Complex and Complete
A job shop's CNC Swiss-type machines produce hard-to-make parts from start to finish.
Topic
People & Companies
Select Group
How one shop sifts through the ever-growing array of turning inserts.
Recasting Call
One manufacturer finds beauty in old grinders.
Prescription for Perfection
Making Medical Parts: Profile of an Implant Manufacturer
Cash Course
Getting control of labor costs can increase a job shop's profits by 15 to 30 percent.
Cutting It Your Way
Job shop owners offer advice on getting started in the business.
Repeat Performance
The art of machining classic shotguns.
Dimensions of Aerospace
Inside a world-class aerospace manufacturing facility.
Rush Job
Former job shop finds success manufacturing custom gears with "impossible" lead times.
Tool, Mold & Die City
Meadville, Pa., and the area surrounding the city are home to approximately 150 precision tooling and machine shops. The article explains why this city of 14,000 is such a hotbed of precision machining and entrepreneurship.
Know Your Capabilities
Capability is determined by how well a process produces parts. Three measures of capability are important to a machinist: gage, machine and process. The author provides a detailed description of capability and suggests ways to quantify if a process is or isn't capable.
Ceramics Take a Turn
Author describes applications for the two basic types of ceramic turning inserts–alumina and silicon nitride–as well as the types of parts and materials users have turned with them. Specifics about speeds, feeds and DOCs are given.