American Machinist articles from February 2003

American Machinist archives from February 2003

It takes customer focus for a business to fly high. (editorial).
February 1, 2003... Getting the economy off the ground is no easy task; just ask the airlines. Major carriers are cutting jobs, reducing flights, seeking wage and benefit concessions, and even filing bankruptcy in an effort to rebuild and return to profitability....

Computer tool boosts aerospace production. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... Turnaround of aircraft components is typically long and laborious. However, a new computer tool promises to increase throughput of 5-axis aluminum components. Cimskil is a computer-aided process planning (CAPP) tool developed under the...

Smart coatings for smarter Army vehicles. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... A smart coating might someday allow military vehicles to detect damage, such as scratches and corrosion, and repair themselves. The vehicles could even change color on the battlefield, creating instant camouflage. Researchers at the New...

Making software easier to use. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... Productivity suffers when shops are stuck with software that is poorly designed, inappropriate for specific tasks, or, in general, difficult to use. But a new standard could help remedy these headaches. Computer scientists at the National...

Microwave machining. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... A new drilling technique using microwave radiation could have applications in the production of ceramic components for cars and planes. Pioneered by researchers at Tel Aviv University in Israel, the microwave-drilling technique is less...

Fit for duty? (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... A European group, called FITNET (Fitness-for-service Network), is working to develop and extend the use of fitness-for-service procedures for metallic components throughout Europe. The goal is to formulate an agreed-upon European procedure,...

Sonic, the cruiser. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... Cincinnati Machine, Cincinnati, has joined an elite group to develop technology for Boeing's Sonic Cruiser. The airplane is designed to fly much faster using less fuel than today's best-performing widebody twinjets. The enterprise team, headed...

Lean, mean, and forklift-free. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... Forget about forklifts. That's what Kinetic Technologies LLC (K-Tec), Willoughby Hills, Ohio, is telling shops. And it has a supporter in General Motors Corp., which is ditching forklifts in its new Tonawanda, N.Y., engine plant. General...

Make dense, complex-shaped ceramics at a lower cost. (technology trends).
February 1, 2003... A new ceramic-processing method could lead to lightweight, tough, and hard ceramic parts manufactured at a lower cost than conventional techniques. Possible applications for the new ceramic composite include advanced machine tools and body...

Cutting-edge literature. (Company news).
February 1, 2003... The new Solid Carbide catalog from Union Butterfield features the company's expanded offering of solid-carbide drills and end mills. Application-material charts help users select the appropriate end mill or drill and specify operating...

Milling and routing cutters. (Company news).
February 1, 2003... A new catalog from Onsrud Cutter features over 500 milling and routing cutters for aluminum, plastic, and composite materials used in the aircraft industry. The literature recommends "best of" tools for machining where speed, quality of cut,...

New technology stiffens spindle. (Spindles).
February 1, 2003... Motorized bearing technology developed by Colibri Spindles improves the stiffness and performance of its brushless, high-speed, aerostatic spindle. The spindle comes with either a collet for tools having a 0.5-mm shaft or with a Dom taper for...

Robust spindle does precision work. ((Spindles)).
February 1, 2003... Higher horsepower and additional AirShield protection have been added to the Setco line of high-efficiency, high-torque Motorized Compact Spindles (MCS). The three standard models--MCS-1, MCS-1HS, and MCS-2--come equipped with a 40-mm...

Extended drill family. (Cutting products).
February 1, 2003... Carboloy has expanded its Crown-Loc drill system to include an M-geometry crown optimized for hard-to-drill materials and a special chamfer module that lets shops chamfer and drill in one operation. The M-geometry is tough enough for...

New tooling for Mazaks. (Cutting products).
February 1, 2003... Valenite is offering VM modular, quick-change tooling packages for Mazak Integrex 100Y, 200Y, 200SY, 300Y, and 400Y machine models. The Mazak machine models are already equipped with spindles that accept the VM tooling connection. All VM...

Extra-sharp drill. (Cutting products).
February 1, 2003... According to Sandvik, its new CoroDrill R840 Delta C drill, designed with bronze-colored grade GC1220 carbide, handles higher feedrates and higher speeds than previous models of solid-carbide drills. The drill is available in diameters...

