Feature Article

Honing the edge of a cutting tool improves tool life, improves workpiece surface finish, reduces spindle load and reduces overall manufacturing cost.

Adding a CNC to a Blanchard grinder makes the machine easier to operate and maintain.

While everyone hopes for the best, it's smart to plan for the worst. There are five areas of a manufacturing business that should be evaluated to stay prepared for whatever may come your way.

Grinding ceramics is unlike most other grinding operations. These superhard, brittle materials need a slow and steady hand.

Over the past 30 years, laser machining has evolved into a formidable industrial practice. Gone are the large, expensive, finicky machines. Now fiber lasers, with their compact size, high reliability and affordable cost, have taken hold.

Like it or not, Industry 4.0 is here. The networked nature of our cars, appliances and, yes, machine tools will only increase. Choosing to ignore that fact won't keep you from producing parts, but it could mean that at least some of those parts end up being produced at a more efficient, technologically savvy machine shop.

To ensure success of productivity-enhancing technology, shops and other manufacturers must understand and take into account the four main areas of the acquisition process: problem definition, conceptualization, implementation and realization.

With so much attention given to improving machining processes, machinists, programmers and engineers at times forget about simple, but necessary, processes like deburring.

A look back at the use and evolution of sintered powder metal and the PM process that results in a tool substrate that consists of finer, more consistent particles, and yields a stronger, longer-lasting cutting edge.

By integrating laser-based cutting and, in some cases, welding heads onto their already-capable equipment, Swiss-style lathe builders are taking these machines into bold new territory.

Though machining medical microparts presents many challenges, shops that tackle the task are meeting these challenges thanks to a combination of ingenuity and technology, along with a dose of effective machining practices.

The Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU, Chemnitz, Germany, wanted to study the impact of climate change on machines without having to ship them to far-flung locales. Therefore, the institute developed a climate chamber at its newly inaugurated test lab in which it could expose machines to various climates around the world.