Trade Commission.

Articles • February 17, 2017 • Don Nelson

Design-software leader (and good talker) resigns as CEO of Autodesk

Forward-looking, funny, Cornell University mathematics major Carl Bass resigned his Autodesk post as CEO on Feb. 7, but he remains on the company's board.

Articles • February 13, 2017 • Don Nelson

AI to guide cutting tool selection in the future

Engineers who currently ask humans for advice about cutting tool selection will one day direct their questions to advisers derived from artificial intelligence. So says MachiningCloud Inc. (www.machiningcloud.com), a single-source provider of digitized product data gathered from manufacturers of cutting tools and workholding devices.

Articles • December 1, 2016 • Don Nelson

Going to New Orleans

There was plenty to see, eat, drink, hear and learn at the United States Cutting Tool Institute's 2016 Fall Meeting, held in New Orleans Oct. 15-17.

News • May 23, 2016 • Don Nelson

Conference offers ‘Global View’ of cutting tool industry

The 2016 World Cutting Tool Conference offered informative, entertaining speakers and social events that provided ample opportunities to meet with and learn from colleagues from around the world.

Articles • January 1, 2016 • Don Nelson

A long view on innovation

The view from Jungfraujoch inspires awe. So does the railway that transports visitors to the site—a ridge located 11,332' above sea level in the Swiss Alps. I was exposed to another example of commitment while in Switzerland, during a visit to the Mikron Group. Company vice president Markus Schnyder recounted his attempts in the early 1990s to develop a drill for a customer that used Mikron rotary transfer machines to drill holes in stainless steel watch bracelets.

Articles • May 1, 2014 • Don Nelson

Swiss profusion

More of everything' boosts Swiss machining productivity -- and complexity.

Articles • February 1, 2005 • Don Nelson

Holding Forth

Highlights from the Workholding Products Group's 2004 round-table discussion.

Articles • December 1, 2004 • Don Nelson

Lead Angle (Dec. ’04)

Weathering the 'offshoring' storm