American Machinist articles from April 2002

American Machinist archives from April 2002

Successful companies are built on relationships. (editorial).
April 1, 2002... Understanding how to manage relationships is one of the most critical skills needed to run a successful business. Companies that know the importance of both internal and external customer relationships are able to improve market position and...

Backward design? (letters).
April 1, 2002... The illustrations in the January 2002 story on the Xootr Scooter from Nova Cruz Products ("Kicking into high gear," p. 47) show what appears to be a glaring error. In each picture the scooter's front fork is reversed. That might make for some,...

Grinding gaffe? (letters).
April 1, 2002... I read with interest your November 2001 story ("Flying high on a new technology" p. 60), but I was surprised to see the Rolls Royce-patented Viper technology presented more or less as a Bridgeport technology. Tyrolit, the Aurian...

Oil-change rage. (letters).
April 1, 2002... In regards to your November 2001 editorial on the Big Three ("Champions don't get boxed into a corner," p. 8), I just traded my 1985 BMW 3 series in for a 2001 Pontiac Grand Prix. My BMW averaged 27 mpg, cornered as if on rails, stopped on a...

Rail cutting lays tracks for innovative saw. (technology trends).
April 1, 2002... A new cuts through tough materials such as titanium, Waspaloy, and Inconel faster than most conventional methods. The key to the saw's speed is its special cutting action: the machine feeds horizontally and oscillates vertically. It also cuts...

The art going into a part. (technology trends).
April 1, 2002... German company SFM GmbH is showing how rapid prototyping technologies are finding niches in art architecture. The company recent manufactured a mold of the Frauenkriche church in Dresden using direct-metal laser-sintering equipment from EOS...

Updated electrode-grinding machine. (technology trends).
April 1, 2002... Operators of TEG-2 and TEG-3 tungsten-electrode-grinding machines from Huntingdon Fusion Techniques Ltd., Carms, UK, no longer need to worry about getting grinding dust in their faces. That's because Huntingdon moved the grinding head from the...

Caring for wounded robots. (technology trends).
April 1, 2002... Welding technology is getting primetime exposure on Comedy Central's Battlebots show. The Lincoln Electric Co., Cleveland, has amed with BattleBots to provide a robot "triage" area where contestants can bring their robots for waling repairs....

Fixture kits for Haas machines. (Tooling and workholding products).
April 1, 2002... Jergens is offering Ball Lock fixture kits for Haas machining centers. A standard kit contains a correctly sized subplate and fixture plate -- both predrilled and with Ball Lock bushings installed -- as well as the correct number of Ball Lock...

Adjust tool height quickly and accurately. (Tooling and workholding products).
April 1, 2002... Accurately set tool height in one step, without employing special stands or tables, using Radax toolholders. Operators set length by adjusting the radial set screw on the side of the tool -- rather than mounting the tool, reading its height,...

Balanceable toolholder. (Tooling and workholding products).
April 1, 2002... Balance standard Rego-Fix holders -- already prebalanced to 6.3 G at 15,000 rpm -- at a higher rating with the company's new balancing rings. Users press the rings onto the holder by hand to snap into place. Each ring has a set screw to lock...

Workstop extension for long jobs. (Tooling and workholding products).
April 1, 2002... A ew workstop system locates long workpieces and mounts to any 6.00-in. Kurt vise. The unit, which is made from anodized 6105-T5, T-slotted aluminum extrusion, also has an adjustable pivot arm for travels of 36, 54, and 72 in. The device...

The equalizer. (Tooling and workholding products).
April 1, 2002... Equalizer Clamps hold thin, flimsy workpieces without deflection or distortion. A downward movement of the unit's clamp screw results in upward movement of its actuating rod until the toggle pad contacts the workpiece. This action pivots the...

Collet jaws. (Tooling and workholding products).
April 1, 2002... ColletJaws provide multi-diameter cylindrical workholding using a standard mill vise and Warner & Swasey-type collets. Parts clamped in ColletJaws allow 60 [degrees] of cylindrical surface exposure between jaws and part diameters up to 2 in....

New president at Sandvik. (Company news).
April 1, 2002... Sandvik has elected Lars Pettersson as president, effective May 7. Pettersson replaces Clas Ake Hedstrom, who becomes chairman for the board of directors. Percy Barnevik, chairman for the past 18 years, has been named honorary board chairman....

Interactive training. (Company news).
April 1, 2002... Learn about tooling terminology, geometry, and more with Dormer's Insight interactive training CD. Besides providing information on the company's products, services, and product development, the CD includes technical data and productivity...

Get your milling cutters here. (Company news).
April 1, 2002... Gesswein is now a national distributor of Millstar carbide milling and profiling cutters, including roughing and finishing ballnose, back-draft, aluminum-cutting ballnose, Toroid bull nose, and Super-Finisher ballnose inserts. Gesswein...

