General Shop Equipment & Supplies

Oberg Industries Inc., Freeport, Pa., a full-service contract manufacturer of precision machined and stamped components located north of Pittsburgh, acquired X-L Engineering Corp., Niles, Ill.

Wall Colmonoy Corp., Madison Heights, Mich., a global materials engineering group of companies engaged in the manufacture of advanced metal coatings and components, was established in 1938 in Detroit by Albert F. Wall.

PMT Group Inc., Bridgeport, Conn., parent company of Moore Tool Co. Inc., Moore Nanotechnology Systems LLC and Producto Corp., appointed Mark Boomgarden president and CEO of Moore Tool and Moore Nanotechnology Systems.

After 9 years as a plant manager for a tool and die maker, Jason Cantrell decided to launch his own tool and die business. In 2011, he established Triple C Machine & Fab, Livingston, Tenn. Cantrell's vision for business ownership has since paid off. What started as a small job shop has expanded into a thriving company.

Tests on the new nesting engine unveiled in Alphacam 2018 R2, by Vero Software, show a 17 percent improvement in material yield. Using proprietary technology to deliver what Brand Manger Hector Henry says are "best-in-class geometry," toolpath optimization and part handling, the nesting engine also provides faster calculation times, along with improved feedback and graphics.

Bob Hudson of New South Whales, Australia, responded to my April 11 blog titled "Assisting manufacturers with augmented reality."

One of the more common problems I have seen in my years in the machine shop is a general lack of readily available and handy information on machine shop math, specifically on feeds, speeds and related formulae, writes Kevin Mulhern. "Whether you are programming a 5-axis CNC machine or turning handles on a 60-year-old knee mill, the numbers don't lie. However, one very important lesson I have learned is to respect the variables."

The DeHoff 518 Cell is a gundrilling machine for high-volume production of scroll compressor drive shafts. The shaft requires a different diameter hole to be drilled in each end for lubrication of the scroll bearing.

Swedish engineering group Sandvik will buy French software company Metrologic Group for 360 million euros ($435 million) on a cash and debt-free basis to boost its digital manufacturing capabilities. Metrologic Group's software includes automation and robotics control, as well as services for calibration and 3D measuring. It is used in the automotive, aerospace, energy and general engineering sectors, among others.

My Jan. 29 blog post, "Simple steps improve shop websites for hiring," received an insightful reply from Gerry Anger, president of Granger Sales Inc.

Mitee-Bite Products has just completed a new Kit for the TITANS of CNC Academy, helping to educate in the Art of Fixturing Series. In the kit, students will receive multiple Mitee-Bite clamps, pins and grips to build Titan's Project Series #400-404 fixtures.

WIDIA has created an app to quickly access machining speeds and feeds for WIDIA tooling without interrupting production. The newly released Machining Central app scans the WIDIA product bar code or searches the tool's corresponding order number or an ANSI or ISO catalog number to automatically generate product information and availability along with feeds and speeds in seconds.