Feature Article

Reliably drilling high-quality holes in ductile cast iron requires understanding the material's structure, avoiding problems such as core shifting, keeping machining temperatures down and other considerations.

Drag finishing—fixturing parts and dragging them through abrasive media—can prevent part-to-part contact, achieve tight edge tolerances, impart fine finishes and be used on parts with a number of characteristics: delicate, high value, complex geometries and multiple contours.

Learn when to apply motorized, hand-held drills; fine-toothed, diamond-cut routers; compression routers and veined PCD tools to machine composite materials.

Thinking about and managing the risks of operating a job shop and machining parts is a straightforward process when using tools such as risk matrices and Failure Mode and Effects Analysis.

There are several good ways to design and install a mist collection system. Choosing the right design depends on a shop's size and needs.

Manufacturers use broaching to make small parts for medical and aerospace applications.

A small, Philadelphia-area shop is using a 55,000-psi, 2,000-mph abrasive waterjet to help grow its primary business: making parts for Boeing aircraft.

Parts manufacturers can calculate the optimal parameters when grinding with superabrasive wheels to achieve high material-removal rates and more consistent results.

Improving medium-grade PCD for high-speed milling, including interrupted milling of high-silicon aluminum.

It's not just for prototyping; additive, or rapid, manufacturing can be a cost-effective way of producing parts, especially when used for mass customization of parts and for low-volume runs of smaller, complex, net- and near net-shape parts.

High-power laser machines—at least 5,000w—are more useful in machine shops because their power permits fast processing of thicker materials, materials more like the blocks machined by the metalcutting industry. Also, automation allows for more cost-effective laser machining.

Advanced ceramics' properties make them suitable materials for medical instruments and implants, as well as for parts in medical devices. Making ceramic parts, however, requires manufacturing techniques similar to those used to make P/M parts and may require applying diamond-impregnated tools and wheels.