Machining

Shop Operations: The manual lathe is the cornerstone of any machine shop because almost all shop workers find themselves working on one when they start. The manual lathe has been called the "king of machines," for good reason. Some can be enormous; you can bet that if you need a forklift and a ladder to put a tool bit in the machine, some fun is bound to happen.

When turning 2mm-dia. and smaller parts on a Swiss-style machine, it only makes sense that the radius on the tool should be equally tiny. After all, you can't cut a 0.5mm bone screw with a TNMG-431 insert—the tool's nose radius is nearly as big as the part.

END USER: Royce/Ayr Cutting Tools Inc., (800) 959-5641, www.royceayr.com. CHALLENGE: Increase PCD cutting tool manufacturing capacity, flexibility and capabilities. SOLUTION: A machine tool that combines rotary erosion and grinding. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Vollmer of America Corp., (412) 278-0655, www.vollmer-us.com

Shop Operations columnist Tom Lipton offers tips for enhancing the operation of a manual lathe in the April 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

The Machine Technology column from the April 2012 edition of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine examines how machine tool vibration often causes problems when machining. Chatter, a self-excited vibration, can lead to poor surface finish and cutting tool chipping or breakage.

Say your machine shop just received an order for 316 stainless fuel-injector nozzles requiring angled holes to be drilled on the workpiece face. Or perhaps your best medical customer needs miniature blood-pump impellers with complex 3-D blade geometries like those on a jet-engine turbine. How are you going to make them?

A material review board can help determine if you're having vendor problems, suggests the Machinist's Corner column in the May 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering.

Check out the Shop Operations column in the May 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering to learn how a WWII-era Russian spy continues to serve as a cautionary tale about the perils of daydreaming.

END USER: Mainland Machine, (805) 543-7149, www.mainlandmachine.com. CHALLENGE: Increase spindle run times. SOLUTION: CAM system that enables efficient programming when machining with custom fixture plates. SOLUTION PROVIDER: DP Technology Corp., (805) 388-6000, www.dptechnology.com

As a follow-up to my April column, here are additional tips for enhancing the operation of a manual lathe.