American Machinist articles from June 2003

American Machinist archives from June 2003

Good pudding takes commitment. (Editorial).
June 1, 2003... I WOULD BE WILLING TO BET THAT, AT ONE TIME OR another you've heard, perhaps even used, the saying "The proof is in the pudding." To be honest, I've used it on occasion. But it wasn't until someone asked me to explain the meaning that I...

Shifting strategy for overseas sales. (Technology Trends).
June 1, 2003... HOW DOES A MACHINE TOOL builder that is dominating the European market translate its strategy for sales success into its U.S. operations? AMERICAN MACHINIST posed this and many other questions to Peter Riehle, president and CEO of DMG America,...

Jaw-dropping success? (Technology Trends).
June 1, 2003... A NEW METHOD OF MANUFACTURING bone implants could mean less-painful surgeries for patients. Researchers from the University of Illinois and Sandia National Laboratories are working on a process that would allow artificial porous implants, such...

Strong support for new business enterprise. (Technology Trends).
June 1, 2003... SINCE IT ACQUIRED HITACHI SEIKI Co. Ltd. late last year, Mori Seiki Co. Ltd., Nara, Japan, has been busy establishing Mori Seiki Hitech--one could say they've reestablished the organization, although it's more than that. Mori Seiki Hitech not...

March tool consumption up. (Business Trends).
June 1, 2003... MARCH U. S. MACHINE TOOL CONSUMPTION jumped 40.9% from February, to $154.19 million, reports AMT--The Association For Manufacturing Technology and the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association (AMTDA). However, the number dropped 13.6%...

AMT to open third China facility. (Business Trends).
June 1, 2003... AMT Is OPENING A SERVICE AND TECHNOLOGY CENTER IN China later this year. It will join two other AMT China offices, the Beijing Representative Office and the Shanghai Liaison Office. The center will serve as a base of operations for member...

Ingersoll International files Chapter 11. (Business Trends).
June 1, 2003... INGERSOLL INTERNATIONAL, ROCKFORD, ILL., FILED FOR Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Ingersoll manufactured machine tools and specialty machines for industrial use. The Rockford Register Star reported the corporate headquarters and plant, as...

Haas outlet opens. (Business Trends).
June 1, 2003... THE LATEST HAAS FACTORY OUTLET (HFO) IS OPEN ON the Oakland Community College campus in Auburn Hills, Mich., with a grand opening scheduled later this month. The HFO is a partnership among Haas, Haas Factory Outlet--A Division of Gerotech Inc.,...

Screw-machine producer resumes production. (Business Trends).
June 1, 2003... SCREW-MACHINE MANUFACTURER DAVENPORT MACHINE Inc., ROCHESTER, HAS RESUMED production as part of Brinkman International Group Inc. Davenport's assets were purchased earlier in the year by new CEO and President Robert Brinkman. He is the son of...

Expanding tool family. (Cutting Products).
June 1, 2003... NEW ITEMS ARE BEING ADDED TO the Multi-master line of interchangeable milling heads, including new milling-head geometries; more steel, tungsten, and carbide shanks; and a new adapter to enable mounting Multi-master heads on Flexfit extension...

New milling grades. (Cutting Products).
June 1, 2003... KENNAMETAL'S KC915M AND KC935M milling grades take advantage of recent Kennametal advances in coating technology to run 30% longer than the grades they replace. KC915M is for semi-finishing to roughing of cast iron and ductile irons, while...

Spade-drill-insert blanks. (Cutting Products).
June 1, 2003... SPADE-DRILL-INSERT BLANKS FEATURE preformed facets, which require minimal grinding and are available in five sizes ranging from 3/8 to 1 3/8 in. Inserts are available in FS (blank) and FS-N (chip groove), in two grades of high-speed steel,...

Pre-engineered end mills. (Cutting Products).
June 1, 2003... A NEW LINE OF SOLID-CARBIDE END mills are pre-engineered for optimum application-specific performance and come in a full range of sizes. The mill substrates, cutting geometries, and coatings are engineered for hard machining, high-speed...

New PCD division. (Company News).
June 1, 2003... GUHRING INC. IS ADDING A NEW division to increase capacity and support for its domestic production of diamond tooling. The diamond PCD tooling tackles difficult-to-machine materials such as high-silicon-content aluminum alloys, composites,...

Tax cut provides vital boost to manufacturing. (Government Matters).
June 1, 2003... CONGRESS HAS ENACTED A powerful new package of tax cuts that will stimulate short-term economic recovery and long-term economic growth. Led by House Ways & Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas (R,Calif.) and Senate Finance Committee...

Speed and accuracy for high-volume or short-run production. (Machine of the Month).
June 1, 2003... ROMI'S G 20 CNC TURNING CENTER provides power, precision, and efficiency for mixed-volume, short-run, and high-volume applications. The machine is robust and handles heavy cuts in difficult-to-machine materials. Its swing is 17.35 in.,...

Software for universal connectivity. (Bits & Byts).
June 1, 2003... I/GEAR PROVIDES SIMPLE AND INEXPENSIVE CONNECTIVITY between most programmable logic controllers, human/machine interface software, enterprise software packages, barcode scanners, scales, and other tools used in a manufacturing environment. ...

