American Machinist articles from August 2006

American Machinist archives from August 2006

Bull market for metals--prices skyrocketing.(LEADING INDICATORS)
August 1, 2006... Tight production capacities, rising costs for raw materials, natural gas, and electricity and with increased costs for fuels and logistics are pushing metal producers to increase the base prices for metals and to add surcharges related to their...

Haas Automation looks to future and offshore.(LEADING INDICATORS)
August 1, 2006... In April, Haas Automation Inc. opened the fourth building on its 86-acre campus in Oxnard, Ca., and the addition gave the company 1 million sq. ft. of manufacturing space under roof. Even without that new building, there would be no denying the...

Chips-in-burrs.
August 1, 2006... THANKS FOR COMING TO IMTS I told you not to bring the checkbook. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Readout system for video based metrology applications.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... Metronics Inc. (www.metronics.com) has introduced the Quadra-Chek 300 (QC300), an advanced digital readout system that combines multiple video measuring functions in a single, compact display unit. Metronics proprietary technology combines...

Machine simulation module unveiled.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... International Manufacturing Computer Services Inc., the developer of the PartMaker suite of CAM software (www.partmaker.com) will unveil its new PartMaker full machine simulation module for CNC mills, lathes, wireEDM, turn-mill centers and...

New robotic machine tool tray loader.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... Distech Systems, Inc. (www.distechsystems.com) has introduced the new DS1200-MTL robotic machine tool tray loader to provide an accurate, reliable alternative to costly conveyor automation and tedious operator tending. The new, compact system,...

Help for retro fitting in-process force measurement.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... OES, Inc. (www.oes-inc.com) has released a new Piezo Strain sensor combined with an amplifier module that overcomes short duration signal problems that arise when retrofitting in-process force measurement on older programmable logic...

Smart mold components for VX CAD/CAM users.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... VX Corporation, (www.vx.com) has announced the integration of VX CAD/CAM with Lib3D, an extensive library of smart mechanical components for mold makers. Lib3D, a third party product available from VX's Italian distributor, Antares Italia...

Fingerprint logon for data collection.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... JobPack Inc. (www.jobpack.com) is now offering its Production Scheduler software with biometric-fingerprint logon for operator data collection and reporting. The operator simply touches the fingerprint reader to access the shop floor data...

Cimatron offers new toolshop package.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
August 1, 2006... Cimatron North America (www.cimatron.com) is offering a new version of their flagship CAD/CAM suite, Version 7.1 of CimatronE. The new release offers change management, hybrid CAD functions optimized for tooling, new and improved applicative...

Putting a stop to lathes.(PRACTICAL IDEAS)
August 1, 2006... Operators often struggle with keeping the end of bar work pressed against the length stop as the chuck actuates and the drawtube pulls backwards when working on a lathe. This slows the job down because operators, uncertain if the bar end is...

Milling U.(PRACTICAL IDEAS)
August 1, 2006... I had to make 36 1.5-in.-thick, 3.5-in.-square blocks of 1018 steel into U-shaped pieces for mounting to a die in a stamping press. The slot of the U-shape ran 2-in. long, 1.250-in. wide and completely through the material thickness. While I...

Anti-vibration adaptor for milling with long overhangs.(SPINDLES AND ACCESSORIES)
August 1, 2006... The Coromant Capto Damped Milling Adaptor, recently introduced by Sandvik Coromant (www.coromant.sandvik.com/us), reduces vibration while milling with long overhangs. The product's sophisticated dampening mechanism eliminates any perceptible...

New presetting system for long tools.(SPINDLES AND ACCESSORIES)
August 1, 2006... Speroni and BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling Inc. (www.bigkaiser.com) are introducing the new STP-35 Basic and STP-35 EzVision tool presetting systems designed to handle longer tool lengths. The STP-35 systems will be on display at IMTS. The...

Interchangeable reaming head system.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Iscar Metals Inc. (www.iscarmetals.com) says its Bayo T-Ream reamers with interchangeable carbide heads are best for mass-production industries because of their quick setup and indexing times. The interchangeable design allows one shank to be...

Parting tools with 7 cut-off angles.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Kaiser Tool Company (www.thinbit.com) offers its line of Groove 'N Turn inserts both with and without 7[degrees] cut-off lead angles and with either right or left hand cutoff angles. The company says this line of inserts offers customers a...

Inserts for high-speed cutting.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... CBN050C-grade inserts from Seco-Carboloy (www.secocarboloy.com) have a low CBN-content substrate and a PVD coating for machining in the range of 650 to 825 sfm. They are available in solid, full-face and brazed multicorner and single-tip shapes...

Milling inserts.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... Sandvik Coromant (www.sandvik.com) unveils two new generation milling insert grades, GC1030 and GC4240, that the company says allow for higher efficiency in steel milling. The GC1030 grade uses a PVD coating to improve wear resistance and...

Array of new grinding wheels.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
August 1, 2006... The CITCO and Gardner Abrasives Operations of Cinetic Landis Grinding Corp. (www.gardnerabrasives.com) have announced an array of new grinding wheels for use with conventional or high-speed spindles. Included are Gardner's Black Magic disc...

Machine tool companies form business unit.(COMPANY NEWS)
August 1, 2006... MAG Industrial Automation Systems in Sterling Heights, Mich. (www.mag-ias.com) has aligned its Cincinnati Machine, Giddings & Lewis Machine Tools and Cincinnati Automation & Test (formerly CL Automation) business units to work as a single...

New waterjet product manager.(COMPANY NEWS)
August 1, 2006... Bystronic Inc. in Hauppauge, N.Y. (www.bystrinic.com) has appointed Jeffrey Day as product manager of waterjet cutting systems. Day will be responsible for all marketing and product management activities relating to Bystronic's waterjet product...

