General Shop Equipment & Supplies

A shop creep-feed grinding hardened steel using a water-based coolant kept running into trouble after grinding for a few hours. Everything would be grinding along fine, but then—WHAM—really bad burn would bring the job to a halt. And the burn wouldn't go away until the shop dressed the wheel again. Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering's Grinding Doc Video Series, provides some insight and a solution in the 65th episode of the video series.

Abtex Corp., Dresden, NY, a leading manufacturer of brush/machine deburring solutions for the manufacturing industry, recently promoted Damian Clemens to Systems Group Manager. Clemens joined Abtex in 2014 when his company—Nihmble Technologies—was acquired by Abtex.

Okuma America Corp., Charlotte, N.C., recently named Ted Winkle as coordinator of the company's Houston Tech Center (HTC). Winkle will oversee management of all HTC activities as well as support sales and Okuma's distribution partner Hartwig.

The United States Cutting Tool Institute (USCTI), a leading trade association for the North American cutting tool industry, recently launched Careers In Manufacturing, a website that promotes careers in manufacturing and provides resources for students, educators, parents and manufacturers.

Meister Abrasives USA Inc. in December 2015 added an advanced CNC manufacturing system to its lineup, making it possible for the North Kingstown, R.I., company to manufacture large diameter external wheels in the United States using equipment, materials and a manufacturing process identical to those used by its parent corporation in Switzerland. The new CNC system is said to be capable of producing large vit CBN and diamond abrasive wheels up to 1,225mm (about 4') in diameter.

Solar Manufacturing Inc., Souderton, Penn., recently named Adam Jones to the position of Midwest region sales manager for the manufacturer of vacuum heat treating and brazing furnaces. Jones will maintain and promote sales for Solar Manufacturing throughout the Midwest.

The acquisition of Helical Solutions LLC by Harvey Tool Co., Rowley, Mass., officially took place August 2015. The opportunity to combine the product performance and technical expertise of both organizations was the driving force behind the initial acquisition, according to Harvey Tool CEO Pete Jenkins.

The importance of mastering fundamental turning skills. Turning and other lathe operations are the most common machining applications. A master tool and die maker once told me a lathe is the only piece of shop equipment that can remanufacture itself. Whether or not the statement is factual is not important. Having the lathe described in that manner indicates how important and universal turning is to manufacturing.

Jeffrey Badger, Ph.D., fields a question from a shop getting "terrible burn on the shoulder" when cylindrical grinding steel parts with a straight plunge.

Addressing weighty issues is an important part of the Manager's Desk column, and there will be no shortage of them to debate and discuss in 2016.

Turbine blades are typically mounted on compressor disks and milled from a single piece of material rather than constructed blade by blade. These are known as blade-integrated disks, or blisks, and their main function is to compress air in the turbine.

To improve performance, reduce cycle times and enhance machine operation, Makino Inc. has released Hyper technologies for its full line of wire, sinker and holemaking EDMs.n