General Shop Equipment & Supplies

At my shop and others I've been in contact with, cash flow and timely payment have become issues that require greater scrutiny. If that's the case at your shop, dealing with them effectively will be a test of your management skills.

END USER: Machine Tech CNC, (780) 461-0890. CHALLENGE: Accurately bore 14 diameters deep and deeper. SOLUTION: Carbide-reinforced boring bars with built-in vibration damping. SOLUTION PROVER: Sandvik Coromant Co., (800) SANDVIK, www.sandvik.coromant.com/us

Part Time: While some shops shy away from difficult projects, others welcome them. According to Bob Perkins, president of PDS (Precision Defense Services) Industries, Irwin, Pa., the company has built its business on doing things others can't do.

When turning 2mm-dia. and smaller parts on a Swiss-style machine, it only makes sense that the radius on the tool should be equally tiny. After all, you can't cut a 0.5mm bone screw with a TNMG-431 insert—the tool's nose radius is nearly as big as the part.

Schenck Trebel has introduced the Pasio 15 horizontal balancing machine for quick and precise balancing of small and medium-sized rotors with weights to 33 lb (15 kg) and maximum diameters of 13.78" (350mm).

Tool manufacturers can now automatically create dimensioned engineering drawings of machine tools showing their precise geometry, by using a new facility for NUM's renowned NUMROTO grinding software.

This unique system called "combiFlex" introduced by Peter Lehmann AG and available from Rotec Tools Ltd. offers a huge flexibility on the new Lehmann 500 rotary-table product line.

Scotchman Industries announced recent improvements to three models of ironworkers. The new hydraulic system that is being installed in several of the Scotchman Dual Operator ironworkers has increased the machine's cycle time by over 40 percent.

CGTech, the developer of VERICUT Composite Programming (VCP) and VERICUT Composite Simulation (VCS), has added a new product to its suite of software named VERICUT Composite Paths for Engineering (VCPe).

Progressive miniaturization in the watch making industry, medical technology and electronics industries continue to put increased pressure on tool manufacturers: They are routinely required to produce increasingly smaller drilling and milling tools to meet the demand for high-quality machining results. But how can tools with diameters as small as 0.03mm be manufactured? The grinding machine experts at Rollomatic provide the answer: The GrindSmart Nano6.

Making parts for hydraulic fracturing equipment presents opportunities but requires the right tools, as noted in the cover story of the March 2012 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's Grinding Doc Video Series, offers some personal preferences in regard to grinding books and literature that could prove useful on the shop floor. Watch the 27th episode of the video series now.