Modern Applications News articles from February 2004

Modern Applications News archives from February 2004

'CAM' do: "can do" has probably been a military motto since the invention of the salute. More than a military motto, it is an attitude that can be found in any successful organization.(Editor's Corner)
February 1, 2004... In today's business climate, it is a core attitude of metalworking shops. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Whatever job comes in through the door for a quote, shops want to be able to say, "We can do that." They want to be able to say it for...

2003 machine tool consumption closing gap with prior year.(Industry News)
February 1, 2004... October U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $157.58 million, according to AMT--The Association For Manufacturing Technology and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in...

PMI at 66.2% Production, New Orders, Employment grow Inventories decline Supplier Deliveries slower.(Industry News)
February 1, 2004... Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in December for the sixth consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 26th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On...

PMI.(Industry News)
February 1, 2004... The PMI indicates that the manufacturing economy grew in December for the sixth consecutive month. The PMI for December registered 66.2%, an increase of 3.4% compared to the November reading of 62.8%. A reading above 50% indicates that the...

New Orders.(Industry News)
February 1, 2004... ISM's New Orders Index grew in December with a reading of 77.6%. The index is 3.9% higher than the 73.7% registered in November and is the eighth consecutive month the index has exceeded 50%. This is the highest the index has been since July...

Production.(Industry News)
February 1, 2004... ISM's Production Index is 73% in December, 4.7% higher than the 68.3% reported in November, reflecting the eighth consecutive month of growth. An index above 49.9%, over time, is generally consistent with an increase in the Federal Reserve...

Employment.(Industry News)
February 1, 2004... ISM's Employment Index grew for the second consecutive month, following a 37-month trend of contraction as the index registered 55.5% in December compared to 51% in November, an increase of 4.5%. An Employment Index above 47.8%, over time, is...

New manual hold-down toggle clamp.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... De-Sta-Co Industries offers a re-invented manual hold-down toggle clamp series featuring a new lean profile that offers over twice the holding capacity in the same envelope size as previous generation models. This design allows users to...

Workholding/positioning components.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... Fairlane Products Inc. offers a new line of Accu-Thrust[TM] Thrust Screws that allow straight-line static thrust load without transmitting torsional or radial forces on an object or work piece. These thrust screws come in both threaded, and set...

New workholding chuck available.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... The "Detroiter II" manufacturing chuck from Sunspot Tooling Systems, compliments its SquareOne system by offering more features at a lower cost. The chuck can be set-up for vertical or horizontal manufacturing, and turning and grinding. Once a...

New threaded work supports.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... Kosmek USA has recently announced an improved series of threaded work supports featuring an exclusive taper lock design that provides high support force with very low touch force. The new LD and TD series work supports have improved sealing...

Super-rigid ER collet chuck.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... The TE toolhoders, from Techniks USA, are 250% shorter from the face of the collet nut to the spindle than standard ER collet chucks, have a compact design, and are ideal for high-speed or high-torque machining. The benefits include reduced...

New ER-style tool holding system.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... Hardinge Inc. introduces the R8, ER-style collet holder for use on Bridgeport and other knee-mill style lathes. The holders are stocked in three sizes to hold RE-style toolholder collets to grip drills, taps, reamers, end mills, boring bars,...

Compact hydraulic collet closers.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... 5C and 16C low pressure hydraulic collet closers from Lexair, Inc. are designed to allow users to maximize the number of parts on a work fixture. Their compact profile and the ability to couple individual units on two sides though a connector...

Expanded top jaw line.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... Huron Machine Products announces its expanded line of top jaws and accessories for domestic or imported power and manual chucks. Top jaws, soft jaws, hard jaws, full grips, jaw nuts, quick change systems, collet pad, swivel lock, and specials...

New vertical vise for wire EDM.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... Model # H4537 vertical vise from Hirshmann Engineering is designed for use with its Fixturing System 4000. This new product provides quick and positive clamping of one or two independent work pieces in the same set-up, with twice the holding...

Toolholders enable precise adjustment of cutting edges.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... The ABS[R] Eccentric Adjusting Toolholders, from Komet Of America, Inc., are a series of tooldholders that enable precise, eccentric adjustment for the cutting edge radii on tools with fixed insert seating. Featuring the ABS[R] connection,...

New HyperSpace Cabinet.(Workholding/Toolholding)
February 1, 2004... Lista International Corporation offers its HyperSpace (HS) Cabinet that maximizes space and increases efficiency. This high density, 22 1/2" deep cabinet is designed to provide the maximum space saving productivity, making item retrieval...

Coolant critical element of Six Sigma conversion: the mission for the new management team of a machine shop that had been devoted entirely to the repair of industrial pumps was to quickly convert the facility into a sizable and efficient plant for the production of new parts.(Coolants/Lubricants/Filters)
February 1, 2004... Seasoned in the implementation of Six Sigma production programs and the principles of Lean Manufacturing, the team assigned the task knew exactly what to do. Twelve months later the plant was making a variety of parts at the rate of 14,000 per...

Water soluble metalworking fluids: what the analysis terms mean.(Coolants/Lubricants/Filters)
February 1, 2004... Although MAN specializes in presenting real world, shop-floor articles detailing very specific operations, there are areas of metalworking with which you are not knowledgeable, but where you must make decisions that can have significant effects...

