General Shop Equipment & Supplies

Manager's Desk column from March 2010 Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

END USER: Bolton Aerospace Inc., (860) 649-2727. CHALLENGE: Reduce rough machining time. SOLUTION: A combination of high-performance, solid-carbide endmills. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: JJ Industries of Connecticut Inc., (800) 382-0012, www.jjind.com

Tools for finishing intersecting holes.

When Seco Tools Inc. moved into its new headquarters in Troy, Mich., in July 2008, the toolmaker not only changed buildings, it also changed its corporate culture. Eighteen months after the facility opened, the company is still finding new uses for the modern, light-filled, 81,000-sq.-ft. building, according to Bob Goulding, manager of component engineered tooling and custom tooling.

What's a good speed when cylindrical OD traverse grinding? Dr. Jeffrey Badger, the host of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine's Grinding Doc Video Series, worries less about the speed, more about the percentage of the wheel being used to do the roughing in the 6th episode of the video series.

Guyson Corp. has introduced a robotic blasting system based on one of its compact rotary suction-blast cabinets.

Multiaxis machining can dramatically increase a shop's competitiveness, and Mastercam's multiaxis machining offers a wide range of multiaxis machining strategies – both basic and advanced.

NUM is extending the power of its world-leading tool grinding software package, NUMROTO, with enhanced collision detection and other new features.

The 90° Deco-Cut system for sliding-head automatic lathes is available from Arno Rouse USA LLC. The system offers accurate and reliable machining of all materials and strong and accurate double-sided insert location, according to the company.

END USER: Daman Products Co., (800) 959-7841, www.damanifolds.com. CHALLENGE: Speed the design process and reduce setup time for machining large hydraulic manifolds. SOLUTION: Accurate and flexible workholding system, conceived, designed and built in-house. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Daman Products' staff

END USER: MTU Aero Engines GmbH, +49 89 1489-0, www.mtu.de. CHALLENGE: Minimize cutting tool vibration and runout when circular stagger milling titanium blisks. SOLUTION: A hydraulic toolholding system that dampens vibration and minimizes runout. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Rego-Fix Tool Corp., (317) 870-5959, www.rego-fix.com

Shop Operations column by Frank Marlow.