Internal machining bores. (Cutting products).
April 1, 2002... Iscar has developed the MiniCham line of bars and inserts for internal machining in 0.157-in. bores. A self-clamping miniature insert is mounted on a solid-carbide, 0.236-in.-diameter bar that fits into the Passport universal tool made by...

Brazed radius tools. (Cutting products).
April 1, 2002... Micro 100 now has a complete line of full-radius concave and convex radius tools. Designated as style CRT full-radius concave and FRT full-radius convex, the tools come with square shank sizes from 3/8 to 3/4 in. and radii from 1/32 to 3/8 in....

Grooving along. (Cutting products).
April 1, 2002... The Tube Sheet Pro grooves tube sheets in heat exchangers, condensers, and boilers. According to the manufacturer, the tool's smooth operation ensures accurate groove size and location and good finish. The tool has TiN-coated high-speed steel...

2002 machine tool consumption starts down. (business trends).
April 1, 2002... January U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $149.63 million according to AMT -- The Association For Manufacturing Technology and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association. This total was down 7.8% from December and down...

Faro acquires laser tracker. (business trends).
April 1, 2002... Faro Technologies Inc., Lake Mary, Fla., completed a $1.9 million acquisition of SpatialMetrix Corp. (SMX), Kennet Square, Pa. SMX, which manufactures laser trackers and metrology software, also offers contract-inspection services. SMX ships...

Michigan and German metrology companies merge. (business trends).
April 1, 2002... Detroit Precision Tool Co., a designer and builder of automated and special gages for the auto industry, and Hommelwerke of Germany, a measuring-instrument manufacturer, have formed a partnership, called Detroit Precision Hommel (DPH). The new...

Asset-management help. (business trends).
April 1, 2002... GE Fanuc Automation North America Inc., Charlottesville, Va., and Datastream Systems Inc., Greenville, S.C., are offering lifecycle management (ALM) solutions globally. Datastream's 7i, an enterprise asset-management software, and iProcure, its...

Grinding that's like turning. (machine of the month).
April 1, 2002... Made to grind small cylindrical parts, the Quickpoint 1000 tackles shoulders, tapers, chamfers, grooves, recesses, and even threads in just one chucking. According to its manufacturer, Erwin Junker Machinery Inc., machine performance hinges on...

Seamless transfer of Solid Edge models. (bits & bytes).
April 1, 2002... Esprit CAM now has full compatibility with Solid Edge V11 CAD software, letting users design their parts in Solid Edge and directly machine the resulting native part models inside Esprit. Both Esprit CAM and Solid Edge utilize the Parasolid...

Support the board. (bits & bytes).
April 1, 2002... Two new releases simplify the process of designing VMEbus applications for Xycom's VMEbus PC hardware, reducing the development time required to handle VMEbus data and interrupts in Windows applications. Xycom Automation Inc., a subsidiary...

Backtracking inventory. (bits & bytes).
April 1, 2002... Backtrack asset-and-inventory-tracking software lets users cost effectively incorporate their asset and inventory tracking with the rest of their procedures and enterprise software. The newest release, version 4.4, has added or expanded several...

Toolmaker grows business through CAM expertise.
April 1, 2002... D&S Moulds, a toolmaker based in Newton Aycliffe, England, regularly contends with customer demands for last-minute product-design changes. And like many shops in the U.S., it competes against foreign manufacturers that produce parts at a...

Control the paperwork flood. (bits & bytes).
April 1, 2002... RealVision's DocManager 3.0 software handles all the documents needed to efficiently manufacture parts and products within a manufacturing operation. DocManager automatically numbers each document and links documents to part numbers and...

Workers' comp award upheld in eye injury. (law & liability).
April 1, 2002... Polly Webber, an employee of Automotive Controls Corp., a Kansas firm, helped build solenoids on an assembly line. In March 1997, a co-worker blew dust and chemicals into Webber's right eye with a high-pressure air hose. The company doctor...

Misuse of machine did not defeat product liability suit. (law & liability).
April 1, 2002... Christopher Tobin worked for Shamrock Fasteners, a machine shop that produces metal bolts. Wire draw machines size wire to make the bolts. The wire draw machine pulls a wire through a bushing; the wire then travels to a cold-heading machine,...

Award for injured machine operator upheld. (law & liability).
April 1, 2002... On April 16, 1997, Charles Colegrove was injured while working at the Westvaco Paper Co.'s plant in Tyrone, Pa. Colegrove was rethreading paper on a large paper winding machine when he accidentally stepped on an electric foot switch that...

Band or circular: most shops make one classic mistake when it comes to selecting a saw. (sawing).
April 1, 2002... The biggest mistake shops make when selecting a saw is choosing the most inexpensive machine with the largest capacity. That's because they tend to consider every single part they've ever cut and then attempt to purchase a saw that handles it...

