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Coldwater Machine Co., an ITAR-certified, leading engineering solutions company that manufactures and integrates precision equipment and tools, has announced its large-part precision machining services for prototype creation or contract manufacturing of demanding applications. The company is recognized for consistently achieving machining tolerances of +/-0.0003-in. This capability is well-suited for producing large jigs, fixtures, lift devices and material handling equipment for the aerospace and energy industries.
Coldwater has expanded its capacity with three new DMG Mori machining centers, resulting in over 45 machine tools for milling, turning, boring, drilling and grinding. It has expertise in working with a variety of materials including tool steel, low carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminum, Hastelloy, Inconel and other exotic metal alloys. Coldwater’s climate-controlled, state-of-the-art facility is equipped with three 60-ft x 550-ft. crane bays and heavy lifting equipment capable of moving components weighing up to 25 tons. Inspections are performed with advanced CMM equipment and documentation is provided with all orders.
Coldwater can custom machine large metal components to customer print specification or engage their engineering team, who are experts in developing solutions for difficult part holding applications to assist in design. Producing prototypes, one-offs and short-run production, the company has extensive experience in producing precision fixtures, jigs and tools for a variety of industries including aerospace, energy, automotive and others.
Related Glossary Terms
- alloys
alloys
Substances having metallic properties and being composed of two or more chemical elements of which at least one is a metal.
- boring
boring
Enlarging a hole that already has been drilled or cored. Generally, it is an operation of truing the previously drilled hole with a single-point, lathe-type tool. Boring is essentially internal turning, in that usually a single-point cutting tool forms the internal shape. Some tools are available with two cutting edges to balance cutting forces.
- centers
centers
Cone-shaped pins that support a workpiece by one or two ends during machining. The centers fit into holes drilled in the workpiece ends. Centers that turn with the workpiece are called “live” centers; those that do not are called “dead” centers.
- gang cutting ( milling)
gang cutting ( milling)
Machining with several cutters mounted on a single arbor, generally for simultaneous cutting.
- grinding
grinding
Machining operation in which material is removed from the workpiece by a powered abrasive wheel, stone, belt, paste, sheet, compound, slurry, etc. Takes various forms: surface grinding (creates flat and/or squared surfaces); cylindrical grinding (for external cylindrical and tapered shapes, fillets, undercuts, etc.); centerless grinding; chamfering; thread and form grinding; tool and cutter grinding; offhand grinding; lapping and polishing (grinding with extremely fine grits to create ultrasmooth surfaces); honing; and disc grinding.
- milling
milling
Machining operation in which metal or other material is removed by applying power to a rotating cutter. In vertical milling, the cutting tool is mounted vertically on the spindle. In horizontal milling, the cutting tool is mounted horizontally, either directly on the spindle or on an arbor. Horizontal milling is further broken down into conventional milling, where the cutter rotates opposite the direction of feed, or “up” into the workpiece; and climb milling, where the cutter rotates in the direction of feed, or “down” into the workpiece. Milling operations include plane or surface milling, endmilling, facemilling, angle milling, form milling and profiling.
- precision machining ( precision measurement)
precision machining ( precision measurement)
Machining and measuring to exacting standards. Four basic considerations are: dimensions, or geometrical characteristics such as lengths, angles and diameters of which the sizes are numerically specified; limits, or the maximum and minimum sizes permissible for a specified dimension; tolerances, or the total permissible variations in size; and allowances, or the prescribed differences in dimensions between mating parts.
- turning
turning
Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.
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