Machining

Greenleaf Corp. says its Index-O-Cut high-performance milling system is suitable for machining all materials because of its high-shear cutting action and a 45° lead angle on the octagon-style insert.

The Mastercam X9 Public Beta release is open to all current Mastercam customers who are on Maintenance.

After acquiring my first iPhone, I searched the Internet for apps to use in the shop. I found 70 hits for "machinist" or "machining" and 45 for "cutting tool." Conversely, there were 11,169 hits for movie apps and 37,616 for music apps.

A shop I once worked at had a beautiful cast iron welding table. It was 5' wide × 12' long and had started life as a surface plate for assembling diesel engines. The owner bought it at auction for $100. With a screen in the middle, two guys could work on it at once.

Accurately machine EDM electrodes used to produce micromolds for medical parts. A high-speed, high-precision, 3-axis micro milling machine.

Efficiently machine stainless steel parts without breaking endmills. 6-flute, solid-carbide endmills.

I strive to start each year on a positive note, but 2015 sure hasn't taken long to throw us our first challenging management scenario. It requires immediate oversight of rapidly changing economic conditions.

The cutting zone in a machine tool is dangerous. Hot chips and large quantities of coolant are often safety threats, but a tool rotating at a high speed is an even greater one.

I don't like bringing this up, but two key metalworking markets -- defense and energy -- are in a bit of trouble.

When an endmill efficiently makes chips, everybody is happy: the end user, the parts buyer, and the cutting tool manufacturer and distributor. Achieving that by having the tool follow the correct toolpaths and run at productivity-boosting parameters, however, requires an endmill with optimized geometry, substrate and coating.

Efficient removal of heat from the tool/workpiece interface is the main route to high-productivity machining. Several conventional methods are available to accomplish that -- dry machining, minimum-quantity lubrication, flood coolant and high-pressure coolant -- but cryogenic machining can be added to the list.

Table-type horizontal boring mills add versatility to machine shops.