General Shop Equipment & Supplies

Coldwater (Ohio) Machine Co., an engineered solutions company that manufactures and integrates precision equipment and tools, has announced the expansion of it complex part machining capability with the addition of a DMG Mori NTX-2000 5-axis multitask machine to enhance its build-to-print and design-and-build services. The company is recognized for precision machining of workpieces with complex geometries in a variety of materials for customers in the aviation, automotive and energy industries.

Machine tool builder GF Machining Solutions LLC announced its new "learn and earn" apprenticeship program during the first day of the machine tool builder's 2-day Solutions Days open house. The event, which took place June 6-7 at its Lincolnshire, Ill., headquarters, included technical presentations and equipment demonstrations.

Milltronics USA Inc. introduces the latest generation of its VK series with the new VK4II CNC knee mill. With more than two dozen improvements over the previous version, the VK4II retains the unique Milltronics MillSlide Z-axis.

CNC Software announces the release of Mastercam 2018. Mastercam 2018 brings a new suite of programming tools focused on delivering speed, automation and efficiency for all machining jobs. Mastercam 2018 offers new 2D/3D Milling features, Design improvements, and powerful turning and Mill-Turn enhancements.

According to MTD Micro Molding, nothing is more frustrating for micropart designers than to spend countless hours on a new drawing, only to get to the manufacturing phase and find out they need to make significant revisions or compromises. Their tooling department provides eight recommendations to help improve the manufacturability of your next micropart design.

OPEN MIND Technologies AG has introduced hyperMILL 2017.2, the company's newest release of the hyperMILL CAM suite. OPEN MIND has further enhanced hyperMILL, providing users a broad array of features designed to improve their manufacturing process with unmatched speed and flexibility, according to the company.

MBFZ toolcraft GmbH reports that 3D printing is developing at an increasingly rapid pace. While plastic parts can already be 3D printed on home printers, metal 3D printing remains in the hands of innovative industrial companies. Here, the transition has already been made from rapid prototyping to rapid manufacturing. Both the ability to produce titanium bone implants and the growing interest in the technology shown by politicians are clear indications that the manufacturing method is ready to be used for series production. To improve its additive manufacturing processes, toolcraft has invested in new laser melting machines from TRUMPF.

The latest release of Alphacam, from Vero Software, continues to intuitively automate key CAD/CAM operations, improving manufacturing productivity and efficiency. The Automation Manager includes enhancements to simplify workflow, including Multi-drill control, new Styles functionality, and further support for additional CAD file formats.

A shop sometimes experiences burn when using a CBN wheel to cylindrically plunge-grind a part. Slowing down doesn't help. Dr. Jeffrey Badger, who writes the Ask the Grinding Doc column for Cutting Tool Engineering magazine, offers a remedy.

The new Spade Drills from YG-1 are intended for a wide range of applications and raw materials such as steels, stainless steel, cast irons and so on. The indexable drill offer a wide range of diameters: from 9.5mm to 114.3mm. This video demonstration by YG-1 shows normal and slow motion cutting action of the Spade Drill HSS Insert (Ø20.0 / 8xD holder).

There are some common mistakes people make when buying a new CNC machine that we see all too often, writes Okuma's Brian Kateley. "Sometimes they skip important steps in space planning that can really come back and bite them when installation day arrives. All of this can easily be avoided if you contact your distributor and request a 2D drawing so you can plan your installation correctly." Kateley's entire checklist is at the link below.

Keeping manufacturing jobs from going overseas is the top recommendation Americans give as the best way to create more jobs in the U.S. Many also suggest reducing government regulation, lowering taxes, creating more infrastructure work and improving education. These responses, from a May 3-7 Gallup poll, are generally similar to what Gallup found when it asked this open-ended question in 2009 and 2011 -- except education, which is mentioned more frequently this year than in the past.