Machining

Articles • March 1, 2000 • Don Graham

Dry Out

As the government publishes ever-stricter regulations for metalworking fluids, more shops try dry machining. The author examines the cost benefits of machining dry and looks at the various types of tool materials designed to enhance dry-machining applications.

Articles • March 1, 2000 • Dennis Esford

Creeping Up

Creep-feed grinding is not as popular a process as it was predicted to become in the late 1980s. But a machine shop that specializes in CF grinding has found great success by using the process. The shop's owner and other CF-grinding experts contend that as workpiece tolerances become tighter and manufacturers begin using more exotic workpiece materials, CF grinding will grow in popularity.

Articles • February 1, 2000 • Derek Phillips

Extreme Drilling

A detailed description of a combination drill that machines six different nhole diameters. Used on a dedicated drilling machine that drills cast iron ncylinder heads, it was developed over a number of years. The six-in-one tool nis made of HSS and has carbide inserts.n

Articles • February 1, 2000 • Derek Phillips

Dry Run

Dry milling and turning grow in popularity day by day, but dry drilling is nanother matter. Because of the nature of drilling, it's more difficult to nperform this operation without coolant. Still, progress is being made, nthanks to research and more sophisticated coatings.n

Articles • February 1, 2000 • Kip Hanson

Pecking Order

The CNCs on many lathes don't have drill-pecking cycles. The author ndescribes several ways to program CNCs to peck, including shortcuts such as nsubprogramming and parametric programming.n

Articles • January 1, 2000 • Kip Hanson

Hard and Fast Rules

Author describes what he's learned about turning hardened steel. Discussed are the machine tools needed as well as PCBN and ceramic inserts.

Articles • January 1, 2000 • Dennis Esford

Thread Heads

Three companies that tap millions of holes annually offer advice for improving the tapping of steel and aluminum. Discussed is coolant application, equipment for tapping and determining speeds. There's also a sidebar on thread milling.

Articles • December 1, 1999 • Dennis Esford

Fired Up

The manufacturer of the most widely used fire-hose nozzle has continually upgraded its processes and equipment to meet its customers' needs. This article outlines the market forces and changes to its nozzle design that have driven the company to maintain a state-of-the-art shop.

Articles • December 1, 1999 • Aaron Alvarez

What’s Your Angle?

When facemilling with an indexable-insert tool, the axial and radial rake angles of the inserts can have a significant impact on performance. This article reviews the basics of rake angles and their effect on tool life, cutter effectiveness and metal-removal rates.

Articles • December 1, 1999 • Derek Phillips

Daily Regrind, The

Advanced tool grinding machines are making it possible for even small shops to regrind complicated tool geometries in-house. This article explores the cost and time factors that must be considered before a shop decides whether it will regrind tools in-house or outsource the work.

Articles • October 1, 1999 • Martin Eastman

Human Touch

Industry professionals explain why manual machining skills are still necessary even in this age of CNCs. The article also describes the additional skills needed to program and operate computerized machine tools.

Articles • October 1, 1999 • Dennis Esford

Tough Bores

This article relates how three shops used creative ideas to solve difficult boring problems. One shop built a custom tool to bore deep holes. Another used a combination of standard tools to bore an interrupted cut. And a third achieved tight tolerances with an assortment of plastic sleeves and plugs.