American Machinist articles from November 2006

American Machinist archives from November 2006

Asbestos-containing-product seller not liable.(LAW & LIABILITY)
November 1, 2006... Thomas Briggs retired in 1982, contracted lung cancer and later died as a result of exposure to asbestos-containing brake shoes at one of the places he worked. In February 2000, his widow filed a wrongful death suit against 71 companies ...

Employees' noncompete contract unenforceable.(LAW & LIABILITY)
November 1, 2006... Willard Packaging Co. Inc. is a Maryland corporation that manufactures and distributes packaging materials throughout Maryland, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Delaware. In March 1998, Dana Salkeld, one of the owners of Willard, hired...

Laser use heats up: affordable and effective lasers find their way into more heat treating operations.(LASER HEAT TREATING)
November 1, 2006... Since their development, lasers have experienced limited use in metal heat treating primarily because they were expensive as compared with other common heat treating methods. However, the situation is changing as lasers become more affordable...

Money for manufacturing: government funding is out there. What are you waiting for?(FINANCE)
November 1, 2006... The U.S. Government spends billions of dollars annually on manufactured goods, new advanced manufacturing technologies and related activities. Unfortunately, a lot of shops pass up the opportunity to cash in on such funding because they do not...

Productivity in a multiworld: just how beneficial are multispindle and multitasking machines?(BENCH MARKING)
November 1, 2006... AT IMTS 2006, THE MACHINING industry's march toward a "multiworld"--one of multitasking and multispindle machines--was on full display. What show attendees saw were significant changes in machining processes made possible by such machines. The...

Icing hard turning: a new process promises to freeze cycle time and tooling costs.(TURNING)
November 1, 2006... A NEW HARD TURNING PROCESS IS about to debut, and its developers say it can knock rough grinding down to 15 minutes from as much as four hours. Moreover, the process is supposed to reduce tooling costs by 85 percent, while improving tolerances...

Software propels shop's production.(CASEBOOKS)
November 1, 2006... Because of the challenges presented by the automotive industry, Regal Prototypes Inc., a tooling supplier that specializes in sheet metal stampings, production tool and die and assembly/ welding, wanted to diversify its business, and move into...

24-hour crib service.(CASEBOOKS)
November 1, 2006... Crown Equipment, a manufacturer of electric lift trucks, needed a better way to manage its indirect materials because the system it was using did not provide adequate inventory access. The shop's machine operators had to have access to company...

Lasers plot the best route for shop's AGVs.(CASEBOOKS)
November 1, 2006... Mitsubishi Motors North America has used automated guided vehicles in its metal stamping area since the Normal, Ill., plant opened in 1988. However, the original system, a wire-guided one built in Japan, had several problems. A digital...

New modular roughness measuring system.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... The new W55 Roughness Measurement System from Detroit Precision Hommel (www.dphgage.com) is designed to operate within a production line acquiring and archiving measured values of roughness, profile and waviness or to continuously monitor...

Kalamazoo offers two new band saws.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... Kalamazoo Machine Tool (www.kmtsaw.com) is now offering the KS450 semi-automatic and H235 manual band saws. The KS450 is designed for production sawing of solids and structural shapes up to 14 in. at 90 degrees in full cycle,...

New benchtop robot from dispense works.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... The RP Series Benchtop Robot from Dispense Works Inc. (www.dispenseworks.com) is designed to combine dispensing applications with assembly, staking, labeling, and other production processes. The company says the robot's high payload capacity...

New lazer marking technology.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... The Electrox (www.electrox.com) Raptor is a compact laser marking system that uses their new EF technology. The technology provides very short energy pulses--25ns compared with 70ns to 200ns in other systems--which enables high peak powers up...

High speed confocal 3D measurement system.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... Metrology Resource Company (www.metrologyresource.com) has a new confocal displacement sensor with 64 channels that uses a vertically oscillating tuning fork for highly accurate 3D surface scanning within microns at high speed. The patented...

New overhead-mounted rigid column manipulator.(NEW EQUIPMENT)(Column)
November 1, 2006... Unidex, Inc. (www.unidexinc. com) says its new overhead-mounted Rigid Column Manipulator offers the stability of a floor-mounted unit with the range of an overhead system and load capacities greater than telescoping models. Suspended from a...

Broad-range bi-metal bandsaw blades.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... Simonds International (www.simondsinternational.com) is now delivering their BroadBand A8 Bi-Metal bandsaw blades with a newly patented tooth design. Simonds says the BroadBand blades cover the broadest range of cutting applications and cut the...

Closed loop waterjet filtration system meets ISO 14000.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... Ebbco Inc. (www.ebbcoinc.com) now has a closed loop filtration system for use in waterjet cutting that reduces water consumption by 90 percent to 98 percent of normal use by filtering and reusing the overflow water from the waterjet machine....

B-axes with HSK63 for wire and sink EDMs.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... Hirschmann Engineering USA Inc. (www.hirschmannusa.com) is now offering their model H150R.NC, an integrated B-axis for horizontal and vertical use on both wire and sink EDMs. The H150R.NC was developed to incorporate servo motors and encoders...

New axially-complaint finishing tool.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... The Flexfinish finishing tool for robotic and non-robotic material finishing operations is now available from ATI Industrial Automation (www.ati-ia.com). The Flexfinish has a vane-type air motor with gear reduction. Remotely adjusted air...

