Feature Article

When it comes to selecting toolholders for drills, taps, endmills, shell mills and other round cutting tools, there is virtually an unlimited number of options. So how do you determine when a custom toolholder is a better option than 'stacking' standard ones?

Every so often a job or part geometry comes along where it would be helpful to have a few extra inches in a machine's work envelope, or perhaps a little higher rpm or an additional spindle. At these and certain other times, it might be worth considering a custom machine.

Abrasive waterjet systems have always provided some advantages for parts manufacturers. For one, the high-pressure stream of water and abrasive grit, usually garnet, that is delivered to the workpiece surface can cut through pretty much any material. For another, being a cold process, abrasive waterjetting (AWJ) doesn't create a heat-affected zone.

Skills Inc. is a unique nonprofit manufacturing company that serves the aerospace industry and is dedicated to helping people with disabilities thrive in today's manufacturing environment.

Resharpening dull taps by hand is probably not a good idea when you could be making parts. Plus, a thorough reconditioning requires a grinder designed for grinding the actual tap form. So resharpening dull taps is one job best left to the experts.

Deciding whether to use a turret or gang tooling is one of many topics that seems to engender religious fervor from one side to the other. Let's start by providing a brief overview of each approach and then dive into the details.

Machine tools are heavy. Moving them yourself can be dangerous, causing damage to people and machinery alike. But with the right tools, knowledge of how to use them and some common sense, DIY machine moving is possible—though not always recommended.

Whether an application involves simultaneous 5-axis machining or five-sided (3+2) machining, the workholders and fixturing techniques from the 3-axis world typically won't apply, according to John Zaya, workholding product manager for BIG KAISER Precision Tooling Inc., Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Koenigsegg, the Swedish manufacturer of high-end, high-performance sports cars, was featured in the 2016 documentary "APEX: The Story of the Hypercar," which describes the battle for a new class of high-speed, fast-pickup sport scars.

Industrial waste, its impact on the environment and regulation by governments have become significant areas of interest for medium and large manufacturing companies. One company's proactive approach to environmental sustainability also reveals ways to reduce waste.

SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) and ISO (International Standards Organization) have developed a series of standards developed to make even the highest-pressure, most-demanding fluid connection leak-free. These include SAE J1926, SAE J514, MS 33649/SAE AS5202, ISO 6149 and other technical documents that describe threaded connections.

The most-recent trends in inspection technology include using powerful 3D software to compare the part to its CAD rendering, inspecting the part in-process—without having to take it out of the production line or cell—and, as much as possible, automating the inspection process.