A turn for the better. (Cutting products).
February 1, 2003... When cermet is too brittle and carbide wears too quickly, jobshops can turn to Sumitomo's new T2000Z for high-speed finishing steel. The cutter is coated with the company's ZX coating technology, which has high hardness, peeling and...

Modified-tool service. (Cutting products).
February 1, 2003... The Novex Express tool service lets customers quickly order application-specific indexable inserts, turning tools, and milling/drilling tools from Walter Waukesha. Walter customers place their tool inquiry using the Novex Express data sheet,...

V is for versatility. (Cutting products).
February 1, 2003... The new MTC-PC insert features a double-V design for maximum stability. It also has full-nose radius geometry for plunging and contouring. With a cutting-edge geometry exceeding 180 [degrees], the MTC-PC provides versatility and good chip...

Three regions contribute to November machine tool consumption dip. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... According to AMT--The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA), November U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $145.52 million. This is down 9.7% from October and a 4.3%...

Code editor now part of software. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Surfware Inc., Westlake Village, Calif., announced that all Surfcam products will now include Predator CNC Editor software. Predator CNC Editor is an NC code editor manufactured by Predator Software Inc., Portland, Ore. With this common...

Business manager hired for machine tool division. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Siemens Energy & Automation, Alpharetta Ga., has appointed Wolfgang Rubrecht general manager for its machine tool business unit. Rubrecht was formerly director of business development for machine tool end users for Siemens AG, A&D MC in...

Fredericksburg, Va.... Walter Grinders Inc. opened its third U.S. facility in Los Angeles for training, demonstrating products, and customer support. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Fredericksburg, Va.... Walter Grinders Inc. opened its third U.S. facility in Los Angeles for training, demonstrating products, and customer support. The company is also increasing the number of technicians on the West coast.

Spanish brush manufacturer acquired. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Jason Inc., owner of Osborn International, has acquired Astro Brushes S.L. and Cepillos Solvaces S.L., Valencia, Spain. Terms were not announced. Astro and Cepillos Solvaces have been merged and named Osborn International S.L. The new business...

Noblesville, Ind.... Index Corp. has opened its new 60,000 [ft.sup.2] corporate headquarters in the Indianapolis area. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Noblesville, Ind.... Index Corp. has opened its new 60,000 [ft.sup.2] corporate headquarters in the Indianapolis area. The facility contains a machine-demonstration area, assembly and setup area, parts storage, shipping and receiving, tool...

Rochester.... Optical Gaging Products Inc. (OGP), has relocated its Western Technology Center to Denver from Tempe, Ariz. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Rochester.... Optical Gaging Products Inc. (OGP), has relocated its Western Technology Center to Denver from Tempe, Ariz. The 5,000 [ft.sup.2] facility will support sales, technology, service, and training for OGP customers in western U.S.,...

Ann Arbor, Mich.... Richard E. Morley has been elected chairman of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences Board of Directors. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Ann Arbor, Mich.... Richard E. Morley has been elected chairman of the National Center for Manufacturing Sciences Board of Directors. According to the organization, Morley is known for creating the programmable controller. He is president and...

Hoffman Estates, Ill ... Bosch Rexroth's Industrial Hydraulics Division is celebrating its 50th anniversary. (business trends).
February 1, 2003... Hoffman Estates, Ill... Bosch Rexroth's Industrial Hydraulics Division is celebrating its 50th anniversary. It manufactures hydraulic components, specially adapted electronic modules, and advanced simulation technology. U.S. operations are in...

Software division goes independent. (International).
February 1, 2003... LightWork Design, Sheffield, U.K., has spun-off its MachineWorks Division as an independent company, MachineWorks Ltd. MachineWorks develops and markets CNC simulation and verification software. LightWork Design will continue to concentrate on...

U.K. tube company purchase. (International).
February 1, 2003... H. Rollet & Co., Liverpool, U.K., a manufacturer of precision waveguide and nonferrous tubing, has been purchased by A.T. Wall Co., Warwick, R.I. Wall designs and manufactures exotic metal tubing, small tubular shapes, miniature and special...

