Look Ahead

Articles • April 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

Transmitting tool

The Look Ahead department in the April 2013 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering also looks at a mechatronic cutting tool for large back counterboring and back spotfacing applications.

Articles • March 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

Metal on metal

A pump on a waterjet machine generates the high-pressure water needed for cutting by taking low-pressure water into a cylinder, compressing the water with a plunger and then pushing the high-pressure water out of the cylinder. During a pressure cycle of intake, compression and expulsion, high-pressure components and polymer seals see the water pressure jump from two-digit inlet pressures to outlet pressures in the tens of thousands of psi.

Articles • March 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

Compensation without cables

Thermal compensation of a coordinate measuring machine's principle structural components and the part being measured helps ensure measuring accuracy over an extended temperature range when the CMM is installed outside of a temperature-controlled area. Such a temperature-compensation system is comprised of temperature sensors and cabling running through the machine to its controller. The more sensors there are the more accurate the system, but these cables can cause mechanical issues and will eventually fray or break because of the constant CMM motion.

Articles • February 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

Out with the old

A model-based design and verification method for reducing the time to build complex vehicles and aircraft.

Articles • February 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

An eye for wear

A machine vision system for inspecting cutting tool wear.

Articles • January 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

Thick as a brick

The 'thickest' PVD coating for cutting tools.

Articles • January 1, 2013 • Alan Richter

Pressing requirements

Laser-assisted sheet metal machining.

Articles • December 1, 2012 • Alan Richter

A flash of ceramic

A fixturing system for enabling ceramic coatings to be efficiently deposited via cathodic arc evaporation.

Articles • December 1, 2012 • Alan Richter

Armed with automation

Lightweight and easy-to-program robotic arms.

Articles • October 1, 2012 • Alan Richter

A sound system

A second item in the Look Ahead section of the October 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine covers an automatic, scalable component-testing system that combines acoustic and functional testing.

Articles • October 1, 2012 • Alan Richter

Get groning

This Look Ahead item features a CNC gear honing machine that uses a honing wheel with external teeth and reduces the number of process stages.

Articles • September 1, 2012 • Alan Richter

Get smart

The second Look Ahead item in the September issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine covers bandsaw technology that automatically adjusts feed rate as the density of a structural workpiece changes.