Medical

A method of lubricating and cooling a machined workpiece using supercritical CO₂.

Eliminate a bottleneck when inspecting parts. Work cells equipped with coordinate measuring machines and dedicated, quick-change fixtures.

In this month's Machinist's Corner column, Michael Deren discusses his research into robots for one application and noticed other applications that also appeared suitable for automation.

Increase part quality and productivity when deep-cavity micromachining while achieving tight tolerances. A heat-activated, wax-based compound for holding parts.

When shops purchase new machinery, a common error some make is accepting the standard live tooling package from the builder without considering other options. This is not a criticism of those packages, but end users should do as much evaluation of their processes when determining the proper tooling package as they do when evaluating machine tools. This examination can range from the simple, such as external vs. internal coolant, to the sublime, such as adjustable vs. extended tooling configurations, to the truly exotic.

Tiny medical parts, mass-produced automotive components and multiple-ton power generation parts share a common activity: inspection. Generally, inspection is seen as a nonvalue-added activity and most companies encourage the reduction of inspection time. However, because verifying that parts are made correctly is critical to maintaining profitability, inspection will never go away.

New metamaterials that 'bend' acoustic and elastic waves.

There comes a time when some chipmaking shops add wire EDMing to their repertoire. This is often done to reduce costs, because bringing what were once subcontracted, secondary EDMing operations in-house often makes good financial and logistical sense.

Software for high-efficiency roughing makes moldmaking faster, more efficient.

Accurately machine EDM electrodes used to produce micromolds for medical parts. A high-speed, high-precision, 3-axis micro milling machine.