Machine complex parts in a single setup. (machine of the month).
February 1, 2003... Miyano's LZ-01R quick loading, 2-axis CNC turning center with flexible automation targets industries involved with automotive, bearing, and cold header applications, or performing secondary operations. The compact, LZ-01R handles high-volume...

Efficient transfer of CAD models. (bits & bytes).
February 1, 2003... With CADfix 5.1, users can move product data from one CAD/CAM/CAE system to another, without losing data, and access or exchange product data from any system. The latest CAD-data-interoperability tool from ITI TranscenData, version 5.1 sports a...

Machine nearly any solid-model file. (bits & bytes).
February 1, 2003... With hundreds of design programs on the market, data translation can be a real problem for CAM systems. However, with the OneCNC XP CAD/CAM program, users can design, import, and machine 3D Nurbs surfaces and solid models from a variety of...

Program mill-turn and turning cutting cycles. (bits & bytes).
February 1, 2003... Available in DP Technology's Esprit 2003, Esprit SolidMillTurn CAM software includes traditional, advanced, production, free-form, and free-form 5-axis levels for programming multifunctional and Swiss-style lathes and mill-turn machine tools....

Foundry worker loses product-liability suit. (law & liability).
February 1, 2003... Pedro Fidalgo, a worker at the Palmer Foundry in Massachusetts, was seriously injured when a one-half-ton mold he was hoisting disengaged from foundry hooks, fell from the hoist, and pinned Fidalgo beneath. Fidalgo sued the manufacturer of...

Grinder operator allowed to sue manufacturer for design defect. (law & liability).
February 1, 2003... Walter Clarke worked for Favorite Plastics Inc. On August 13, 1996, Clarke was operating a plastics grinding machine, which takes plastic strips and grinds them into plastic granules. When a jam occurred in the machine's cutting chamber, Clarke...

Factory worker's tinnitus claim filed too late. (law & liability).
February 1, 2003... Lucio Chapa worked for John Deere Ottumwa Works in Iowa from the mid-1960s to 1995. He was regularly exposed to noise at work. Routine audiometric testing showed that Chapa sustained some hearing loss over the years, but never enough to qualify...

Faster than just-in-time: the latest in punch grinders lets shops cope with hectic job schedules. (grinding).
February 1, 2003... Just-in-time (JIT) manufacturing is critical to stay competitive for most shops, but it's particularly true for punch-grinding firms. This is because job turnaround times that were once 3 or 4 weeks have dwindled to a few days. And in some...

Raising the bar: ballbar testing optimizes manufacturing of high-tolerance parts. (quality).
February 1, 2003... In medical, aerospace, and other precision industries, ballbar testing is essential for quality control--determining a machine tool's capabilities before post-process part inspection. The ballbar sees motion-effecting errors that exist in the...

Team turnkey: how a diverse group of players joined forces to build a winning production cell. (partners in productivity).
February 1, 2003... When Sta-Rite Industries decided to automate production of a part family, it knew that it needed help. The parts, which had always been manufactured in an operator-driven process, required multiple setups, and many were made of a tough...

Let's use new technology to our advantage. (viewpoint).
February 1, 2003... While there are many opinions and ideas as to why U.S. manufacturing is in a crisis, the two most cited reasons, according to the many people I talked with at last year's IMTS Show, is a depressed economy and American work going offshore. ...

Idea for best supporting bracket. (practical ideas).
February 1, 2003... My idea is a support bracket for turning long, slender, small-diameter work. The bracket, or follower rest, secures the workpiece and eliminates taper when removing small amounts of stock. It clamps above the lathe tool. Carlos Hinojosa...

Cutoff work gets the razor's edge. (practical ideas).
February 1, 2003... I turn small-diameter parts from plastics as soft as 95 on the Durometer A scale. Using conventional cutoff tools on such material, pushes instead of cuts and deforms the part's backside, so it is not perpendicular to the centerline. I then...

Machining cell streamlines valve production. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... Cross Manufacturing Inc., a maker of hydraulic components, needed to overhaul an outdated valve-producing line. The goal was to increase production, quality, and flexibility by incorporating standard horizontal machining centers with pallet...

