Feature Article

While it's nearly impossible to quantify the most common challenges or most important considerations when turning, experts agree that the five aspects of turning discussed below should be considered. It's important to note that each factor has the potential to impact the others. So, instead of looking at each issue individually, it's recommended machinists take a holistic best-practices approach to turning.

At roughly twice the price of a vertical machining center, do horizontal machining centers make sound financial sense? Absolutely, according to Scott Baldus, product specialist at Okuma America Corp. The Charlotte, N.C., machine builder offers both VMCs and HMCs, yet, Baldus noted, HMCs provide, on average, more than three times the spindle utilization of VMCs.

When drilling, perhaps no variable is as important as the workpiece material. It dictates drill geometry and substrate, tool coating, coolant application, and speeds and feeds. While known for its relative softness and ductility, misconceptions abound among those who regularly drill aluminum.

Metrology is evolving to allow inspection to be moved closer to the production area. Is it time to remove your inspection lab and retire your old, reliable coordinate measuring machine? Has portable metrology equipment reached a point where all your parts can be measured directly on the shop floor? The answer to both remains a resounding, "Not quite yet."

Your shop just bought its first 5-axis machining center. Now what? Not only are there new and more complex programming techniques to learn—never mind the mind-boggling variety of part processing options to contend with—there's also the pesky problem of how to grip workpieces. With the ability to tilt, rotate and position parts in ways never before possible, machining five sides of a workpiece in a single setup is a challenging but straightforward exercise—provided clearance between the workpiece, machine table and spindle head is maintained.

The array of configurations is vast, but angle heads typically serve a common function: eliminate having to perform a separate operation to access a part feature when thenworkpiece can't be indexed.

Anyone who's drilled a deep hole on a CNC lathe or mill knows it's not easy. Go much deeper than 10 or 20 diameters and out-of-tolerance hole straightness, chip packing and premature tool failure become real concerns. Some machine shops turn to gundrilling houses, where specialty machines and tools make easy work of holes hundreds of diameters deep or more. Unfortunately, this means shipping the parts, incurring additional costs and increasing lead time to customers. Surely there's a better way.

The Flex-Hone Tool, characterized by the small, abrasive globules that are permanently mounted to flexible filaments, has long been used for everything from automated metal finishing to maintenance and repair operations. Now the Flex-Hone can add one more claim to its resume: playing a small, but important, role in one of the largest engineering feats in marine history—the raising of the shipwrecked Costa Concordia.

Myles Tool Company, Sanborn, NY, since 1977 has specialized in producing standard and special carbide cutting tools for the aerospace, automotive and medical sectors. A one-stop shop for standard tools, regrinds, and special tools made to customer requirements, Myles has grown by investing in new machines and high quality equipment.

A PROFIMAT MC 607 5-axis CNC grinding machine manufactured by Blohm Jung GmbH in Germany has been supplied in close cooperation with UK agent, J.R.A. Bennett Ltd, at The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) with Boeing. It follows a rigorous tender process that involved evaluating hundreds of parameters and included grinding trials at the machine builder's factory in Hamburg.

The acquisition of Helical Solutions LLC by Harvey Tool Co., Rowley, Mass., officially took place August 2015. The opportunity to combine the product performance and technical expertise of both organizations was the driving force behind the initial acquisition, according to Harvey Tool CEO Pete Jenkins.

Laser technology allows for precise, noncontact marking of thin, brittle or otherwise delicate parts without compromising part integrity.