Factory floor inspection with CAD. (Bits & Bytes).
June 1, 2003... METRIX BUILD!IT EMPLOYS 3D CAD PART MODELS FOR part measurement and inspection, dimension verification, and alignment of complex assemblies--all on the shop floor. In place of 2D prints, the software seamlessly links digital designs to...

Court enforces buyer's remedy clause. (Law & Liability).
June 1, 2003... THERMA-FAB INC. SELLS LARGE METAL PARTS THAT ARE commonly used in the petrochemical industry. Beaver Valley Alloy Foundry Co. fabricates custom metal machine parts. In October 1996, Therma-Fab sent BVA a request for a price quotation on certain...

Injured operator sues over alleged design defect. (Law & Liability).
June 1, 2003... PAUL MILLS WAS AN EMPLOYEE OF PLYMOUTH PACKAGING Co. On July 30, 1998, while he was operating a Flexo-Folder-Gluer machine, Mills's right hand was crushed when the work glove he wore got caught in the feeder roller of the machine. At the time...

Defective pipe? (Law & Liability).
June 1, 2003... BETWEEN 1971 AND 1974, Northwestern Public Service installed polyethylene pipe as part of a natural gas-distribution system. The pipe was made from DHDA-2077 Tan (Tan resin), manufactured by Union Carbide Corp. Northwestern said it...

Rebuilding an American icon: the Bridgeport knee mill is back--and still made in the U.S.A. (Machine Tools)(Cover Story).
June 1, 2003... When Bridgeport Machines closed its Connecticut headquarters last year, it looked like the end of the line for the venerable Bridgeport mill. But enter Hardinge Inc., which mobilized to bring the entire manufacturing line into its Elmira, N.Y.,...

Hybrid CMM makes multiple sense: new coordinate measuring machine is built for multisensing. (Quality).
June 1, 2003... Multiple-sensing coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) typically evolve by adding other sensing capabilities to a machine originally designed for a single sensor. For instance, some traditional touch-probe-based CMMs are using video sensors....

No longer product pushers: distributors discuss the delicacy of changing their industry's perception and practice. (Distributor Profile).
June 1, 2003... Today's shops aren't looking to increase capacity so much as to improve manufacturing operations to work in a "lean" environment. Often, these shops don't have process or service departments to do their legwork, so they rely on their...

Tapping into longer tool life. (Practical Ideas).
June 1, 2003... TAPS GENERALLY WEAR QUICKLY at the V-point of their thread profiles. These tips often break or chip, requiring more torque to run the tool. My idea prolongs tap life beyond this initial worn stage. I grind a worn tap's teeth profiles down...

Hobs in a pinch. (Practical Ideas).
June 1, 2003... MY IDEA CONVERTS ANY MODULE metric involute hob to a different type if the pitch diameters are the same between the two hobs. For instance, module gear hobs with 14.5[degrees] and 20[degrees] angular pressure convert into module spline shaft...

Ballbar testing keeps machines in line. (Casebooks).
June 1, 2003... THE 325 MACHINE TOOLS THAT SMITH & NEPHEW Orthopedics uses to make medical implants must be flexible and, more importantly, able to produce precision parts to Six Sigma. To ensure they do, the Memphis company regularly tests machine performance...

Shop gets unexpected hard-milling surprise. (Casebooks).
June 1, 2003... WHILE LOOKING FOR A MACHINE TO SPEED EDM-electrode making, Reny & Company Inc. was exposed to the concept of high-speed hard milling. As a result, the El Monte, Calif., moldmaking shop now cuts its electrodes and machines hard molds and dies...

EDM proves its worth. (Casebooks).
June 1, 2003... IT TOOK TWO TEST CUTS TO SELL Tech Tool & Mold on new EDM equipment. And after everything was said and done, the Meadville, Pa., precision tooling and mold-building shop added a third-shift, lights-out operation that cut delivery time, improved...

Software proves medical marvel. (Casebooks).
June 1, 2003... BY SWITCHING TO A NEW CAM SYSTEM, A CONTRACT--machining shop specializing in components for medical-equipment manufacturers reduces its programming time for complex parts by 80%. U. Klein GmbH's old system took so long to program parts with...

EDM handles shop's variety of jobs. (Casebooks).
June 1, 2003... MANUFACTURING ANYTHING FROM INTRICATE HUMAN hip and knee-joint elements to critical NASA shuttle flight hardware and Hubble space-telescope components takes a variety of special equipment. This is the kind of work Falciani Machine of...

CAM software helps save lives. (Casebooks).
June 1, 2003... THE JARVIK 2000 LEFT-VENTRICULAR-ASSIST DEVICE (LVAD) is the result of one researcher s vision and tenacity, supported by his skill in CAD design and his associates' CAM/CNC craftsmanship. From the LVAD development stage, Dr. Robert K. Jarvik...

