Feature Article

Coatings for metalcutting tools have made tremendous advances since their introduction more than 40 years ago. As coatings have improved, our understanding of their behavior in a variety of cutting operations has increased, and this has led to further developments to enhance performance. A technology that has made big strides in the past few years is post-coating treatment.

When productivity decreases, some leaders assume that machinists are not adequately doing their jobs. After all, they directly operate the machines. Before jumping to this conclusion, however, ask if you are being fair to these skilled workers who are the backbone of the manufacturing industry.

Many companies fail to recognize the benefit of having well-designed, effective training programs, despite a proven track record for improving the skills and morale of employees and increasing the flexibility and bottom line of a company.

This article provides basic information about the coatings and processes used to coat cutting tools, dies, wear parts and other components. HSS, carbide, tool steels and stainless steels are among the most commonly coated materials.

OEMs and other manufacturers frequently require special machines for production and assembly purposes. About half of Coldwater Machine Co.'s business involves building those machines, but few off-the-shelf components are available. Therefore, Coldwater machines the components in-house at its 132,500-sq.-ft. manufacturing facility in Coldwater, Ohio. And, many of the parts are large.

While milling has gone high performance, the newest machining centers at your shop were installed when Bill Clinton was president, and the oldest one still uses paper tape. So how might you benefit from emerging high-tech milling strategies?

Before bringing abrasive waterjetting in-house, shops should know it is a deceptively simple process that demands a great deal of thought, effort and planning to ensure a reasonably quick return on investment and increase in operational productivity.

With respect to the norms of the 19th century, Kate Gleason was way ahead of her time. In honor of Women's History Month, CTE remembers groundbreaker Catherine "Kate" Anselm Gleason (1865-1933). During the restrictive culture of her time, she helped shape the global cutting tools industry as a sales engineer for her family's gear cutting machinery business.

As demand grows for finer surface finishes and tolerance specifications become tighter—and competition continues to intensify—parts manufacturers are adopting advanced fluid filtration technologies to achieve their machining and grinding goals.

The use of aluminum molds for production molding applications is the "biggest trend I'm seeing in moldmaking," said a longtime manufacturer of cutting tools.

Machine maintenance goes soft(ware).The stakes are much higher today for machine maintenance. Shops must be more proactive, and aim to optimize every operational aspect of their CNC equipment.

CemeCon Inc. held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Jan. 17 to officially open its new 15,000-sq.-ft. headquarters and CVD-diamond coating facility in Big Flats, N.Y. The opening marks the fourth expansion of production capabilities since the U.S. subsidiary was opened in 1998 and the third increase in capacity for CVD-diamond processing since 2014.