Finishing first with advanced technology; shop delivers custom car parts in 24 hours using a high-powered, manufacturing cell. (machining centers).
April 1, 2002... Chris Alston, founder and owner of Alston Chassisworks, Sacrmento, Calif., works in an industry that poses an interesting challenge. He runs a shop that designs and manufactures premium drag racing chassis and suspensions, along with front ends...

Scanning benefits, not costs: the decision to add a high-speed-scanning CMM should be based largely on what it does, not how much it costs. (testing and measuring).
April 1, 2002... High-speed-scanning CMMs provide a hard-to-beat combination of speed and accuracy. But many jobshops are leery of the technology, concerned about its cost and complexity. But they shouldn't be, says Mark Davis, tool engineer with Superior LLC,...

Idea feeds coolant. (practical ideas).
April 1, 2002... My idea is for boring-bar coolant feed-through. It also applies to threading tools, grooving and undercut bars, and flat-bottom counter bores and end mills. Basically, I grind a groove along the tool shank using the side of a grinding wheel or...

New trick for dog points. (practical ideas).
April 1, 2002... I grind dog points on hardened set screws using a die as a fixture. The setup makes the job go quickly and ensures that the point is concentric with the screw's threads. Adjusting the die for a snug fit on the screw's threads not only provides...

Manufacturers directory.
April 1, 2002... Use this Directory to help you contact key manufacturers quickly. It contains complete addresses and telephone numbers of main offices. Listings in boldface indicate advertisers in this edition. Blue listings were purchased. Check the...

Products & Services Directory: (Abrasive-Belt Machines-Dust Collectors & Systems).
April 1, 2002... Here, in alphabetical order, are suppliers of the products, services, and systems. Companies listed in boldface also have an advertisment in this issue. Blue listings were purchased. Check the Advertisers Index for correct page number. ...

Products & Services Directory: (EDM Machines & ECM Machines-Jigs & Fixtures, Components & Systems).
April 1, 2002... EDM Machines & ECM Machines Charmilles Technologies, 560 Bond St., Lincolnshire, IL 60069-4224, 847-913-5300, 800-CTC-1EDM, FAX: 847-913-5340, Internet: www.charmillesus.com -- See Ad Index for ad page no. Chevalier Machinery...

Products & Services Directory: (Keyseat Cutters-Quality Control/ Assurance Systems).
April 1, 2002... Keyseat Cutters Allen-Benjamin, Inc., 1950 E. Rio Salado Pky., Tempe, AZ 85281, 480-968-7937, 800-528-7404, FAX: 480-731-9462 DoALL Co., Corp. HQ, Des Plaines, IL Hannibal Carbide Tool, Inc., Hannibal, MO Kennametal Inc.,...

Products & Services Directory: (Racks, Gear & Pinion-Zinc & Zinc-Base Alloy Shapes & Forms).
April 1, 2002... Racks, Gear & Pinion Reid Tool, Muskegon, MI Racks, Roll Form Nachi Machining Technology Co., Macomb, MI Rapid Tooling Carr Lane Mfg. Co., 4200 Carr Lane Ct., PO Box 191970, St. Louis, MO 63119, 314-647-6200, FAX: ...

Machine delivers hole performance. (edm updates).
April 1, 2002... Available in manual and CNC models, HoleMaster high-speed hole-drilling EDM machines offer speed, accuracy, and productivity. According to Methods EDM, the machines' heavy bridge construction, AC servomotors, and precision ballscrews tackle...

Linear drives wire EDM. (edm updates).
April 1, 2002... Traditional feed drives, while reliable, do have shortcomings -- basically, the loss of speed and dynamics through the mechanical transfer elements. This is why Sodick equips not only its diesinking EDMs and small-hole-drilling machines with...

CMM solves control and throughput problems for EDM jobshop. (case books).
April 1, 2002... Quality control and throughput were proving a problem for WireTech Inc., a 10-person EDM jobshop in Tempe, Ariz. The firm, which has 12 CNC machines, including eight wire EDMs, primarily serves the aerospace and plastic-injection-molding...

Neatness counts. (case books).
April 1, 2002... DeWys Manufacturing Inc., a Marne, Mich.-based custom precision sheetmetal fabrication company had spatter problems when MIG-welding thin-gage hydraulic reservoirs. Removing the spatter added about a minute in cleanup time to each part,...

Welders keep cheese maker competitive. (case books).
April 1, 2002... Premier Technology of Pocatello, Idaho, is a mechanical-contracting firm specializing in food-processing customers. Since most food processors function in incredibly tight markets, Premier must perform all the work it possibly can during...

