Machining

The 2018 versions of PowerMill and FeatureCAM are available. The focus this year was on user experience and the software includes many new enhancements.

Highly polished flutes and gash surfaces improve chip evacuation and aid tool performance. The smoother surface enables swarf (or chips) to exit more freely, preventing chip packing and material build up during machining. ANCA has addressed this goal with innovations reportedly found only at the ANCA Group.

SmartCAMcnc has announced the release of SmartCAM v2017. SmartCAM v2017 delivers new verification technology, as well as expanded rotary axis and code generation support, and improvements to the user interface and rough milling functionality. The SmartCAM CAM software family consists of toolpath creation applications for CNC milling, turning, fabrication and wire EDM.

Carmex Precision Tools LLC has announced the latest addition to its family of tooling for Swiss-style applications. The Swiss-Line combines a new type of polygon insert and holder for external turning, grooving, parting and threading. The precision ground inserts are constructed of solid carbide with specialty coating for longer tool life and increased productivity, according to the company.

Just in time (JIT) manufacturing, by nature, increases setups and shrinks batch sizes. This puts shops in a bind, because more setups and smaller batches are typically less profitable; but saying "no" to work can be even more painful.

A new CS-50 deposition system from Duralar Technologies uses a process called DualArmor that is capable of applying DLC coatings of 50µm or thicker — and apply them at rates averaging 15µm to 20µm per hour. Conventional DLC coatings, which have a practical total thickness limit of around 5µm, are deposited one or two atoms at a time.

Most manufacturers finish their sintered ceramic parts with grinding equipment designed for metals. Tratech Corp., however, has introduced what it says is the first commercially available CNC grinding machine designed specifically for the demanding needs of machining fully sintered ceramics.

Proactive security measures become even more important as manufacturing software moves into the cloud, machine tool intelligence and automation continue to grow, and the Industrial Internet of Things makes big data an increasingly big deal.

As automation becomes more flexible and less expensive, work cells are propagating at smaller shops.

Machinist's Corner Columnist Michael Deren shares a cautionary tale for vendors and machine shops. Do your vendors realize how important they are to you? Do they appreciate your business or do they think they're the only game in town?

Every person who works in a machine shop probably has at least one task they absolutely hate. For Tom Lipton, who writes Cutting Tool Engineering's Shop Operations column, one task stands out above most others: shortening small screws and fasteners. He says he just doesn't not like to do it.

New, ultraresilient workpiece materials with high strength-to-weight ratios have cutting tool vendors and CAM developers scrambling to design new tools and toolpaths to efficiently cut them. To succeed, the vendors and developers must collaborate with unprecedented frequency.