Modern Applications News articles from January 2004

Modern Applications News archives from January 2004

A new year.(Editor's Corner)
January 1, 2004... A new attitude. Opening the doors for the first time in 2004, there appears to be a new attitude in the metalworking industry, and the attitude is aggressive. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Contrary to some of the more politically correct...

September machine tool consumption up 24.8%.(Industry News)
January 1, 2004... September U.S. machine tool consumption totaled $175.79 million, according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association, and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology. This total, as reported by companies participating...

ISM Report On Business[R] PMI at 62.8% Production, New Orders, Employment grow.(Industry News)
January 1, 2004... Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in November for the fifth consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 25th consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report On...

Rigid tooling cuts opening into high-temp alloy market; new rigid tooling counters the challenges of high-temperature alloys, allowing job shop to become aerospace manufacturer.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... Kennametal's A4[TM] Groove and Turn system was the key element in Serrano Industries (Santa Fe Springs, CA) search for more efficient machining production. The high-performance A4 system generated increased levels of productivity and...

ELUW Wiper Insert for finishing.(Spotlight Products)
January 1, 2004... Sumitomo Electric's new ELUW Wiper Insert Series is designed for high-end finishing and allows for surface finishing at increased rate feeds. The wiper design ensures a high quality finish, and uses three-step projections for good chip control....

New full line catalog.(Spotlight Products)
January 1, 2004... Millstar LLC is offering its full line catalog for 2004 that highlights the High Performance Machining (HPM) line of cutting tools. The product catalog includes ball, flat, and Toroid inserts for HPM as well as solid carbide ball, flat, bull...

Whisker reinforced ceramic inserts.(Spotlight Products)
January 1, 2004... The WG-600, from Greenleaf Corporation, is the only commercially available second generation ceramic composite cutting tool using the technology of whisker reinforcement. These inserts are ideal for finishing high strength alloy materials,...

3 Flute solid carbide end mill.(Spotlight Products)
January 1, 2004... M.A. Ford Mfg. Co., Inc. announces the new TuffCut[R] GP Workhorse, 3 flute solid carbide high-performance end mill for all types of machines and materials. This end mill is available with 0.01, 0.02 and 0.03 corner radii as standard, and...

Helical flute solid carbide thread mills.(Spotlight Products)
January 1, 2004... Micro 100, Inc. is introducing a series of helical flute solid carbide thread mills designed to produce high quality internal threads. Helical flutes reduce cutting forces for smoother cuts, longer tool life, and thread forms superior to...

Custom tool designs.(Spotlight Products)
January 1, 2004... Cogsdill Tool Products offer custom tool design and applications engineering assistance for its Shefcut[R] precision reamers and boring tools. The design concept features a sinlge, replaceable, and micro-adjustable blade, supported by guide...

New solid carbide end mills.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... Niagara Cutter announces its new line of solid carbide end mills that feature the patented Stabilizer[TM] flute geometry. Variable flute geometries significantly reduce distorting harmonics and chatter, and this design results in increased tool...

Indexable carbide counter-boring tools.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... TMCO Tools offers a large selection of indexable carbide counter-boring tools in inch and metric sizes from 0.625" to 2.362". These tools are in stock and application-ready. Also stocked are indexable carbide center-cutting tools that range...

Straight series hand tools.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... From 25,000 - 65,000 rpm, quiet, powerful Air Turbine Tools[R] deliver constant high speed within 5% of free speed, up to maximum power 1.4 hp. There is no maintenance or lubrication required with these tools, and they are featured on the web...

Expanded line of adjustable boring bars.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... Criterion Machine Works has expanded its line of MD Adjustable boring bars to include bars that will use 80[degrees] diamond inserts. Theses new adjustable boring bars are designed with a dual insert pocket so they accept either a 7[degrees] or...

Coolant driven keyseat cutter.(Products)
January 1, 2004... The Titespot keyseat cutting head from Eltool Corp., eliminates secondary broaching or milling operations on gears, sheaves, hubs, and pulleys. Designed for use on machining centers, these cutting heads load easily from the tool changer, and a...

New precision face milling tools.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... Two new face milling tools designed to achieve high metal removal rates have been introduced to KPT/Kaiser Precision Tooling's modular tooling system. The 45[degrees] face milling cutter, and the 90[degrees] square shoulder cutter, use KAB6...

Rough profiling tools.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... Shredmill milling cutters, from Iscar Metals, Inc. can carry either round inserts with a serrated cutting edge, or regular round inserts. Inserts have a protruding cylinder on the bottom, the serrated insert has four indexing orientation...

Cutters with round inserts.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... The new F2334 cutter, from Walter Waukesha, is suited for machining turbine components for power stations. This cutter is designed without restrictive top clamps in the chip flute, and the inserts are not arranged on the circumference, but rest...

Carbide burrs match application requirements.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... A new line of carbide bur for weld and metal removal, weld preparation, deburring, chamfering, edge breaking, and for creating radii is being introduced by Rex-Cut Products, Inc. These carbide burrs feature head designs that include standard-,...

Mobile machine shop on duty in Kuwait; the U.S. Army's National Automotive Center has deployed its first Mobile Parts Hospital, a unique self-contained mobile mini-manufacturing center to camp Arifjan, Kuwait, in support of the American forces in Iraq.(Cutting Tools)
January 1, 2004... The Mobile Parts Hospital was developed collaboratively by the U.S. Army's National Automotive Center (NAC) in Warren, Michigan and the Center for Advanced Technologies at Focus: HOPE, located in Detroit, Michigan. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]...