Three oils form coolant. (Spotlight: Coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Missile Lube 5 EH is a hybrid water-soluble coolant concentrate that combines vegetable oil, synthetic oil, and mineral oil. Applications that benefit from 5 EH's technology are boring, reaming, and deep-hole drilling of aluminum alloys. The...

Useful in heavy stock removal. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Formulated to dissipate heat, TransoGrind EXP synthetic oil is suitable for applications with heavy stock removal such as carbide grinding. Unlike mineral oils, TransoGrind EXP's molecular uniformity results in predictable performance...

Lubricity without additives. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Useful on aluminum or other mixed metals, synthetic Trim C320 cutting fluid also provides extreme-pressure lubricity for drilling, tapping, reaming, and form-grinding operations without any chlorine or sulfur-based EP additives. Users report...

Quiet gearmotor part of skimmer. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... DBS belt-type oil skimmer uses a quiet dependable 115/1/60 permanent magnet gearmotor for metalworking coolant/tramp-oil removal or other uses. Oil collection rates are 1 qt/hr or 1 gal/hr. Collected oil, which is scraped off a 1-in.-wide flat...

Coolant alternative. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... WS 6900 is a safe alternative to high-performance semisynthetic and synthetic metalworking fluids. It is totally mineral-oil based and nonsticky, preventing fouling of valves and switches. WS 6900 does not contain biocides, making it nontoxic....

Custom-built tombstones. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Busche's hydraulic and manual tombstones are designed and manufactured to customer specifications and needs. The company will work with customers to provide a workholding device that reduces tooling cost, setup, and downtime. Delivery time is 6...

New approach for fastener press. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... The Pemserter Tech2 fastener press' fast operation comes from a new high-speed ram-to-anvil approach with an insertion force of 600 lb to 6.5 tons happening anywhere along its 5-in stroke. A 21-in. throat depth permits installation of...

Spindles make tap changes quick and easy. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Pro-Quik spindles for Procunier Tru-Tap CNC and manual E Series reversing tapping attachments make changing taps easy and fast. They accept all styles of quick-change collets. Procunier Lakeland, Fla. Circle 317 [ILLUSTRATION...

Barfeeder for Swiss or fixed-headstock lathes. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Compatible with Swiss-type or fixed-headstock CNC lathes, the Mini Boss 332 automatic barfeeder feeds barstock 3 to 32 mm in diameter. Its quick-change elastic guide channel lets round, square, or hex-shaped bars rotate at higher rpm with less...

VMC cuts long workpieces. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... The MPS 08 VMC -- Multiple Profile System -- is an alternative for machining long workpieces only possible with larger machines. According to the manufacturer, it can machine semifinished stock up to 10-m long. The MPS 08 accepts...

Lathe does several functions. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... The 36TBC automatic lathe, with handling equipment and a Fanuc CNC control, provides a systematic approach to producing workpieces in a single operation. It handles large-diameter turning and barstock usually run on higher cost, slower...

Rapid production of small parts. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... The R04 Swiss turning center is designed for rapid production of small parts up to 0.16 in. Its main spindle turns from 200 to 20,000 rpm and its back spindle 100 to 10,000 rpm. Super-high-speed tool posts and a preselection feature reduce tool...

Dual-process turning center. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... As a dual-process turning center with a Y axis, the ZT1000Y is an integrated machine that shortens lead times using spindles and turrets that have matching capabilities and power. Process times are balanced because the No. 1 and No. 2 spindles...

EDM support. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... The Robofil 390/690 wire EDM supports various stamping tools, plastic-injection-mold inserts, and mechanical-engineering applications with a design that delivers precision, ruggedness, and reliability. Equipped with a Windows-based...

Safe replacement for petroleum-based fluids. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... PowerStamp III is a medium-viscosity, environmentally safe oil for metalstamping; drawing, drilling, and tapping of hard-to-machine metals; machining that generates a lot of heat; and sawing large-diameter solids. The lubricant replaces...

Create aligned centerholes. (Spotlight: coolant & filtration).
April 1, 2002... Shops can produce aligned centerholes with the proper roundness, angle, and finish quickly and easily with the Centru 1150C centerhole-grinding machine. The 1150C uses a 4 [degrees] rearward angle that holds workpieces on a centerpoint by their...

The American dream. (50 Years Ago In American Machinist).
April 1, 2002... A chicken in every pot might have been a goal during the Depression, but in 1952, manufacturers were helping put a washing machine in every home. Not to mention refrigerators, clothes dryers, electric ranges, water heaters, freezers,...

Smart car is communication expert. (50 Years Ago In American Machinist).
April 1, 2002... Toyota Motor Corp. and Sony have created a concept car that "communicates" with drivers and other cars by gathering external information for issuing alerts, giving constructive criticism, and making adjustments to the interior and mechanics of...