Modern Applications News articles from July 2005

Modern Applications News archives from July 2005

'When in the course of human events ...'.(EDITOR'S CORNER)
July 1, 2005... Happy Independence Day! At risk of once again being called a curmudgeon, I refuse to refer to this day as the Fourth of July. That style of reference leads us down a road where we might soon be celebrating the 'Second Sunday in May'...

FABTECH, AWS Welding Show Nov. 13-16 at McCormick Place.(Industry News)
July 1, 2005... Promoted as the largest metal forming, fabrication, and welding event in North America, the FABTECH International/AWS Welding Show will be held Nov. 13-16, 2005 at Chicago's McCormick Place. This event is expected to bring together more...

Hurco reports record orders, sales, and operating income.(Industry News)
July 1, 2005... Hurco Companies, Inc. recently announced that for its second fiscal quarter, ended April 30, 2005, it recorded net income of $3,299,000, or $.52 per share, compared to $1,737,000, or $.29 per share, for the corresponding quarter of 2004. ...

May Manufacturing ISM Report On Business[R] PMI at 51.4% new orders, production expanding--employment contracting.(Industry News)
July 1, 2005... Economic activity in the manufacturing sector grew in May, the most recent period, for the 24th consecutive month, while the overall economy grew for the 43rd consecutive month, say the nation's supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM...

+p secrets and strategies for niche success: in the late 1990s, with the economy beginning to head south and outsourcing to offshore suppliers eating away at traditional markets, most thought this was not the best time to start a business. Two guys from Cleveland saw the situation as an opportunity.(ABRASIVES / GRINDING)
July 1, 2005... According to Joe Scolaro, the late 1990s was a period where it was a lot like whether you thought the glass was half empty or half full. He came down on the side of half full. "A lot of shops were closing then, but I saw it as a period of...

Cut-off/grinding wheels for stainless steel fabrications.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Rex-cut products, Inc. offers a full line of cut-off wheels and specialty abrasive grinding, blending, and finishing wheels designed for stainless steel fabrications. The Alpha Green cut-off wheel, for stainless steel, is 0.04." thick, and...

Flap brushes.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Even Cut Abrasives Company offers an expanded line of flap brushes made from flexible, open-structure nylon web with embedded resin and aluminum oxide grain. These new brushes are designed for removing surface contaminants/oxidization, and for...

Calendar roll grinder.(SPOTLIGHT)(Calendar)
July 1, 2005... Roll Grinding Solutions, Inc. introduces an in-place, portable roll grinder that grinds rolls concentric, straight, and accurate within the framework of installed calendar equipment. The RGS roll grinder mounts directly onto the framework of...

Longer lasting file belts.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... J. Walter Inc. introduces file belts that last, for finishing welds, corners, edges, and hard to reach places. These new belts are available in three widths of 1/4", 1/2", and 3/4", and in two lengths of 18" and 24". Topcut[TM] file belts are...

Tungsten grinders.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... The Piranha II tungsten grinder from Diamond Ground Products allows operators to properly grind tungsten longitudinally on high quality diamond wheels and improve most aspects of their weld applications including arc starting, arc stability,...

New abrasive flap discs.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... The Weiler Corporation offers its Tiger[R] Disc for stainless steel that simultaneously produces a high cut rate and a smooth finish. This coated abrasive product can be used on stainless steel applications including weld blending, grinding,...

Air-powered orbital sander.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Dynabrade, Inc. introduces the new Dynabug II air-powered orbital finishing sander for vertical sanding applications. This new tool is small, compact, powerful, and features a 3/32" diameter orbit designed for blending and finishing. The rubber...

Filtration systems for grinding applications.(SPOTLIGHT)
July 1, 2005... Transor Filter USA has released a new brochure on its patented One Micron Filtration (OMF) process in a variety of grinding, honing, lapping, and super finishing applications where oil is used as coolant. This full color brochure details the...

Vacuum, mechanical clamps team to mill Airbus skin: to mill large but thin sheets of aluminium, without damaging the pre-formed aluminium sheets forming the fuselage, Airbus is using a combination of mechanical and vacuum clamping and work handling equipment.(WORKHOLDING / TOOLHOLDING)
July 1, 2005... Manufacturing of fuselage parts for different Airbus projects is carried out in Nordenham, in Northern Germany. Typically in the aircraft industry weight is an important factor and in almost all areas weightsaving has been exploited to the...

Retrofit CMM clears moldmaker's bottleneck: a Michigan mold shop was able to maximize the efficiency of machining its EDM electrodes, but a bottleneck created by a manual CMM used to inspect the electrodes eroded all that machining efficiency.(CAD / CAM)
July 1, 2005... To eliminate this bottleneck and save on the inspection investment, CS Tool Engineering (Cedar Springs, MI) decided to retrofit and computerize its 15-year-old manually operated coordinate measuring machine. The retrofit--which took about...

