Modern Applications News articles from March 2007

Modern Applications News archives from March 2007

Space: too important to be left to the government; How is it we can put a man on the moon, but we can't ...(EDITOR'S CORNER)
March 1, 2007... ... put a man on the moon? [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Putting a man on the moon used to be the benchmark of high-tech ability. Sadly, we can't do that anymore. In fact, we probably couldn't do it in 10 years, not without a crash program....

We can't conserve our way to wealth.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... This letter is in response to comments in the last issue of MAN by Alan Travaglianti and Marty Gould [January 2007, Vol. 41, No. 1, Letters to the Editor, "Off Base On Energy Plan," and "Domestic Oil Exploration Does Not Solve Energy Problem,"...

Healthcare raises readers' temperature.(Letters to the Editor)(Letter to the editor)
March 1, 2007... I'm a small business owner and provide 100 percent Blue Cross/Blue Shield coverage for our employees. If Illinois adopts a similar plan to Massachusetts' I will drop my coverage and let the state pay the insurance premiums. Every business owner...

Cast for record player 'pop counter' exceeds ADCI standards by 50%.(40 Years Ago This Month)
March 1, 2007... Economical production of an accurate popularity counter for coin-operated automatic record players is made possible by an aluminum die casting which maintains concentricity tolerances 50% closer than ADCI standards. Each slot in the "pop...

Method for testing ferrite cores improves quality control at Univac.(40 Years Ago This Month)
March 1, 2007... Tiny ferrite cores, ranging in size from 10 to 80 mills OD and from 3 to 30 mills in height, are produced by the millions daily, at Sperry Rand's Univac Division for both Univac computers and for other memory systems manufacturers. Because it...

Sometimes the best just isn't good enough: unique problems take innovative solutions. Waiting until someone else solves the challenge could mean a long, long wait.(FROM THE SHOP FLOOR)
March 1, 2007... It happens all the time: a tough machining application occurs. You scour through catalogs and pick the brain of every tool salesman you can find. Nobody makes the tool you need. With a little bit of ingenuity, close may be good enough. We...

Siemens buying UGS in $3.5 billion deal.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... Siemens Automation and Drives Group, Nuremburg, Germany, is buying product lifecycle management--PLM--software producer UGS Corp., Plano, TX for about $3.5 billion, including debt, from owners Bain Capital, Silver Lake Partners, and Warburg...

Kennametal acquiring distributor for Spain and Portugal.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... Cutting tool manufacturer Kennametal Inc., Latrobe, PA, is acquiring the remaining ownership interest of Spanish affiliate, Kenci S.A., which distributes Kennametal products in Spain and Portugal. Closing is scheduled for April subject to...

AMT launches initiative to develop machine communication standard.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... The Association For Manufacturing Technology--AMT--initiated an effort to develop a common interoperability standard to allow manufacturers to collect, transmit and leverage data from discrete manufacturing equipment. AMT's Board of Directors...

Sandvik purchasing former GE abrasives Division; aids New Orleans.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... Sandvik Tooling, Stockholm, Sweden, is acquiring Diamond Innovations Inc., Worthington, OH, formerly the Super-abrasives Division of General Electric. Diamond Innovations develops and produces synthetic diamond and CBN products for...

Delcam consolidates North American sales; sees sales rise.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... Software developer and producer Delcam is forming a single sales organization for its Power Solution and Feature-CAM products. Glenn McMinn has been appointed president, Delcam North America, to coordinate the combined North American sales and...

Centennial celebration.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... W.A. Whitney, Rockford, IL, will celebrate its 100th anniversary with an open house April 25 and 26 at its Whitney Technology center. There will be educational seminars, equipment demonstrations, and talks with product development engineers. A...

Cleveland's machine tools "Best Apprentice" heads to NTMA nationals.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... The Cleveland chapter of the National Tooling and Machining Association--NTMA--has a representative for the national "Best Apprenticeship" contest in May in Pittsburgh. David Apager, a worker at Christopher Tool, Solon, OH, and student in...

