September 2015
Articles in this issue
Stick with it
Let's say you want to machine your initials on your favorite Hummel figurine or cut the likeness of the school mascot on your daughter's Little League helmet. …
Long and short of broaching
Many options are available for removing stock and shaping workpieces. Broaching is one of the most productive, underutilized -- and least understood.
Miscellaneous tips and tricks
This column, which is my final installment, is like that special odds and ends drawer in your toolbox, the one with all the weird stuff in it for which you can…
Preset it and forget it
Minimize tool runout, extend tool life, reduce scrap and prevent fixture damage. An offline cutting tool presetter.
Manufacturing gear for choppers
Apply modern manufacturing methods to grow a custom motorcycle business. Automate production and improve part quality and machining efficiency with a CNC machi…
Free benefits come with a price
You never know when a simple comment will have a significant impact; sometimes that's not even the source's intention.
Walk on the lean side
Take a Gemba walk. If you're not familiar with what a Gemba walk is, let me fill you in.
Modular machine strategy
Many trends affect the metalworking industry, including customer demands for the best quality, lowest cost and shortest delivery time. Design concepts for modu…
Green lantern
A Look-Ahead item on a green laser-line metrology scanner.
Simplified drill geometry
A Look-Ahead item on a deep-hole drill with a continuously thinned web.
Books are fun-damental
Time for a literature review.
US among lowest-cost locations for manufacturing
While the U.S. greenback has markedly appreciated in the last year, the Boston Consulting Group's Global Manufacturing Cost-Competitiveness Index shows that th…
Can milling compete with grinding for rapid stock removal?
Many times in making parts for aerospace engines with high temperature alloys like IN-718, Rene-95 and Waspaloy it is necessary to remove large amounts of mate…
Effective flute grinding
Whether you are grinding HSS or Tungsten Carbide, the flute grinding process is the most difficult feature to grind in round tool manufacturing. Though there a…
Planetary prototypes
Fallbrook Technologies' shop continues to produce prototypes for licensees of the company's continuously variable planetary technology while performing commerc…
Twin-spindle beast
What possesses a new job shop to buy a $1 million, twin-spindle machining center when even the smallest purchases are subject to debate? At Jersey Elite Manufa…
Set to go
Offline presetting maximizes machine availability, reduces scrap.
Safe strategies
Machine shops can be dangerous places, but a combination of planning, housekeeping and the proper safety equipment reduces the risk of injuries, audits and los…
Ceramic savvy
Five factors shaping the ceramic tool market.
Trochoidal milling can tackle the hard stuff
Milling metals hardened to 52 HRC and harder with solid-carbide cutters doesn't require a heavy-duty, high-performance machine tool when a machinist employs tr…