Shop gets with the program. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... Purchasing cutting tool blanks and having an in-house toolmaker custom grind them wasn't working for Wyandotte Industries in Wyandotte, Mich., so the shop joined the Ready 2 Ship program. It now gets professional-grade custom tooling when it...

Tooling remedies elbow-joint threading. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... Working with titanium is a challenge; just ask Jet Engineering Inc., producer of custom alloy parts for medical implants. The shop was threading titanium elbow joints with a solid-carbide threading bar and experienced problems with chips...

Measuring system ensures shop's accreditation. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... To meet growing customer demands, JCI Metrology Services, part of the Global Division of Johnson Controls' Systems and Services, North America, had to expand the scope of its ISO/IEC-17025 accreditation. This meant the company, which conducts...

Shop mills electrodes and hardened parts with one machine. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... Most of the work at Advanced Machining Corp., Salisbury, N.C., centers around the sinker-EDM process. That's because the shop produces tooling--forgings, stamping dies, and plastic-injection molds--out of metals ranging in hardness from 56-58...

EDM proves vital for machining surgical tools. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... For Classic Wire Cut, a shop specializing in manufacturing minimally invasive surgical instrumentation, workpieces often require the accuracy of EDM. In such situations, the Valencia, Calif., company relies on, among other systems, five Robofil...

Shop generates savings on nitrogen. (casebooks).
February 1, 2003... The speed aluminum extrudes is limited by the need to avoid cracking and tearing that occurs when the profile's surface temperature approaches the melting phases of the aluminum alloy. These high temperatures cause oxidation and negatively...

Bus systems reduce installation cost. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The DuraDrive drive system has servo motors and servo drives for decentralized use at the machine. Standardized bus systems, including SERCOS, Profibus, Interbus, DeviceNet, and CanOpen, reduce installation outlay. The system has a number...

CNCs use UMAC or QMAC. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Advantage 810 CNCs include an operator console and UMAC for 5-axis applications with axes expansion capability or operator console and QMAC 4-axis motion controller. With the UMAC, the Advantage 810 gets an open-architecture PC/104 CPU,...

Alternative in programming CNCs. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Manual Guide i software provides easy-to-use, graphical instruction for programming Series 16i, 18i, and 21i open-system CNCs. It features part-program editing so users can cut and paste or copy specific program sections. Guidance messages in G...

Panel replaces pushbuttons. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The Sinumerik TP 012 touch panel replaces conventional pushbuttons and pilot devices in various machining applications. It has a customizable operator interface based on Microsoft Windows platforms. The 12.1-in. touch TFT color display has...

Dual-axis programmable motion controller. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The EMP402 is a dual-axis programmable motion controller for coordinated motion for dual 2 or 5-phase hybrid stepping motor systems. A jerk-limit control offers speed change smoothness at critical motion transition points of starting and...

PLC and motion control. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The CX1000 automation control is a modular, DIN rail-mounted industrial PC that combines Microsoft embedded operating systems and TwinCAT CE PLC and motion-control software. It has a system that runs 1,000 PLC commands in 52 [micro]/sec and...

Air-powered or hydropneumatic press control. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Schmidt's PressControl PC50 is a two-hand control system for its air-powered and hydropneumatic presses or other electropneumatically or hydraulically operated equipment. The system features an optoelectronic cycle-initiation device, electronic...

Lathes perform microturning. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The Schaublin Model 70 instrument lathes provide miniature and microturning in laboratory, research and development, and prototyping applications. The lathes feature a digital readout system with programmable speeds to 5,000 rpm and a W12...

Metal-removing coolants and oils. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Blaser Swisslube manufactures Blasocut and Vasco coolants for all-purpose use and Grindex for grinding. The company's cutting oils include Blasomill and Vascomill. A CD/ROM about the coolants includes interactive tools such as a calculator to...

Removes liquid from metal chips. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Vari-Screen chip wringers use 550 G of centrifugal force and uniform feed distribution for optimum dewatering and de-oiling of metal chips. A self-cleaning, horizontal bowl lets chips discharge by gravity. The bowl adjusts for the best...