Clamping towers maximize HMC output, flexibility; high-density workholding towers have proven the precision solution to machining a variety of tight tolerance parts and varying lot sizes for a major hydraulics manufacturer.(Workholding/Toolholding)
January 1, 2004... Parker Hannifin Corporation (Integrated Hydraulics Division) is a world leader in the manufacture of hydraulic cartridge products and integrated systems used in fluid power applications. The hydraulic manifold blocks for these products require...

Sizzling production with lights-out laser cutting; a linear-motor-driven laser cutter, fed by an automated material handling system, means 24/7 production for barbecue manufacturer.(Lasers)
January 1, 2004... Robert H. Peterson Co. (City of Industry, CA) found the right ingredients for 24 hour-per-day cutting of stainless barbecue grill and gas log burner system parts. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The manufacturer of high-end stainless barbecue...

New Laser Technology.(Laser Products)
January 1, 2004... FAST Laser (Flow Accelerated Screen Technology) from Hypertherm, Inc., an advancement in plate-laser cutting technology, uses a patented design to create a dual-flow zone that allows higher oxygen assist-gas pressures in the cut zone...

New plasma hole cutting attachment.(Laser Products)
January 1, 2004... A new plasma hole cutter attachment has been introduced by Heck Industries. The Plasma-Pal motorized hole cutter attaches to any standard hand held plasma torch to automatically cut accurate holes. The plasma torch cuts fast, clean holes in...

Laser alignment System.(Laser Products)
January 1, 2004... PinPoint Laser Systems is introducing a new laser transmitter and receiver system that will adapt to traditional optical alignment devices to improve measuring accuracy, and precision. The 2.25" Microgage Laser System is battery operated, and...

Multi-axis laser system.(Lasers)
January 1, 2004... The new Domino Multi-axis laser system, from Prima Laser Tools, combines 2D and 3D cutting capabilities in a single machine to quickly cut flat parts, shaped parts, or perform bevel cutting to expand manufacturing possibilities. This 5-axis...

Control commonality shifts transmissions into high gear; by use of a single system architecture and control equipment on over 150 new machine tools, ZF Batavia has brought a "commonality of control" to the production of its CVT (continuously variable transmission) line.(Controls)
January 1, 2004... In an initial 300,000 sq.-ft. area of this 1.8 million sq.-ft. Ohio-based transmission plant, which is a joint venture of ZF Friedrichshafen AG and Ford Motor Company, a series of CVT's will soon be in production on a line with over 145 pieces...

AWD bike rides with on-line shop sourcing; to keep the spindles turning and the brakes bending in today's economy, shops must adapt to new business methods. One method is the use of the internet for selling your services and capabilities. Here is an example of how it worked well for a customer and several shops.(CAD/CAM/Shop Control Software)
January 1, 2004... Truly new ideas are often the offspring of frustration, and when Steve Christini, out mountain biking in the rain, kept losing traction, frustration bore this idea: If off-roaders, those charging across creek beds and countryside in...

Powerful CAM program drives high-speed modeling; a "New York minute" takes on a completely different dimension when it comes to churning out prototype models for the cosmetics and similar packaging-intensive industries.(CAD/CAM)
January 1, 2004... At Utley's Inc. (Woodside, NY) model makers, nearly 25 of the total staff of 40, routinely turn out highly detailed and precisely machined models overnight. Strictly speaking, that's not one-minute service, but in comparison to the model-making...

New tools maximize new machine designs; the primary tooling concerns when machining aluminum are: minimizing the tendency of aluminum to stick to the tool cutting edges; ensuring there is good chip evacuation from the cutting edge; and ensuring the core strength of the tool is sufficient to withstand the cutting forces without breaking.(Machining)
January 1, 2004... Technological developments such as the Makino MAG-Series machines have made tooling vendors rethink the core concepts of their tooling designs. To get the most out of any state-of-the-art machine technology, it is vital to apply the right...

Modular machine frames.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... T-Slotted aluminum extrusions are now available from 80/20 Inc., in both fractional and metric sizes. This method of construction is cost-effective, time saving, modular, and involves little engineering time. Panels, handles, wire mesh,...

Ready to go Lubrication System.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... The PurgeX[R] "The Six Pack" Lubrication System from the Oil-Rite Corporation provides simplicity and convenience in one easy to use package. This versatile system can be used in many applications including cutting and cooling lubricants,...

New Laser Scanning Arm.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... Faro Technologies, Inc. introduces the Laser ScanArm[TM], a seven-axis contact/non-contact measurement device with a fully integrated laser scanner. The hard probe and laser scanner can digitize interchangeably without removing the components,...

2,000[degrees]F electric heavy-duty furnace.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... No. 921 is an electrically-heated, 2,000[degrees]F heavy-duty box furnace, currently used for various heat treatments at a customer's facility. Workspace dimensions measure 24"W x 48"D x 24"H, and an in-door heating element further provides...

New web site.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... The American Torch Tip Company of Bradenton, Florida has revised and expanded its web site. The new web site contains all the ATTC catalogs and price lists for all products, and are downloadable in PDF format. The site is easily navigated and...

New catalog of tooling systems for punch presses.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... A new catalog featuring tooling systems for punch presses, using Strippit Style Thin Turret tooling has been published by Mate Precision Tooling. This catalog contains complete information to help the press user select the correct Mate tooling...

Cutting fluid treatment system.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... Vanson HaloSource has announced the launch of HaloFresh[TM] Coolant Xtender, a cutting fluid treatment system that eliminates odors to extend the life of coolants and lubricants. This technology binds chlorine molecules to beads that extend the...

New brochures for Vacuum Furnace Technology.(New Products and Literature)
January 1, 2004... Seco/Warwick Worldwide has updated its brochures that describe the latest information for Vacuum Furnace Technology. V-404.2 is the second revision to the High Pressure Quench brochure that recognizes product improvements and enhancements to...