Design & Engineering

Get With The Program column in October 2009 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

There's more than one way to machine a part. The trick is to match the part's complexity and volume requirements with an optimal production process.

An array of milling tools is available, including endmills, facemills and plain mills. Typical milling applications include facing, filleting or edge cutting, profiling, slotting, pocketing and blind slotting.

Understanding tool wear is the first step to extending tool life—which can be further enhanced with new coating technology.

The creation of a part program for a CNC machine tool usually starts with a part drawing or model that contains the part material, geometry and tolerances.

Combination tooling, custom fixtures and creative solutions help Apex Precision thrive.

U.S. companies that adopt electromagnetic workholders heartily endorse the technology.

Unlike lathes, which have been around for thousands of years, milling machines are less than 200 years old. Because they require much more power than hand-driven lathes, the introduction of milling machines had to wait for the invention of industrial water and steam power.

Applying "off-the-shelf," standard milling tools to get the job done provides several benefits: the tools are readily available and usually from numerous suppliers, their prices are competitive and the results are predictable. Nonetheless, even with a multitude of standard tools available for nearly every milling application, parts manufacturers often require specials engineered for a specific application.

Drilling, milling, EDMing, laser cutting, trepanning, punching; there are almost as many ways to make holes as there are holes to be made. Drilling, the most common holemaking method, itself includes many tool material and configuration options.

Part Time column for June 2009 issue.

Machine Technology column for June 2009 issue.