Machining

The Look Ahead column in the April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine features a project to improve robot mobility as much as humanly possible.

A shop that cylindrically grinds steel shafts is having trouble keeping up with tighter and tighter surface-finish tolerances. Though the shop can hold the finish, roundness and size take a hit. So the shop seeks the Grinding Doc's advice.

Drilling, reaming and boring are the basic holemaking operations of machining. In simple terms, drilling creates a hole in a workpiece where there was no existing hole. Reaming and boring accurately enlarge holes that already exist.

The design of the knee mill goes back to 1936, when Rudolph Bannow's company produced a knee-and-column vertical mill with a rotating turret and sliding-ram head. The mill became known by the company's name—Bridgeport—which, like Kleenex, became the generic signifier for mills of similar design.

Shop Profile: MTU America machines parts for large diesel engines while helping fill the skills gap.

The April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine includes an occasional column on Swiss-Style Machining that addresses training options for new and experienced machinists.

The April 2017 Machine Technology column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine covers tabletop equipment for sharpening cutting tools.

Commit to a German-style, dual-training apprenticeship program so your shop can produce its own skilled workers, suggests the director of the German American Chamber of Commerce of the Midwest Inc.

Techniks Industries, Indianapolis, in April announced it had acquired the tooling assets of Parlec Inc., a Rochester, N.Y., company. With the acquisition, Techniks expands its broad product offering of aftermarket machine tool accessories, and greatly enhances its manufacturing and distribution capabilities to distributors and OEMs located throughout North America, according to a company news release.

Parker Steel Company, Maumee, Ohio, a supplier of metric-sized metals in North America, in March moved its headquarters from Toledo to Maumee. The company still maintains its two Toledo-based warehouses in the same locations.

Seco Tools LLC, Troy, Mich., in March expanded its service and support team with the addition of Olivier Branget to its North American Applications Engineering group and the promotion of Aaron Eller to Product Manager, ISO Turning and Advanced Materials.

When Dake opened its doors 130 years ago in Grand Haven, Mich., the machine tool manufacturer became known for its prowess at producing steam engines. Dake manufactured more than 10,000 steam engines for the war effort. Only after the end of World War II did Dake begin manufacturing its line of arbor presses and hand-operated hydraulic presses.