Machining

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.

Ceramic parts help solve problems caused by metal and plastic implants.

Machinist's Corner column as published in the July 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering.

Users reap the rewards of high-speed milling when the elements of the machining system complement each other.