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Alan Richter

Top Tools

By: Alan Richter
There are five tool tips for moldmakers for speeding up production and aiding in highly repeatable, precision machining. Included are deep-hole drills to avoid pecking, high-feed cutters, tools for reducing EDMing, high-precision cutters and PCBN cutting tools.

Tool Spray

By: Alan Richter
With through-tool minimum-quantity lubrication, machine shops may be able to decrease coolant costs and increase productivity and part quality. But, they have to invest in equipment and tooling to achieve those results.

Building for Micromachining

By: Alan Richter
Creating the machine tools that make microparts.

Big Parts, One Setup

By: Alan Richter
Reducing setups and increasing safety by multitask machining large parts.

Long in the Thread

By: Alan Richter
Features needed by thread mills to create long, internal threads.

Pump it Up

By: Alan Richter
Pros and cons of waterjet cutting at the highest available pressure.

Convertible Swiss

By: Alan Richter
Benefits of a sliding-headstock machine with no guide bushing.

Right Sized

By: Alan Richter
Machine tool builder and its micromilling machine.

Hole-some and Clean

By: Alan Richter
Tool material and other requirements for effective drilling of composites.

Index-A-Bore

By: Alan Richter
Ways to best apply indexable-insert boring bars for small holes.

It's a Blast

By: Alan Richter
The role of microabrasive blasting when finishing implantable medical parts.

Picture This: Mircoholes with Photoetching

By: Alan Richter
Making microholes with a chemical process called photoetching.

The Squeeze Is On

By: Alan Richter
Ensuring accurate measurement of parts with ever tighter tolerances. As part tolerances continue to tighten across the board, accurately and consistently measuring them becomes more of a challenge.

The Sky's the Limit

By: Alan Richter
What manufacturers should do to become suppliers of aerospace parts. Making aerospace parts can be lucrative, especially while the industry is experiencing record-setting growth, but manufacturers need to be prepared before quoting those jobs.

Auto Saw

By: Alan Richter
Automation of sawing operations. Just as there are numerous ways to saw bar stock, multiple methods exist to automate the sawing operation.

Hole Down

By: Alan Richter
Options for and considerations when micro-holemaking.

The 'Hard' Way

By: Alan Richter
Die and mold shop carves a niche by focusing on contour and hard milling.

Into the Light

By: Alan Richter
Tool and die shop continues to expand and add advanced technology to prepare for the road ahead.

Downshifting

By: Alan Richter
Growth in U.S. manufacturing is expected to slow next year, but a gloomy picture is not on the horizon.

Flex Time

By: Alan Richter
Targeting only certain processes for automation and maintaining flexibility can pay big dividends.

A Turn to Medical

By: Alan Richter
F&F Screw Machine Products continues to to diversify by producing the thread whirling tools applied to produce many medical parts.

'Tribute' to the Past

By: Alan Richter
A die shop that couldn't find cutting tools 'good enough' for its high-speed machining applications perfected its own design.

Speed Pass

By: Alan Richter
A look at single-pass bore finishing with multiple-spindle honing machines.

Floor Planning

By: Alan Richter
A flexible and reconfigurable machine tool is used during assembly of aerospace parts.

Burnin' Large

By: Alan Richter
Wire EDMing large and tall workpieces.

Tool Geometries for a Shrinking World

By: Alan Richter
Cutting tool geometry considerations when micromachining.

It's All in the Mix

By: Alan Richter
Blended Technology, screw machining, screw machine, milling, Montague Tool, Milan Screw Products

Before & After

By: Alan Richter
Remanufacturing brings new and improved life to old and tired equipment.

Before & After

By: Alan Richter
Remanufacturing brings new and improved life to old and tired equipment.

Recipe for Enhancement

By: Alan Richter
Compared to AlTiN and TiAlN, the percentage of aluminum is higher in an aluminum-chromium-nitride PVD tool coating.

Cast Cutting

By: Alan Richter
Considerations when machining gray and ductile cast iron with carbide, PCBN and PCD cutting tools.

Which Way to Turn?

By: Alan Richter
Considerations when choosing between a Swiss-style machine, with its sliding headstock, and a conventional fixed-headstock CNC lathe.

Productivity Pickup

By: Alan Richter
Pick-and-place robots boost productivity and, say experts, may save U.S. shops.

Swiss Precision

By: Alan Richter
The Schleifring Grinding Symposium 2005 presented the latest in grinding technology.

Let's Talk Radial

By: Alan Richter
Radial chip thinning boosts productivity by permitting a cutting tool to run at a higher feed per tooth when roughing.

Building a Better Process

By: Alan Richter
A custom machine tool can make economic sense when looking to increase productivity for a specific application.

Equilibrium Adjustment

By: Alan Richter
Considerations when deciding to run hard-balanced or balanceable toolholders.

Know Your Limits

By: Alan Richter
Understanding pitch-diameter limits and class of thread fit helps in specifying the appropriate tap for the job.

Middle Ground

By: Alan Richter
Heavy-metal boring bars are for finishing holes too deep for lower-cost steel bars but not deep enough to justify the expense of carbide one.

Media Types

By: Alan Richter
Guidelines and considerations when selecting a media for mass finishing.

Variations on a Theme

By: Alan Richter
Toolmakers tout the benefits of variable-helix endmills.

Peel Out

By: Alan Richter
peel grinding, making automotive parts, cylindrical parts, grinding wheels

The Right Angle

By: Alan Richter
Selecting and making the most of an angle head when other tooling can't get the job done.

A Mixed Grade

By: Alan Richter
The latest grades of polycrystalline diamond mix coarse and fine particles to increase packing density and yield a more continuous cutting edge.

Medical Advice

By: Alan Richter
Cutting tool considerations for effectively machining titanium medical parts.

Tilt & Whirl

By: Alan Richter
A look at applications and considerations for NC rotary tables.

Cut to the Finish

By: Alan Richter
A series of short Articles on the subject of minimizing or eliminating manual mold polishing.

What's in Store

By: Alan Richter
CTE's first cost-justification and planned-expenditures survey reveals what metalcutting companies intend to buy in 2004 and why.

Top Coat

By: Alan Richter
Molybdenum disulfide tool coatings improve the machining of aluminum, titanium and nickel-base alloys--even when dry.

Cool Cuts

By: Alan Richter
Fundamental maintenance practices and troubleshooting tips to help achieve problem-free sawing.