Machining

Manager's Desk: Inspiration from immigration

01/30/2017

Author:

There have been days when it was easy to be a pessimist and see the glass as half-empty. But eventually, perhaps when least expected, something provides inspiration and my inner optimism returns. One such event occurred with an employee I’ll call “Mario.” Manager's Desk Column by Keith Jennings.

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Researchers improve machining, milling processes

Researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology are helping manufacturers eliminate flaws introduced during the machining of large, costly components. In the February 2017 issue of the Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering, the Missouri S&T researchers describe their approach and explain how it can improve the accuracy of the 5-axis machine tools used to make large parts.

Alpha mountain bike aptly named

Stewart Palmer, an engineer at family-owned North Bucks Machining Ltd., Milton Keynes, U.K., said the high-precision, small batch manufacturer designed and produced its Alpha mountain bike to showcase the shop's capabilities using its existing machines and software.

This is a CTE+ video supplement to a Productive Times feature in the February 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

CNC training begins with changing tools

01/09/2017

Author:

James Harvey

Shop Operations columnist James A. Harvey underscores the importance of his initial CNC training, which involved changing tools on a new mill. Just the act of changing a tool let him interact with the machine and controller in a way that gave him confidence.

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Lean from 30,000 feet

01/04/2017

Author:

Michael Deren

Michael Deren, who writes the Machinist's Corner column for Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, explains why he now believes wholeheartedly in lean manufacturing.

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New Machine Tool Program to Start at TCAT Elizabethton

A $650,000 grant awarded last year to TCAT Elizabethton has enabled the school to begin a new program, machine tool technology. The first class will begin Jan. 4.

Burning hard metal

01/11/2017

Author:

Michael C. Anderson

The Look Ahead department covers electro-erosion metal removal with a 5-axis horizontal machining center in the January 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering.

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Mast Motorsports Makes Hurco Pitstop

This CTE+ report offers a first-hand account of how two 5-axis CNC milling machines from Hurco North America's helped Mast Motorsports replace some technologically obsolete production equipment. This is a CTE+ video supplement to the Productive Times article titled, "Out with the old ...," published in the December 2016 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Cracking the code

12/01/2016

Author:

James Harvey

Presented here is the second part of a two-part series of columns about the importance of becoming familiar with CNC programming code. The following describes the steps involved in manually writing a program.

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Maximizing with multispindles

12/01/2016

Author:

Kip Hanson

Before CNC lathes, most high-volume turned parts were made on multispindle, cam-driven screw machines. Setup times were long, and great skill was needed to design the cams and grind the cutting tools. However, by being able to perform a dozen or more operations simultaneously, they could produce hundreds—often thousands—of parts per hour. Whatever happened to those old mechanical monsters? According to Giovanni Principe, they’re alive and well.

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