Lubricators apply grease. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... G-Power and M-Power single-point lubricators apply precise amounts of lubricant to bearings, as well as chains, guideways, gears, and seals. G-Power units not only work in traditional industrial settings but high-humidity, high-corrosion,...

Indexing rotary table aids in finishing. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The Model RXS-800 indexing rotary-table blast system has a 36-in.-diameter table with four ball-bearing spindles, each fitted with a part-holding fixture. A cam indexer rotates the table in precise steps, moving workpieces from the load/unload...

Vibratory finishers. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Model KVF3 vibratory finishers use the gentle vibrating action of rotating media to deburr, polish, and finish. They have a 3.3-[ft.sup.3] steel tub with cast urethane lining for easy loading/unloading; a 3/4-hp, 110-V AC motor, rugged steel...

Position bolt-hole probes. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... US-1518 ScanDex helps position eddy current bolt-hole probes by mechanically maintaining the eddy-current coil parallel to holes. There are removable adapters to fit most common engine components that require handheld, high-speed bolt-hole...

Automatic machine doors. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Midaco's automatic door systems use an air cylinder to open and close the doors by either a manual pushbutton or M-function on the machine. There are also door-mounted safety strips that quickly remove air pressure when obstructions are...

Tower signals machine status. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The LCE slim signal tower is 40-mm-diameter and uses bright LEDs to indicate machine status. It comes with up to five colors, a 300-mm pole assembly, and mounting bracket. Patlite Corp. Torrance, Calif. www.patlite.com Circle 325...

VMC has stiff, rigid spindle. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The S33 VMC features a 40-taper, 13,000-rpm spindle, 20-tool magazine, and an ATC. Linear-motion guides on the X, Y, and Z axes provide quick rapid traverse and 1,575-ipm feedrates. The machine maintains positioning accuracies to within [+ or...

Stable, stiff bed for machine's traveling column. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The X-Mill machining center has a stable and stiff bed structure for its high-speed traveling carriage. The unit machines a variety of materials with rapid travels up to 2,362 ipm, quick acceleration, and an integrated 15,000-rpm, 30-hp-motor...

No heavy column movement on HMC. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... To eliminate heavy column movement, the TAL HE 60-H HMC features a traveling saddle or cross slide for X and Y axes mounted on a fixed column. The nonmoving column provides rigidity and accuracy for the machine's 60-m/min rapid travel and...

Machine large workpieces. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Well suited for wet, dry, or graphite machining, the HSM 800 moves workpieces weighing up to 2,200 lb with its 1.7-G acceleration in three dimensions and wide-spaced guideways. A liquid-cooled spindle motor with hybrid ceramic ball bearings...

EDM cutting system. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... Basic WEDM wire cutting systems include a chuck, a fixed and adjustable toolholder, and several clamping components. They offer 0.002-mm positioning in every axis and are easy to operate. Erowa Technology Inc. Arlington Heights, Ill....

Entry-level EDMs. (Spotlight: manufacturing controls).
February 1, 2003... The Xenon wire-cut for general job shop and die/mold applications is part of the ActSpark entry-level EDM line. Its X/Y/Z travels are 13.8X9.8X8.7 in. Die sinkers in the line include the SP and SE series machines, which feature 3 or 4-axis...

Calendar.
February 1, 2003... february February 18-20, 2003, Machine Safeguarding Seminar, Rockford, Ill., Rockford Systems Inc., (800) 922-7533, www.rockfordsystems.com February 18-21, 2003, Machinery Analysis II, Charlotte, Reliability Maintenance Institute,...

Safety glasses anyone? (100 years ago in American Machinist).
February 1, 2003... Oculists wrote into AMERICAN MACHINIST regularly with techniques for removing metal chips from workmen's eyes. In the February 5, 1903, issue, one such eye "doctor" had three good pieces of advice for those extracting hot chips from eyes. ...

Bold new style. (50 years ago in American Machinist).
February 1, 2003... The January 1953, GM Motorama prompted AM editors to declare, "The day of the American sports car has dawned." They continued with: "Enthusiastic reaction to new sports cars shown in New York leaves no doubt but that they will become regular...