The manufacturing czar deals with unrest.(GOVERNMENT MATTERS)
August 1, 2006... In answer to complaints that manufacturing was the forgotten sector in the U.S. economy, President Bush promised to appoint a "manufacturing czar" in December 2003. Manufacturing had suffered through three years of steady decline, almost three...

Thinking inside the box.(MACHINE OF THE MONTH)
August 1, 2006... Bridgeport returns to its boxway roots with the introduction of the GX 1000 B vertical machining center. Highlights of the machine include the company's special rigid boxway design that significantly dampens vibration at the cut and a generous...

Manufacturer of nontoxic-dust mask not liable for misuse.(LAW & LIABILITY)
August 1, 2006... James K. Triplett, a pipefitter from 1976 to 1985 at the Colgate-Palmolive plant in Jacksonville, Ind., died of lung cancer in 1999. Triplett's widow filed a product liability suit against Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing Co. (3M) stating...

Injured driver can sue employer's customer.(LAW & LIABILITY)
August 1, 2006... As an employee of Buckeye Metal Co., a broker, processor and recycler of scrap metal, Artis Stinnett was required to drive a tractor-trailer loaded with large steel bins that Buckeye provided to its customers as receptacles for scrap metal....

How do you measure up? Putting hard numbers on your gut feelings: AM benchmark data lets you measure your shop against the rest.(BENCHMARKING)(Cover story)
August 1, 2006... THE AMERICAN MACHINIST 2006 benchmark survey of the U.S. machine shop industry is a valuable tool that can help to make a shop more efficient and profitable. However, as with any tool--and this is a new one--the user has to know how to use it...

The Beam Team: machining as a matter of life and death.(MEDICAL)
August 1, 2006... IF JOHN BARR MISSES A DELIVERY DATE, THE cancer patient whose life depends on him has to wait to get treatment. Barr and his crew of machinists produce patient-specific compensators and apertures that are used to target proton beams in...

Machining titanium implants: new tools and techniques keep medical manufacturing shops healthy.(MEDICAL MACHINING)
August 1, 2006... MEDICAL DEVICE MANUFACTURERS FACE TOUGH challenges. Their customers are demanding ever smaller, more complex parts produced with extraordinary accuracies from difficult to machine materials, such as titanium. On top of this, they must operate...

Fluid system beats the drum: frugal shops stay clean and safe with centralized fluid storage and handling.(FLUID CONTAINMENT)
August 1, 2006... MOST SHOPS FIND THE STORAGE and handling of fluids used in their operations an expensive headache. Spills incur costly clean-up procedures and result in expensive lost product. Storing and handling 55-gallon drums takes a lot of valuable shop...

Match and win: innovations improve pairing cutters to applications for optimized machining.(CUTTING TOOLS)
August 1, 2006... Cutting tool substrates, coatings and edge preparations play a crucial part in efficient machining and often make or break a metal cutting operation. These elements, together with embedded chipbreaker and corner radii, determine the suitability...

Two vises are good, but five increase production.(CASE BOOKS)
August 1, 2006... Vincent Precision Machining (www.vpmachining.com) slashed its setup times for medical components to less than one minute per part from five minutes per part by changing its workholding. In addition, the change allowed the shop to put more parts...

Shop wins work off the internet: Eric's Tool Room does jobs such as nitrous oxide valves for the medical industry.(CASE BOOKS)
August 1, 2006... Eric's Tool Room Inc. of Celina, Ohio, does all sorts of work, from maintenance and repair of die cavities to machining castings weighing up to 3,000 lb. But the shop's primary focus is on prototyping jobs. Finding this type of work is not...

Encoders slide into medical precision.(CASE BOOKS)
August 1, 2006... Virtual Microscopy, or the creation, management and analysis of digital slides via a computer monitor, helps pathologists overcome many of the obstacles associated with using glass microscope slides. At the forefront of this technology, Aperio...

CNC complements machine's abilities.(CASE BOOKS)
August 1, 2006... When designing its new Twin Series line of dual-spindle production machines, DMG America (www.dmgamerica.com) wanted to incorporate a CNC that would help the machine to give users benefits before, during and after machining cycles. To...

IMTS 2006 promises to be rich.(FROM THE EDITOR)
August 1, 2006... When IMTS 2006 opens in early September, the U.S. economy will be posting its 19th consecutive quarter of economic expansion. And, importantly for everyone at IMTS, the economic expansion we have had has been particularly good for...

IMTS '06.
August 1, 2006... INCORPORATING THE LATEST MANUFACTURING TECHNOLOGY IS PARAMOUNT to competing in today's global economy. And what better place to view such technology than at IMTS '06? The show promises more than 15,000 new machine tools, controls, computers,...

Conveying a good story.(LAST WORD)
August 1, 2006... For decades, conveyor belts have put in guest appearances in cliffhanger movies such as "The Perils of Pauline," and in song, as in The Coasters "Along Came Jones," where the heroine is tied up and sent on to her imminent finish. You may even...

Cutting contest wraps up at IMTS.(LAST WORD)
August 1, 2006... Mori Seiki USA (www.moriseiki.com) will announce the winners of its "Innovations of the Americas" cutting contest at IMTS 2006. The contest is open to any company, school or research institution in North, Central and South America that is...

Chips-n-burns.(Cartoon)
August 1, 2006... Well, our vendors have to know SEVEN Sigma. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Am Lit review.
August 1, 2006... These brochures, catalogs and technical bulletins are free. To order copies, visit www.aminfo.biz/000.ad and type in the appropriate numbers. TO ADVERTISE IN THIS SECTION, CONTACT JIM LUCAS AT 216.696.7000. GibbsCAM Interactive Tour ...