Machining

Machine Technology column from the January 2010 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Youth skills training for machinists takes place in schools with metalworking programs and in connection with competitions, such as WorldSkills.

Indexable-insert tool repair can require a lot more than a manual machine. CNC machines and inspection equipment are often needed to effectively refurbish tools.

A growing number of machine shops are switching from gundrills to solid-carbide drills for deep-hole applications.

Milling plastics is just easy enough to be difficult.

Finishing hardened workpieces on multitask machines that provide grinding and hard turning and/or hard milling capabilities can prove beneficial.

A Studer brand S242 machine, which combines hard milling and grinding, is shown hard milling a toolholder without coolant, then grinding the holder's taper with coolant to achieve the required surface finish.

Precision Dormer filmed its R571 CDX-DH "One-hit" Deep-Hole Drillmaking holes 102mm deep at a speed of 157mm/min. and feed rate of0.14mm/rev.

Iscar designed drills for small-diameter, deep holes in automotive crankshafts, camshafts, connecting rods and more—all with minimum quantity lubrication.

Thinking about using cluster diamonds? Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's Grinding Doc Video Series, suggests going at least 4x faster than with a single-point diamond in the 5th episode of the video series.

Productive Times. End user: Mitchel & Scott Machine Co. Challenge: Cut thread milling cycle time. Solution: A shell-type thread milling cutter head. Solution provider: JBO-USA, (248) 879-5984.

Productive Times. End user: Specialty Carbide Products. Challenge: Productively and consistently grind carbide burs. Solution: A CNC grinding machine integrated with a robot for loading/unloading. Solution provider: Excalibur Tool Inc.