Machining

Wohlhaupter Corp. has upgraded its popular 019 boring head and made it "digital ready." The VarioBore head can be ordered with or without a docking port and associated internal electronics to accommodate the new Universal Digital Readout Module.

The Digital Module from Wohlhaupter Corp. can be used with the company's recently updated 019 boring head (VarioBore), which can be ordered with a docking port and associated internal electronics.

Saint-Gobain Abrasives has introduced Norton QUANTUM3 (NQ3) depressed-center grinding wheels. Featuring a proprietary grain along with a tough bond system that contains a unique combination of fillers and bonding agents that reportedly allow for much better mix quality in manufacturing, NQ3 provides substantially faster grinding for more metal removal and longer wheel life, with less operator fatigue, to significantly increase grinding output.

Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. announces a new series of large, highly accurate CNC jig mills for producing mold bases, mold plates, precision hot runners, progressive and transfer dies, and other jig boring and milling applications. The fixed cross-rail, massive ram design of the J1620 and J1620X machines provides a straightness accuracy in X and Y axes better than 10 microns, according to the company.

Addressing the need for a fast, precise and affordable CNC for complex machining applications, Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc. offers the M800 and M80 series CNC and components. The M800 is a high-grade CNC for high-speed, high-accuracy machining and multiaxis, multipart system control and features a fast CNC, while the M80 provides high productivity and easy operability.

Hypertherm Inc. designs and manufactures plasma, laser and waterjet cutting systems, as well as CNC motion and height controls, CAM nesting software and consumables. The Hanover, N.H.-based company opened a 165,000-sq.-ft. facility—Hypertherm's newest—in Lebanon, N.H., in 2012.

Teach your robot well: A new control system can reduce the time to set up and program industrial robots from an hour or more to just minutes, according to the Finnish research organization that developed it.

... in these golden years," crooned the late David Bowie in one of his smash hits.The term "golden years" is also used in Albert B. Albrecht's book "The American Machine Tool Industry: Its History, Growth, Restructuring & Recovery," which he revised in 2015 for the third edition.

In today's hypercompetitive, globalized economy, businesses are pressured to do more, do it faster, do it right the first time and do it all with fewer resources.

Presented this month are more programming tips to help prevent machine tool crashes.

Do you know why your last part run had a high defect rate, why parts from an outside supplier were nonconforming, and what you are going to do with those parts? If your company has a material review board, it can probably answer those questions.