General Shop Equipment & Supplies

Many nonmanufacturing people would be surprised by the amount of resources expended on parts cleaning, but it is a critical aspect of part quality. Failure to maintain a rigorous cleaning program can cause significant issues in complex assemblies.

The biggest benefit a digital vision system provides is the machine's ability to automatically measure parts, whereas the human operator influences a manual analog measurement device, such as an optical comparator.

Vertical turning lathes have a significant drawback: the chips fall onto the workpiece where they are subject to recutting. By inverting the spindle, chip problems are virtually eliminated.

In a recent blog post, Joshua Jablons, president of Metal Cutting Corp., Cedar Grove, N.J., discussed a topic that leaves many machinists scratching their heads: What is the proper way to measure feature concentricity on a round workpiece?

Shop Operations Columnist James Harvey shares a few unorthodox machining methods that have worked for him.

A shop writes to the Grinding Doc: There's lots of discussion at my company about the best diamond fluting wheel for grinding tungsten carbide. Is there a quick test to determine which wheel is best?

Manager's Desk columnist Keith Jennings underscores the need for shop owners to remind their staff that it is the company—not its employees—that owns all business calls and electronic communications.

OPEN MIND Technologies AG has introduced hyperMILL 2018.1, a new version of its advanced, comprehensive CAM software. hyperMILL 2018.1 has a range of new features and enhancements including greater blending capabilities, 3D-optimized roughing, global fitting, rotational abilities for CAD electrode applications and virtual machining simulation.

With the August 1985 issue, Cutting Tool Engineering launched a decade-long series of articles titled, "History of Tools." The first installment, which you can download and read by clicking here, began as the ultimate Throwback Thursday endeavor: urging readers with their eyes on the future to recall the machine tool industry's humble beginnings. So, yeah, The Stone Age.

Mastercam 2019 Public Beta is now open to all currently maintained Mastercam customers. Shops all over the world, from small job shops to Fortune 100, get a chance to test-drive Mastercam 2019 before it is released and provide valuable feedback to help shape the final product. Participants in the Public Beta get an early look at dozens of powerful new tools for simple to complex jobs.

How do you know your coolant velocity? The Grinding Doc says the best — and perhaps most accurate — way to determine coolant exit velocity is with the Ol' Bucket & Stopwatch Technique. It'll take five minutes and tell you how close you are to wheel speed.

As product miniaturization continues, micromachining continues to make inroads into the manufacturing industry, and CTE will once again provide a special section about micromachining in our May issue. At the other end, I've noticed more developments in large-part machining, and, coincidentally, our April issue will include a focus on that topic.