Data marker. (Spotlight: marking).
June 1, 2003... THE 350 DATA MATRIX MARKER uses an electromagnetic stylus with automatic sensing in the Z axis. The system produces a repeatable 2D barcode on metal or plastic that can be read in any orientation. The code reportedly stores 50x the data...

Mark aerospace and automotive work. (Spotlight: marking).
June 1, 2003... MECCO'S COMPUTER-CONTROLLED marking system creates low-contrast 2D Data Matrix symbols for the aerospace and automotive industries. Matrix density adjusts to accommodate part size and specified marking area. Controller options let the system...

Laser-marker fits into cells. (Spotlight: marking).
June 1, 2003... THE LME-RTC LASER MARKER IS a compact, rotary-table system that integrates into cells. A single unit contains all laser, motion, electronic, and computer components. A two-position rotary indexer, available in either 24 or 32-in. diameters,...

Track marked parts. (Spotlight: marking).
June 1, 2003... THE MARK AND READ SYSTEM marks a 2D Data Matrix code as well as reads and verifies that code (including code quality). A dot peen or laser marks workpieces while cameras handle tracking. The vision system lets companies track a marked piece...

Mark large or heavy parts. (Spotlight: marking).
June 1, 2003... THE STINGER IS A HANDLEHELD, portable stylus-marking unit that tackles large, heavy, or hard-to-reach parts. The highspeed Stinger marks deep and legible characters up to 1-in. high in five standard fonts. The machine includes marker,...

Machine and turn medium/large parts. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... THE H5 GEMINEX 5-AXIS HMC combines 4 and 5-axis machining with turning. It features a linear-motor rotary table that comes in high torque (300 rpm) or high-speed (700 rpm) versions. With the table, the machine handles conventional mill-turning...

VMC accelerates at 1 G. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... INTEGRATED INTO THE X AXIS OF THE DMC 64 V linear VMC is a linear drive that lets the overhead carriage accelerate at more than 1 G to a speed of 2,755 ipm. The machine has a 12,000-rpm spindle and a 30-tool ATC. A Siemens Sinumerik CNC is...

Bridge-type, 5-axis machining. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... THE MPF-10 (5IX) BRIDGE-TYPE 5-axis machining center offers an A axis (head swivel) and C axis (table rotation). Its rigid head has a 230-mm-diameter snout that lets it reach into deep cavities while maintaining heavy-duty machining. The...

EDM produces large parts. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... THE BROTHER HS-70A WIPE EDM FEATURES GLASS LINEAR scales and large workpiece capacity. It handles a variety of tool-and-die, medical, and production parts as well as form tools, including PCD. The machine comes with a user/machine interface...

Improved EDM programming. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... THE LATEST RELEASE OF GIBBSCAM HAS IMPROVED programming for 2 through 4-axis wire EDMs. Enhanced features include user-configurable EDM technology (EPAK) settings, part geometry associative to the machining operation, multilevel part thickness...

Wheels stay sharp. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... ACCORDING TO THE manufacturer, Cimform MSB grinding wheels use abrasives that remain sharper than traditional fused aluminum oxide. The sol-gel abrasives microfracture during use, sharpening the wheel by creating new grinding surfaces. The MSB...

Grind exotic materials. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... REPUBLIC-LAGUN HAS introduced two high-abrasive CNC vertical grinding centers, which tackle materials such as titanium and Inconel. Both offer 18 or 23-station ATCs that hold grinding wheels and standard tools. These VGCs do precision grinding...

Finish hone tapered bores. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... THE 3VC-24 VERTICAL CONE HONE finish hones tapered bores as well as straight or blind end bores. For example, the machine can finish hone the conical centerhole surface of a mold ring with an 8-in. I.D. 60-in. O.D., and a 24-in. depth. ...

Tool protection. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... HI-TEMP 309 TOOL WRAP IS A material that protects tools and parts from scale and oxide buildup during heat treating in atmospheric furnaces. It provides the benefits of a vacuum furnace at a fraction of the cost, says its manufacturer. The...

Control and report software. (New Equipment).
June 1, 2003... DATA COLLECTION CONTROL ENGINE (DC-Engine) software provides automatic report generation of machine tool performance plus work-order status and use. Used with the DTU-3 data-transmission unit, this software also supplies real-time status, an...

The need for speed. (100 Years Ago In ... American Machinist).
June 1, 2003... IN ITS JUNE 4, 1903, ISSUE, AMERICAN MACHINIST RAN AN excerpt from the magazine The Horseless Age about a new disease called Automania, defined by the Hypnologie et de Psychologie, Paris. "Persons in position to increase their speed at will...

Car talk. (50 Years Ago In ... American Machinist).
June 1, 2003... CARS WERE UNDERGOING MANY CHANGES IN 1953, and AM editors were reporting those developments and making predictions about future innovations in the June 22nd issue. Current developments included power steering, made available by Mercury and...

Twisted literature distribution. (Retrospective).
June 1, 2003... NORTON CO.'s GRINDING MACHINE DIVISION EXPERIENCED tornado devastation to the tune of $1 million on June 8, 1953. Luckily, the plant was hit during a shift change, so there were no fatalities there, even though the company's cafeteria roof...