The May 2011 Look Ahead column looks at an exoskeletal arm support for manual metalworking and other manipulation tasks.

Various edge preparations are available for PCBN inserts when hard turning, but not all are equal.

CTE Editor Alan Richter covers a cognitive factory that "thinks" for itself in his April 2011 Look Ahead column.

CTE Editor Alan Richter covers a unique insert clamping mechanism and seating configuration in his April 2011 Look Ahead column.

Manufacturing parts for the nuclear energy industry, which is growing globally, is expected to expand in the U.S. as well. Three shops explain their strategies to capitalize on the growing market.

When it comes to milling aerospace parts made from Ti5553, difficulty is in the eye of the beholder.

With a structured cutting tool repair program, significant cost savings are realized while tool quality remains intact.

When SRL Nano Corp. developed carbide-grade tools that use a patented binder material with a melting threshold similar to that of carbide—about 2,870º C, naturally the Rosemead, Calif., company dubbed the new material Hyper-Carbide. And once you view the video below that captures a series of cutting tool tests, it's easy to see why.

With the right tools, threadmilling large bore diameters doesn't have to be daunting. Read the article and check out a brief video of several threadmilling demonstrations offered by Allied Machine & Engineering Corp.

Better technology boosts use of EDMs for production applications.

Designing machine tools for cutting titanium—especially 5553.

Read CTE's 2010 Salary Survey to learn which metalworking positions are up and which ones are down in earnings since the 2008 survey, and how benefit packages have changed.

Several alternatives mechanical drilling make sense when the application is right.

Appropriate scenarios for applying a reamer when finishing holes.

Insert geometries for effectively turning high-temperature superalloys.

The benefits of performing tool breakage detection with a noncontact, laser-mounted monitoring system.

Applications, accuracy issues and infrastructure requirements for large-part machine tools.

Integrated automation of turning centers can be the solution to meeting production schedules and profit goals.

Finishing hardened workpieces on multitask machines that provide grinding and hard turning and/or hard milling capabilities can prove beneficial.

Youth skills training for machinists takes place in schools with metalworking programs and in connection with competitions, such as WorldSkills.

Production and application of cermet-tipped circular saw blades continues to grow, eating into carbide's market share.

Creating awareness about productivity boosting machining technologies and implementing them are playing a major role in making military parts.

Machining large compacted graphite iron castings for diesel engine components is challenging, but applying the proper tools and techniques can help.

Because high-speed steel inserts can bend without breaking, they are an effective choice for select applications.

Manufacturing is an energy-intensive activity. The U.S. government estimates that manufacturing consumes about one-third of the energy used in the country, stated Scott Hibbard, vice president of technology for Bosch Rexroth Corp., Hoffman Estates, Ill., in his paper “Six keys to sustainable manufacturing.”

Applying “off-the-shelf,” standard milling tools to get the job done provides several benefits: the tools are readily available and usually from numerous suppliers, their prices are competitive and the results are predictable. Nonetheless, even with a multitude of standard tools available for nearly every milling application, parts manufacturers often require specials engineered for a specific application.

Shops can be both lean and green by using work cell-based approach to parts washing and environmentally friendly cleaning compounds and technologies.

Boring tools can do more than true holes — they can also help overcome \r\nmanufacturing obstacles.

Exploring the ins and outs of specifying and ordering a flexible specialty machine tool and having a machine builder produce it.

As wind power makes significant inroads into the energy-generation infrastructure, machining wind turbine parts provides opportunities for diversification and growth.

With its patent expired, the Coromant Capto modular toolholding system is now governed by an ISO standard.

Centerless grinding is often viewed as overly complex, but a look at the process' fundamentals reveals otherwise.

Commercialization of cubic boron nitride coatings has proven elusive, but a two-step process for coating cutting tools with CBN is expected to come to market soon.

Auto manufacturers are 'lightweighting' vehicles by incorporating more aluminum and microalloy steel components.

Reliably drilling high-quality holes in ductile cast iron requires understanding the material's structure, avoiding problems such as core shifting, keeping machining temperatures down and other considerations.

A recap of some of the applied microsystem technology innovations presented at the Hannover Messe trade fair.

It's not just for prototyping; additive, or rapid, manufacturing can be a cost-effective way of producing parts, especially when used for mass customization of parts and for low-volume runs of smaller, complex, net- and near net-shape parts.

There are five tool tips for moldmakers for speeding up production and aiding in highly repeatable, precision machining. Included are deep-hole drills to avoid pecking, high-feed cutters, tools for reducing EDMing, high-precision cutters and PCBN cutting tools.

With through-tool minimum-quantity lubrication, machine shops may be able to decrease coolant costs and increase productivity and part quality. But, they have to invest in equipment and tooling to achieve those results.

Creating the machine tools that make microparts.

Reducing setups and increasing safety by multitask machining large parts.

Features needed by thread mills to create long, internal threads.

Pros and cons of waterjet cutting at the highest available pressure.

Benefits of a sliding-headstock machine with no guide bushing.

Machine tool builder and its micromilling machine.

Tool material and other requirements for effective drilling of composites.

Ways to best apply indexable-insert boring bars for small holes.

The role of microabrasive blasting when finishing implantable medical parts.

Making microholes with a chemical process called photoetching.

Ensuring accurate measurement of parts with ever tighter tolerances. As part tolerances continue to tighten across the board, accurately and consistently measuring them becomes more of a challenge.