Miniature tachometer/length meter.(NEW EQUIPMENT)
November 1, 2006... The new tachometer/length meter from Hoto Instruments (www.hoto-instruments.com) features four measuring modes: real time, maximum, minimum and mean. It has an auto measuring range from 0 to 20,000 rpm with resolution up to 0.01 at low speeds....

The $queeze is on manufacturing.(LAST WORD)
November 1, 2006... While an overall view of U. S. manufacturing shows a base that is proving to be resilient in the face of higher interest rates and weakening consumer spending, Fred H. Fishman, manager of strategic procurement programs for TechSolve, Inc., says...

EU Biocide registry restricts products.(LAST WORD)
November 1, 2006... Lubrizol Corporation (www.lubri zol.com) says it is developing biocide compounds to meet the European Union's new, rigorous Biocide Product Directive that has prohibited the use of nearly two-thirds of the industrial biocide products previously...

Chips-n-burrs.(Cartoon)
November 1, 2006... That's right. I'm not even there yet and it already crashed. Inside is where we add the value.

Hot--and cold--technologies.(FROM THE EDITOR)
November 1, 2006... This issue of American Machinist has articles on technologies that are both hot and cold. Associate Editor Larry Haftl reports on using industrial lasers to provide heat treating that can be so accurate it can define specific lines--not...

On a global scale.(LEADING INDICATORS)
November 1, 2006... Italy weighs in as the fourth largest machine tool manufacturer in the world, with output of approximately $4.9 billion (3.9 million euro) in 2005, behind Japan, Germany and China. Italy was the third largest machine tool manufacturer in 2004,...

Robot installations set a record in 2005.(LEADING INDICATORS)
November 1, 2006... Installations of new robots set a record and peaked in 2005, with 126,700 new units, 30 percent more than were installed in 2004, and nearly 13 percent more than the 110,600 industrial robots that are expected to be installed this year. Growth...

What has happened to Bush's trade agenda?(GOVERNMENT MATTERS)
November 1, 2006... The Bush Administration came into office with high hopes for an ambitious expansion of international trade, and a new round of trade negotiations. It was launched in an obscure location--protected from antiglobalist demonstrations--in...

Fixing a flap.(PRACTICAL IDEAS)
November 1, 2006... When polishing a bore to finished size, old abrasive flap-wheel edges can load up and stop cutting. To remedy the problem, I touch the rotating flap wheel on its driving tool to a pedestal grinder's rotating wheel. The grinding wheel removes...

Idea relays power.(PRACTICAL IDEAS)
November 1, 2006... Many small shops cannot justify the expense of installing commercial three-phase electric power. The obvious solution is a rotary phase converter. However, such a converter needs to be started prior to using any three-phase equipment, and doing...

Adaptive control and monitoring for CNCS.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
November 1, 2006... There is more than one path to optimizing CNC machine productivity, and Maintenance Technologies (www.maint-tech.com), a business segment of MAG Industrial Automation Systems, has teamed up with Omative Systems to create a sensor/software...

Software for machine management.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
November 1, 2006... Respondents to the American Machinist 2006 Benchmarking Survey told us that, on average, 50 percent of their equipment maintenance is reactive, down from 60 percent three years ago. Because the cost of reactive maintenance is inevitably more...

Digital interface for encoders.(TECHNOLOGY TRENDS)
November 1, 2006... Wherever and whenever possible, the world is transitioning from analog to digital, and in machine tools, we are seeing the move toward digital axes in drive technology. The Heidenhain Corporation (www.heidenhain. com) EnDat 2.2 new digital...

Specials delivery: getting specialty cutting tools into your shop as fast as possible.(CUSTOM TOOLING)
November 1, 2006... The quote process for custom-designed or specialty cutting tools typically goes something like this: A shop presents information for the tool it wants to its local tool distributor. The distributor passes the information to an inside sales...

5-axis clamping system.(TOOLING AND WORKHOLDING)
November 1, 2006... The new VB 5 AX 100 clamping system for 5-axis machining centers from Kurt Manufacturing Co. (www.kurtworkholding.com) allows for machining on five sides of a part with one clamping operation. The system provides a clamping force from 5 kN to...

Lower-cost angle attachments.(TOOLING AND WORKHOLDING)
November 1, 2006... Tecnara Tooling Systems Inc. (www.tecnaratools.com) has added the Half Series angle attachments to its line of MST Rite Angle attachments for drilling, tapping and light milling. The company says the Half Rite Angle and Half Universal angle...

Universal top jaws.(TOOLING AND WORKHOLDING)
November 1, 2006... Schunk Inc. (www.schunk.com) has introduced universal hard top jaws SZKU for small batch-size applications. With three rows of clamping blades, the jaws clamp either the I.D. or O.D. of workpieces. They are available for lathe chuck diameters...

High performance reamers.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2006... Command Tooling Systems (www.commandtool.com) says its new Urma Circo Tex RX reamers have faster feedrates, longer life and are easier to use than comparable reaming systems. The reamers are available either straightshank and Beta Modul styles...

Drills for stainless.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2006... Titex (www.titex.com) says its new VA INOX drills have a four-times-feed speed resulting in an increase in productivity compared with standard cobalt drills for stainless steel. The drills offer process secure machining with an external coolant...

Indexable threadmill cutters.(CUTTING PRODUCTS)
November 1, 2006... Redesigned indexable threadmill cutters from Seco Tools Inc.(www.secotools.com) accommodate indexable inserts 1.5-in. (40mm) long and are double-sided to provide increased thread lengths. The complete range of threadmills is available in Seco's...