General Shop Equipment & Supplies

While the Trump administration focuses on trying to bring back coal-industry jobs, the outlook for renewable-energy employment, including in manufacturing, has increased. Solar showed bright prospects in 2016 and the wind industry is picking up.

Renishaw Inc. announced a new 133,000 sq. ft. office and warehouse facility in West Dundee, Ill., about 40 miles from Chicago. The two-story facility will be the company's new North American headquarters, but also includes space for product development, testing, warehousing and distribution.

Wall Colmonoy, a global group of materials engineering companies engaged in the manufacturing of surfacing and brazing products, castings and engineered components, this month appointed Nathan Stroud as commercial director for its European headquarters in Wales, U.K.

Waterjet systems manufacturer Jet Edge Inc., St Michael, Minn., promoted Michael Wheeler to Engineering Manager. Wheeler is responsible for managing all aspects of Jet Edge's engineering, including technical writing, inspection, sales engineering and estimating, research and development and product development.

Baileigh Industrial Inc. is launching a new campaign for one of the most successful products in its product line: the BB-4816M - Magnetic Sheet Metal Brake. Sized to fit any garage or workshop, the recently improved Magnetic Sheet Metal Brake can bend boxes or pans to almost any depth because it doesn't rely on conventional finger depths.

A joint research project known as "Scaling Ultrafast Laser Productive Precision Processing Technology", or ScULPT, was conceived to develop an efficient, powerful, ultra-short pulsed laser system with a tenfold increase in throughput on the machining of different types of glass and metals.

Georgia will see an influx of more than 500 new aerospace manufacturing jobs at Columbus-based Pratt & Whitney, which reportedly will invest $386 million into expansion.

Whereas the retention knob is an unmistakably critical component of the machining process, conventional retention knobs, when installed in a toolholder, may deform the precision taper because of the elastic nature of a toolholder's thin walls. This taper deformation prevents a toolholder from properly mating with the spindle of a CNC machine. JM Performance Products Inc. has worked to overcome this manufacturing bind with its lower-deformation High Torque Retention Knobs.

Designed as a reliable, high-precision solution for gun manufacturers, UNISIG's dedicated R-2A rifling equipment performs the most critical final steps of firearm manufacturing. The R-2A barrel rifling machine finishes barrel blanks with a high degree of accuracy, according to the company.

To maintain and grow its production levels on its newest jet engines, engine components and aircraft systems, GE Aviation investments reached $4.3 billion in its U.S. operations during 2011–2016, with another $1.1 billion invested in its international sites, the company reports. That U.S. amount includes $214 million to establish five new plants here.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently reported that hiring in December 2016 was at a four-month high, while the number of manufacturing hires tied that of November for its best monthly performance since 2010. Separately, the BLS said that manufacturing companies created 5,000 new jobs in January for a second straight month of growth. That's good news for those who remember the dark days of the Great Recession—but for employers who have more work to be done than workers to do it, it's a headache. One solution has been to reach that next generation early—while they're finishing high shool.

In the debut episode of The CNC Chef, Bob Warfield from CNCCookbook.com cautions against slowing down your feed rate to avoid tool rubbing. A new monthly video series from Cutting Tool Engineering, The CNC Chef will address a variety of machining challenges in the coming months. About the CNC Chef Video Series: Bob Warfield founded […]