Machine company undergoes executive, ownership change.(Industry News)
March 1, 2007... Ellison Technologies, Davenport, IA, a provider of advanced manufacturing solutions to North American metal-cutting manufacturers, announced a change to its executive suite and a new ownership mix as the culmination of a two-year transition...

Not your father's Space Shuttle: NASA's new approach to space exploration has implications all the way to the shop floor.(AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING)
March 1, 2007... Rocketplane Kistler knew it could create a spacecraft that flew at 18,000 mph, what it needed was a way to apply that same speed to production. Using paper-based drawings wouldn't cut it for a 21st Century reusable rocket design, so the firm...

Nesting isn't only for the birds: a Brazilian aircraft maker was out in the cold when its CAM software supplier stopped doing business. It needed something better than a cookie-cutter solution.(AEROSPACE MANUFACTURING)
March 1, 2007... Nesting. Birds do it. Bees do it. Even aircraft makers do it. For airplane makers, it's important to cut the maximum number of parts from sheet materials with a minimum amount of waste. Finding the right software to nest parts for cutting leads...

Aftermarket software provides a winning edge: saving minutes is critical, not only on the racetrack, but in the job shop as well.(CNC / MACHINE CONTROLS)
March 1, 2007... "It's all about horsepower, torque, and acceleration," Don Losito, owner of Ultra Pro Machining in Charlotte, NC, said. Since 1992, the company specializes in creating cylinder heads for Indy and Winston Cup cars. Among other services, Ultra...

Laser unit cuts tube and time: what took four people working 60-hour weeks is now done by one employee in a 40-hour week.(LASERS)
March 1, 2007... Ellcon-National's been working on the railroad all the live-long day--since 1910 when C.R. Ellicot of the Westinghouse Air Brake Co. and W.L. Conwell of the Safety Car Heating & Lighting Co., together with J.J. Sinclair of the Westinghouse...

Cutting tool retooling cut out 'Chernobyl events': machining stainless steel parts could sometimes lead to "meltdowns" that would turn them into scrap until retooling solved the problem.(CUTTING TOOLS)
March 1, 2007... A lot can go wrong when rough milling gummy stainless steel. Unless the cutting edges stay sharp and clean, the part and tool overheat, chips build up on the cutting edge, and the part work-hardens. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Since...

The right match of components cut costs 50 percent: using a toolholder that matched machine accuracy let a shop cut costs and retain customers.(TOOLHOLDING)
March 1, 2007... It's not enough to have the best machinery a shop can buy, it has to be sure that all of the equipment works together to get the best performance from each unit. For Turnamatic Machine, Inc., it was mating a toolholder to a turning center that...

Quick-change artists: an ER-to-ER quick tool change adaptor maintains productivity.(TOOLHOLDING)
March 1, 2007... Lengthy setup times were consuming productivity at American Torch Tip, Bradenton, FL. The setups not only caused delays, the company also had to hire skilled machinists to perform them during the night shift. There had to be a way to reduce the...

Westec 2007 features nearly 600 exhibitors: the annual show is the Shangri-La of metalworking and takes place in Los Angeles.(WESTEC PREVIEW)
March 1, 2007... The WESTEC Exposition and Conference 2007 offers attendees a chance to visit almost 600 exhibitors from March 26 through March 29 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Exhibitors range across advanced machine tools, cutting tools and...

Cast mineral bed gives VMCs rigidity and dampening.(SPOTLIGHT: MACHINING/TURNING CENTERS)
March 1, 2007... The modularity of Series 12K vertical machining centers permit them to become single spindle--the FZ 12K--or dual spindle--DZ 12K--machines. Their 4.5-ton cast mineral beds provide dampening, thermal stability, and rigidity. The beds also offer...

