Feature Article

Articles • December 1, 1998 • Austin Weber

Staffing Shortage Stymies Metalcutting Shops

An exclusive survey finds shops struggling to locate and hire skilled labor. This report of the survey's findings also reveals the most popular techniques to ease staffing woes.

Articles • December 1, 1998 • Keith Mills

CMM Made Easy

Next-generation CMM software offers users a simple interface, the ability to program the machine directly from CAD data files and the opportunity to write programs off-line. This article describes the latest advancements in CMM software and shows how older machines can be retrofitted to take advantage of the software's features.

Articles • December 1, 1998 • Martin Eastman

Learning With an Edge

Using his students as researchers, an industrial-arts teacher sets up an experiment to test claims being made for tool resharpening using cubic boron nitride wheels. The experiment taught the students how to keep a log of tool conditions, use and sharpenings as they gathered data for their study.

Articles • October 1, 1998 • Rober Marvin

Single-Pass Bore Finishing

Superabrasive bore finishing can achieve results in one pass that rival the finishes produced in several passes by other bore sizing operations. This article recounts how a number of shops have used superabrasive tools to finish bores with a higher degree of quality and a lower overall cost per piece.

Articles • October 1, 1998 • Paul H. Cohen

Cryogenics Goes Deeper

A new cryogenic tool treatment subjects tools to minus-320-degree temperatures by immersing them in a bath of liquid nitrogen. This article details the procedure and offers test results from the laboratory and the field that show how the treatment can extend tool life.

Articles • October 1, 1998 • Wes Emerson

Pipe Tapping

Taper pipe threading is unlike any other threading operation, and it may be one of the most difficult operations a machinist can be asked to perform. This article reviews the various types of taper threads and the tools and techniques needed to produce them.

Articles • October 1, 1998 • Robert Eade

Fixturing Advances Hold New Promise

This article reviews the fixturing innovations users are beginning to see on the market. Some of the discussion focuses on the design criteria that has emerged out of an ongoing NIST-funded study.

Articles • September 1, 1998 • Dr. Eugene Kocherovsky

The Secrets of HSK

Some North American end users have been disappointed in the performance of their HSK toolholders. This article discusses why and looks at ways the toolholder design developed in Europe for high-speed milling may need to be adapted for machining practices in the United States.

Articles • September 1, 1998 • Mike Yates

Manual Mills Get CNC Makeovers

A manual milling machine can be retrofitted with a CNC system for about one-fourth the cost of a brand new CNC machine. This article discusses the pros and cons of retrofitting and provides guidance to determine when retrofitting is the most appropriate solution.

Articles • September 1, 1998 • Robert Eade

Opening the Door to Greater Control

This article charts the gradual move by CNC manufacturers from proprietary hardware-based machine controllers to open, software-based systems. The article also reviews recently developed controllers that represent steps in the direction of totally open controls.

Articles • September 1, 1998 • Matthew Mueller

Precision In Their Pocket

Researchers using computer simulation and refined probing techniques attempted to mill a pocket as accurately as possible. This report tells how the researchers used their high-tech tools and how close to perfection they came.

Articles • August 1, 1998 • Herb Smith

Flowing Together

Tramp oils, which are machine lubricants and hydraulic fluids that find their way into the coolant, can seriously hinder the coolant's performance. This article discusses the properties and components of machine maintenance fluids that can ensure their easy separation and removal from the coolant.