Machining

The cutting zone in a machine tool is dangerous. Hot chips and large quantities of coolant are often safety threats, but a tool rotating at a high speed is an even greater one.

Efficient removal of heat from the tool/workpiece interface is the main route to high-productivity machining. Several conventional methods are available to accomplish that -- dry machining, minimum-quantity lubrication, flood coolant and high-pressure coolant -- but cryogenic machining can be added to the list.

A technique I call roll grinding is used to finish corners to match bend radii. Long weld seams that need to be rounded can be handled using a rolling technique with the disc grinder. It takes a little practice, but once you've mastered it, the results look just like a formed corner.

Increase threading productivity while reducing scrap. High-performance, through-coolant thread formers.

Streamline the digital parts library used to produce workholders. Strategic parts management software.

Do you process existing jobs the same way every time? If not, you may be throwing money away every time those jobs are run by having to reinvent the process over and over. If a few weeks or months go by in between runs of the same part, you may forget some nuance, whether it's a specific cutter, a dedicated fixture or a unique method for locating the part.

Capacitance sensors are noncontact sensors used in machine tools to measure the distance between a noncontact probe and a target sensor. Because the probe does not physically touch the target, capacitance sensors are beneficial in instances where the target surface is moving, such as a rotating spindle, or delicate, such as a silicon wafer.

Cutting Tool Engineering Senior Editor Evan Jones Thorne interviews Fauston Tool Corp. Vice President Heidi Hostetter about the company's reputation for innovation.

Tom Lipton offers more tips for part finishing in the December 2014 Cutting Tool Engineering Shop Operations column.

Reduce scrap and tackle challenging jobs. Adjustable finish boring heads.