Refrigerated CAT 40 tooling spindle keeps cool.(SPOTLIGHT: MACHINING/TURNING CENTERS)
March 1, 2007... Daewoo DMV 6030 vertical machining center has a cartridge-type spindle that accepts CAT 40 tooling. The spindle uses a 35 hp VAC motor for 12,000 rpm and 121 ft-lb of torque. A refrigerated spindle cooling system maintains a constant operating...

Turning centers tout 50 percent time reduction.(SPOTLIGHT: MACHINING/TURNING CENTERS)
March 1, 2007... The BNJ Series turning centers do simultaneous and simultaneous overlap machining that reduce cutting cycles for secondary operations compared with two-spindle, one-turret machines. According to the manufacturer, cycle times for symmetrical...

Machines microsurfaces for flat panel displays.(SPOTLIGHT: MACHINING/TURNING CENTERS)
March 1, 2007... The manufacturer's drum and roll lathes use diamond tooling that turn rolls for cylindrical straight surfaces and mirror finishes. The micro-structured surfaces are used in flat panel displays, retro-reflective sheeting and, life-science...

VMC spindle delivers 12,000 rpm.(SPOTLIGHT: MACHINING/TURNING CENTERS)
March 1, 2007... The ZV4000 vertical machining center is suitable as a standalone machine or part of a flexible manufacturing cell with a 20/15 hp spindle that delivers 12,000 rpm. The machine's table measures 20.5"x18.9" and its travels are 23.6"...

Lathe sports geared head for small work.(SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2007... The TRAK TRL 2460SX lathe features a geared head and 4.09" spindle through-hole for small lot work. It can operate manually, with assistance from a ProtoTRAK SLX CNC, for tapers and radii. The TRAKing[TM] feature controls the CNC feed through...

Turning and milling on one machine.(SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2007... System 8 milling-turning centers with one--MT or two--MT-Twin--milling spindles and one to two turning spindles tackle medium and large batches. The vertical milling spindles have 80 hp that deliver 12,000 rpm. The two turning spindles use up...

Short cycle times for gang tool lathe.(SPOTLIGHT PRODUCTS)
March 1, 2007... The Prodigy GT-27 gang tool lathe handles first and secondary operations in various applications, such as medical, automotive, ceramics, fasteners, and commercial. Because the lathe does not have a turret, there are short cycle times, precision...

Dual-character drills.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... Hardcore Technology drills features dual carbide technology. The carbide grade core handles the tool center's slow speed, while the outer shell grade resists wear to match the high speed of the drills' cutting edges. The manufacturer reports...

Inserts improve surface finishes.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... Each corner of Hex-Turn inserts has wiper geometry for improved surface finishes at high feedrates. There are 12 cutting edges on each of the hexagonal, negative geometry inserts. The 45[degrees] lead angles provide high feedrates with low...

TiN coating extends drill use.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... These titanium-nitride-coated step drills reduce friction and extend tool life six times more than uncoated step drills, according to the maker. Balanced double flutes provide two cutting edges for quick and easy cutting in soft or hard...

Laser probe scans up to 75,000 points per second.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... The SLP-2000 3D laser-scanning probe scans medium and large objects faster and captures more geometry per pass than other laser probes. It has an 8" line length that captures 50,000 to 75,000 points per second. Dual CMOS receptors with...

Marking system for robots.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... The DMM20 dot-preen/scribe-marking head is small enough to be used as an end effector on robots. It is 10" long, 4" in diameter, and weighs 6.5 lb. This device has a 0.80"x0.80" marking window and two-second marking speed for UID/2D Matrix...

Fixturing works with multiple machines.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... System 9000 modular zero point fixturing works with horizontal and vertical machining centers, grinding machines, coordinate measuring machines, vertical EDMs, and other machines. This line uses three pull studs. The centering journal locates...

Flanged chucks for gun drills.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... Smith Grip flanged chucks for holding gun drill and reamer shanks have 0.002" runout at 4" from the holder face. The chucks use tapered inner and outer sleeves with caged retainers of angled needle roller bearings for accurate concentricity....

