Medical

Combination cutting tools for holemaking applications save a significant amount of time when the application is right.

Like many in the industry, when I started in the machining world it was on a manual lathe. I have a special place in my heart for lathes. That includes CNC lathes, the next step up for aspiring machinists. In my experience, I have found there is a lopsided ratio of CNC mill machinists to CNC lathe machinists, with about 10 times as many being mill machinists. My theory is this is partly because the CNC lathe is more difficult to operate.

While the basic CNC lathe is still a standby in many machine shops, new technology has vastly expanded turning capabilities. For example, live tooling and multiple turrets turn a basic lathe into a multitasking productivity center. When equipped with a large automatic toolchanger, these machines can hold tools for dozens of jobs, reduce setup time, and turn, mill, drill and finish parts in a single setup.

To the public at large, the word “counterfeit” mostly brings to mind so-called “funny money” or, more recently, low-priced CDs and DVDs that violate copyright laws. What is less widely known, but more threatening to public safety is the counterfeit parts and products that have found their way into the supply chains of critical industries, including aerospace, automotive and medical.

During the summer, writes the Shop Operations columnist in the October 2013 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering, it gets pretty hot in a shop that's not air conditioned. With sweat running down my semibald head, I was trying to get a part set up in a CNC lathe. This particular part was giving me some trouble because of a tool compensation problem. I was hot and frustrated.

Cutting cycle time for a 3,000-piece run. Two wire EDMs.

I'm a big a supporter of my local community college's machining programs. There's one facet of machine shop management a classroom can't prepare a student for, though: the constant, yet unexpected, gear shifting that goes on when you're running a shop.

New and traditional part grinding technologies combine to control vibration and improve precision.

Tucked into the Red Hook neighborhood of Brooklyn, Linda Tool, a family-owned machine shop, is adding to its capabilities.

Multisensor measurement can make part inspection for machine shops more efficient.