Teamwork trains new machinists, programmers: a technical college program in an area hard hit by the loss of general manufacturing and semi-skilled jobs is successfully re-training those employees for highly skilled machining and programming tasks.(CAD / CAM)
July 1, 2005... Moraine Park Technical College (West Bend, WI) provides a two-year technical diploma in its Machining Technician program, which includes a track in CNC programming and operations, among others. Moraine Park's (MPTC) two-year associate degree in...

What is High-Speed Machining? High-Speed Machining is a term that has become widely used, mainly because of the benefits it provides to those able to accomplish it. However, like a lot of machining terms, its clear definition has become a little clouded with use. We though little refresher on the basics might be in order.(CUTTING TOOLS)(Cover Story)
July 1, 2005... The term High-Speed Machining (HSM) commonly refers to end milling at high rotational speeds and high surface feeds. For instance, the routing of pockets in aluminum airframe sections with a very high material removal rate Over the past 60...

Automatic size control tooling powers engine boring operations: a multi-tasking tool system featuring automatic size control and quick-change cutting edges provides high productivity, dependability, and quality for semi-rough, finish, and chamfer operations of cylinder bores on engine lines.(CUTTING TOOLS)
July 1, 2005... For automakers, the heart of their products' performance is often measured at the engine... in terms of RPM, torque, and miles per hour. And, for metal cutting machine tool manufacturers, the results are generated at the cutting edge... with...

Shoulder milling cutter meets tool steel demands: machining tool steel is very hard on cutters--often breaking teeth, adding to production time. But the machinists at ThyssenKrupp Presta found a solution with a new shoulder milling cutter.(CUTTING TOOLS)
July 1, 2005... Typically in tool manufacturing, small quantities of work pieces are processed and the work piece material is hard and tough, so high precision and process reliability are vital, as is the case at ThyssenKrupp Presta. The company supplies...

Motorcycle hobby becomes national machining business: Eddie Trotta's life has taken some strange curves over the years, not the least of which was going from a rock star wannabe to bar owner to custom motorcycle builder to owner of a machining operation selling parts nationwide with international competition.(MACHINING / TURNING CENTERS)
July 1, 2005... Trotta, owner and president of Thunder Cycle Designs (Ft. Lauderdale, FL) built his first shovelhead chopper at age 16 while working at East Coast Choppers (New Haven, CT). He has owned Thoroughbred racehorses (winning more than 100 races) and...

Adhesives available in easy-to-use dispenser.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... Rhino Hide packages its two-component, polyurethane adhesives in a new universal cartridge system to allow consumers to apply commercial-grade adhesives with a standard caulking gun. The Rhino Hide 9000[TM] and 9310[TM] polyurethane adhesives...

Industrial paint filter media.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... Air Technologies, Inc. introduces Ultra Media, a high-efficiency filter media designed for high-volume painting operations. Designed with a high paint-holding capacity, this filter media keeps stacks, equipment motors, and parking lots free of...

Band saw blades catalog.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... The Saw Division of the L.S. Starrett Company announces the release of its new catalog, featuring a broad selection of new band saw blade products, and helpful, comprehensive technical information. The 32-page, full-color catalog provides...

New product catalog.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... De-Sta-Co Industries has released an updated version of its World of Clamping Catalog, which contains the entire line of quick action clamps, including manual, pneumatic and hydraulic products. The catalog provides information regarding the...

High-feed cutting geometry.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... Seco-Carboloy adapts its high-feed technology to its Minimaster system for very high production rates in small cavities and pockets. The ability to reach these areas makes the high-feed combination appropriate for the mold and die, and energy...

Electric bench oven.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... The Grieve Corporation introduces the No. 952 electrically heated, 550[degrees]F forced air convection bench oven designed for various programmed heat processings. Workspace dimensions on the new unit measure 26" W X 22" D X 16", and 3kW...

Multi-purpose coolant for cutting/grinding.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
July 1, 2005... Valenite, LLC introduces the new VNT-755 semisynthetic formula to its Valcool[R] product line of specialty cutting fluids and coolants. This lubricant concentrate is designed for general purpose machining, rated for moderate to heavy duty...

America's real competitive edge: doom is just around the corner. Judging from the media reports about manufacturing jobs going south across the Rio Grande and east across the Pacific, you might make a powerful case for closing up right now. After all, what competes with cheaper labor?
July 1, 2005... That sums up the doomsday scenario for domestic metal working companies, right? We are going back to subsistence farming and the new giants on the block--China and India--will make everything and write all the software and process all the data...