Shrink-fit line adds metric BT, DIN, and other HSK toolholders.(NEW PRODUCTS AND LITERATURE)
March 1, 2007... The ThermoLock shrink-fit line has added metric BT, DIN, and various HSK toolholders, 3[degrees] tapered nose extensions with five tool changers. The toolholders and extensions feature the manufacturer's Shrinker technology for clamping quality...

3000 Series CNC Plasma.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... The MultiCam 3000 Series Plasma is the perfect choice for those looking for value in a machine tool quality CNC Plasma Cutting System. The rigid, all-steel plate frame design supports a variety of standard or high-definition plasma units and is...

Diamond-tipped marking indenters.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... DiaMark[TM] 2D pin and dot peen marking indenters deliver 100 times the life of a typical carbide stylus. These diamond-tipped tools provide up to 8,000 high-contrast marks before replacement, compared to 50-75 marks for typical carbide...

Clamps and tooling components.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... This 680-page catalog includes toggle clamps, modular fixturing, chuck jaws, drill bushings, pins, knobs, power workholding, handles, supports, feet, locators, vises, and threaded inserts. Carr Lane Mfg. Co.; MO; 314-647-6200; Fax 314-647-5736;...

Loosens frozen metal parts.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... Kroil is for industrial use in loosening frozen metal parts. It creeps into spaces as narrow as a millionth inch, dissolves rust, and lubricates. Kroil has been used since 1939 by most Fortune 500 companies and is guaranteed to meet all...

Why buy an OMAX[R]?(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... Only OMAX offers the fastest cutting speeds and dynamic positioning accuracy to within +/-0.001". The user-friendly system machines virtually any material to a smooth finish with little or no setup necessary. With free software upgrades for the...

Free 34-page marking equipment catalog.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... Numberall Stamp & Tool., Inc., has a free 34-page catalog outlining all types of metal marking equipment. Included with every catalog is a FREE Length Of Impression Ruler, a versatile aid in determining character size and number of characters....

Scientific Cutting Tools--Value line thread mills.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... Scientific Cutting Tools offers the high-efficiency Value line helical fluted solid-carbide thread milling tools. The fine ground cutting edge, sub micro grain substrate, and TiALN coating guarantee excellent surface finish. Available in UN,...

Affordable cutting tables.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... WaterjetPRO[TM] cutting tables are affordable, fast, accurate and start at $60,000. Jogging pendant, programmable Z, and accurate ball screw drives are included. You can run your favorite CAD/CAM software. Because they are Powered by Flow[TM],...

All about ESPRIT.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... ESPRIT is a high-performance computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) system for a full range of machine tool applications. ESPRIT delivers powerful full-spectrum programming for 2- to 5-axis milling, 2- to 22-axis turning, 2- to 5-axis wire EDM,...

GibbsCAM[R] interactive tour.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... This multimedia CD-ROM introduces the GibbsCAM[R] product line and shows why GibbsCAM[R] is your best choice for CAM software. Actual customers tell how GibbsCAM[R] addressed their manufacturing problems and improved their company's...

Global manufacturing marketplace.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... MFG.com provides suppliers with direct access to Buyers worldwide that have an immediate need for custom manufacturing services. The site allows Suppliers to specify what types of jobs they are interested in and from there MFG.com helps match...

Low cost high quality VMCs.(Literature Marketplace)
March 1, 2007... Fadal builds 12 VMC models complimented by performance-enhancing rotary products. From the VMC 2216 FX to VMC 8030, it offers a full range of solutions for job shops, medical, mold/die, automotive, and aerospace. To learn more about the latest...

The keys to calibration: machine tool 3D volumetric calibration replaces 1D linear calibration.(THE LAST WORD)
March 1, 2007... In the job shop or manufacturing environment, the increasing demand for manufacturing quality, accurate parts, while maintaining high productivity levels, is advancing the importance of measuring and compensating the 3D volumetric positioning...