CAM capable shop grows, meets foreign competition: learning the metalworking business from the ground up, by sweeping floors in his father's shop, a California machine shop owner today relies on state of the art CAM programming for expansion.(CAD/CAM)(Cover Story)
February 1, 2004... Tom Muggleton, owner and operator of Tom's Machining Service (Cerritos, CA), has a rich and diverse history in manufacturing. He first started getting comfortable with machining when he was nine-years-old at his father's gun drilling shop. Like...

'Few micron' production normal with CNC grinder: a fuel injection part supplier relies on closed-loop CNC to control its grinders operating with 5-micron in-process gaging.(CNC Controls)
February 1, 2004... A combination of 11 high-speed CNC internal and internal/external grinders help Siemens VDO (Blythewood, SC) produce over 12,000 diesel fuel injection parts per day. Carburized 8620 intensifier bodies for diesel injection are being manufactured...

Fast fixturing adhesive bonds truck bodies: a new, fast fixturing adhesive and application technique eliminated a bottleneck in the production line of a utility truck body manufacturer.(Assembly/Fastening/Joining)
February 1, 2004... A manually dispensed adhesive was being used to bond chrome-plated diamond plate steel to galvanized 14 ga. steel. The body parts were then hydraulically clamped for 20 minutes before being moved down the assembly line. In addition to the 20...

New helical coil inserts/tools catalog.(Products)
February 1, 2004... Kato[R] Fastening Systems announces the publication of a new 60-page catalog presenting its line of helical coil inserts and tools. This catalog contains in-depth information on the tangless inserts and tools, technical information on drilling,...

New Snap Latch.(Products)
February 1, 2004... The new Snap Latch is available from Micro Plastics for securing removable panels to a fixed structure. The pin and body of the fastener are supplied as two separate parts and are molded in a UL94-V2 natural Nylon 6/6 material. A new catalog...

Temporary locating patch.(Products)
February 1, 2004... Both threaded and unthreaded fasteners can now be temporarily held in place during transport, fabrication or assembly with the patented NYSTAY[R] locating patch from Nylok Corporation. The polymer, pre-applied 360[degrees] around the fastener,...

Threaded access hardware.(Products)
February 1, 2004... Pem[R] threaded access hardware, from PennEngineering Fastening Technologies, is now available with a patented "anti-cross-thread" design to help speed assembly, eliminate repairs, scrap, and warranty service associated with thread damage. This...

EDM commitment sparks tool & die shop growth: with a determination to expand beyond the traditional scope of a tool and die shop, a Wisconsin operation shifted to a new technology and made itself an industry leader.(EDM)
February 1, 2004... Initially a tool and die shop, Adron Tool Corporation (Menomonee Falls, WI) was a pioneer in the wire EDM field as early as the mid 1970's. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As Adron's experience with wire EDM grew,...

Wire EDM drives trim die shop: specializing in the design and building of trim dies for the die cast industry, means being able to rely on your wire EDM for speed, performance, and dependability.(EDM)
February 1, 2004... These needs are why Metal Processors (Stevensville, MI) has been a Charmilles partner for 15 years. "The first machine we bought was a Robofil 400, and we purchased it based on its speed and durability," explains Tim Ives, wire EDM department...

Dynamic process control.(New Products and Literature)
February 1, 2004... Charmilles introduces the new Roboform 550 series die sinking EDM that integrates a new, easy to use numeric control design for improved efficiency. Similar in most aspects to the previously released Roboform 350, this new machine can handle...

New line of small oil skimmers.(New Products and Literature)
February 1, 2004... Wayne Products, Inc. manufactures small oil skimmers, including the recently introduced wheel-type skimmer, the complete line offers choices for all types of applications. These small oil skimmers are used in the metalworking industries to...

Tabletop induction-heating machine.(New Products and Literature)
February 1, 2004... T.M. Smith Tool International Corp. has introduced the new G5 Shrink Fit tabletop induction-heating machine that provides integrated refrigerant cooling, and a three-station rotary tool holder table that allows operators to heat and cool three...

Steel Countersunk Washers.(New Products and Literature)
February 1, 2004... New Steel Countersunk Washers are now available from J.W. Winco, Inc. The countersunk washers are secured to the face of the shaft end with a countersunk head screw forming a clean-look cap. These washers feature a black oxide finish and are...

Tungsten electrodes.(New Products and Literature)
February 1, 2004... Diamond Ground Products introduces TriMix[TM], the first multidopant blend Tungsten in the U.S. This product takes the best qualities of three "rare earth" tungstens and combines them in a high performance non-radioactive blend. This new mix...

New full-line catalog.(New Products and Literature)
February 1, 2004... The new 2004 full line catalog from Miller Electric Mfg. Co. includes technical specifications, features, benefits, and selection tips for its complete line of welding and plasma cutting products and accessories. The full-color 84-page catalog...

Computer numeric controls revisited: controls move toward CAD/CAM.(Controlling CAD/CAM)
February 1, 2004... When PC's took hold of the technology market in the 80's, new features and functions were released for sale so frequently that it was difficult for anyone to stay technologically current. CNC design too, changed rapidly due to the widespread...