Medical & Healthcare

When cleaning parts, there is general cleaning and then there is precision cleaning. Both types are important in medical device manufacturing, but precision cleaning -- repeatable removal of contaminants to a specified, usually validated standard -- has become more prevalent in part because of increasingly stringent Food and Drug Administration oversight of the manufacturing process, resulting in stricter process QC.

Manufacturing a wide range of miniature thin-walled tube products requires the highest precision from the cutting and drilling processes used to produce them. The delicate tube material has to be machined without inducing distortion or leaving burrs, and this is where laser systems such as ROFIN's StarCut Tube offer significant advantages when compared to chemical and mechanical machining procedures, according to the company.

A manufacturer of orthopedic implants needed to improve measurement and documentation proficiency of parts with literally hundreds of configurations. Air gaging from Mahr Federal was chosen because it could quickly and accurately measure precision tapers, along with being simpler and cheaper to engineer than any mechanical gages.

Coherent Inc. has expanded its family of industrial ultrafast lasers with the Talisker HE series, whose high energy pulses reportedly enable drilling, cutting and scribing of thicker materials than with other ultrafast lasers.

Continuing the theme of the previous three columns, here are additional tips for enhancing the operation of a CNC milling machine from Shop Operations columnist Tom Lipton.

Boost productivity when machining hubs and other parts. Replace an outdated vertical machining center with a new one.

Antipullout toolholders reduce scrap, increase tool life and eliminate anxiety while milling.

Learn details about the many new products manufacturers are offering the metalworking industry.

OML's new SinterGrip vise jaws from Lexair Inc. put an unbreakable grip on just 3.5mm of material to allow aggressive, 5-axis machining of high-value workpieces with minimal waste material.

Sumitomo Electric Carbide Inc. adds MESI Chipbreaker for Swiss-style turning and small parts machining.

The Shop Operations column suggests that you should use every tool, trick and option at your disposal to get jobs out the door as quickly as possible because speed and momentum reduce costs when applied to part processing.

Extend tool life when machining titanium vertebrae implants and supports. A shrink-fit collet and collet chuck system.