Modern Applications News articles from September 2008

Modern Applications News archives from September 2008

Maybe a cape would make us more popular: it says something about our culture when an annual comic book convention draws 30,000 more people than the United State's largest biyearly manufacturing show.(EDITOR'S CORNER)
September 1, 2008... By the time you read this, about 91,000 people have tramped the floors of the International Manufacturing Technology Show held in McCormick Place in Chicago. Ninety-one thousand, that's a lot of people. More than enough to fill a major National...

Lincoln Electric hosts President Bush.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... President George W. Bush visited The Lincoln Electric Co. plant, Cleveland, on July 29 to discuss the energy problems America is facing and how companies like Lincoln Electric can help. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Touring the plant with...

Hurco unveils 12 new machines at 8th annual technology seminar.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... At its annual technology seminar, Hurco, Indianapolis, introduced 12 new machines, with more to be released at IMTS, all showcasing its integrated control with WinMax Software. James Fabris, president and CEO, announced the start of changes it...

Consent decree allows flow international and Omax merger.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... Flow International Corp., Kent, WA, a developer and manufacturer of industrial waterjet machines, announced the U.S. Federal Trade Commission accepted a consent degree which will permit the merger of Flow and Omax Corp., Kent, WA. The...

New Hardinge president reaffirms commitment to industry.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... In his first official message since becoming president of Hardinge, Inc., Elmira, NY, Rick Simons assured the industry that the company remains committed to serving its customers' needs. He announced the company made several changes in its...

China trade imbalance hits all states.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... Unbalanced U.S. trade with China since 2001 has had a devastating effect on U.S. workers, according to an economic snapshot report by the Economic Policy Institute, Washington, D.C. Between 2001 and 2007, 2.3 million jobs were lost or...

Mania.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... Modern Applications News Industrial Average July 2008 [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The Modern Applications News Industrial Average--MANIA--tracks 34 publicly-traded companies in the metalworking field and compares the companies' 30-day trend...

Manufacturing technology consumption up 17.2 percent year-to-date.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... May U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $341.21 million, according to the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association-AMTDA--and the Association For Manufacturing Technology-AMT. This total, as reported by companies...

Industrial equipment demand is strong, but depressed.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... According to a survey of industrial equipment distributors conducted by industrial equipment analyst Eli Lustgarten of Longbow Research, Independence, OH, demand is moderate positive, but remains at depressed levels, while prices and sales are...

Minimum wage rises.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... The federal minimum wage increased to $6.55 per hour as of July 24, 2008. However, many states also have minimum wage laws, and some are higher than the federal minimum, according to a report by J.J. Keller and Assoc., Inc., Neenah, WI. In...

Factory automation design company opens India office.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Orion, MI, a supplier of factory automation design, engineering, and process consulting, opened an office in Bangalore, India. The office will support the growing Asia-Pacific market as well as AMT's U.S....

June sees highest layoffs in almost five years.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... A.U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics report stated 541 mass layoff events resulting in 76,514 initial claims for unemployment insurance were reported in the manufacturing sector in June. This is reportedly the highest monthly...

The bull of the woods.(Cartoon)
September 1, 2008... HEY-THAT JOB IS TOO BIG FOR THAT MACHINE! [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] NEVER OVERLOAD A MACHINE A LIKE THAT. WELL--I-YI--GULP-I ASSURE YOU THIS WAS UNITENTIONAL. THEM'S MY CLOTHES WHAT'S COMIN' OFF HERE? OH, IT'S ALL OFF NOW....

Raw materials and energy are top mid-manufacturer concerns.(Industry News)
September 1, 2008... Prime Advantage, Chicago, IL, a buying consortium for midsized industrial manufacturers, announced the findings of its second Group Outlook Survey, revealing the top economic concerns for the second half--H2-of 2008. Raw material and...

If it ain't broke, fix it anyway: it can pay to take a look at adequate jobs and see where improvements can be made.(FROM THE SHOP FLOOR)
September 1, 2008... In a busy shop, there's always a temptation to see a machine doing a high-quantity job and unconsciously ignore it: "that will be running for awhile" you say to yourself as you walk past the machine and head to a more pressing issue. But, this...

Life and machining: all are one: there are lessons in cutting grass that can be transferred to cutting stainless, grasshopper.(LEONARDO'S NOTEBOOK)
September 1, 2008... It was a hotter than average summer day when I got back from my shop late Saturday morning. I'd been doing a little clean-up and a lot of paperwork, so I was ready for some rest and recreation but my lawn had other plans. It was out of control...

2008 Readers' Choice Awards.(READERS' CHOICE AWARDS 2008)
September 1, 2008... While we strive to make all of our editorial content as relevent as possible, some products and services strike a certain chord in MAN readers and generate reader responses that make them choice selections. You, the readers, have voted by...

Test anxiety: rough milling 15-5 PH stainless gave a shop the fits, so it called in its suppliers to see what solutions they offered. Each offering was tested and, surprisingly, the shop chose the second-fastest cutting tool.(CUTTING TOOLS)
September 1, 2008... When faced with cutting an increasingly-popular stainless steel stock, a shop brought in a variety of its suppliers to see which could "pull the sword from the stone." After extensive tests, it chose the cutting tool that came in second-best....

What happens in Vegas ... should follow you home: the FABTECH show is an opportunity to see more than 800 exhibitors and attend sessions that will help hone business skills and technology. Don't let what happens in Vegas, stay there.(FABTECH PREVIEW)
September 1, 2008... The FABTECH International & AWS Welding Show, the largest metal forming, fabricating, and welding event in North America, will take place Oct. 6 through 8, 2008, at the Las Vegas Convention Center. It provides access to more than 800...

It takes a flexible attitude to find rigidity: using a VMC's rigidity to gain large work paid off for a shop that was flexible enough to invest in a new machine.(VERTICAL MACHINING CENTERS)
September 1, 2008... Before Mark Bamberg closes the doors of his Silicon Valley job shop for the night, one of his machining centers begins cutting 760 little housings out of 60"x30" plate-stock. Later, in the night, the eight-hour cycle is finished. If a tool...

Core strength: switching to metal-cored wire for its welding operations increased both quality and productivity for a manufacturer.(WELDING)
September 1, 2008... Fabricating dozens of subassembly components for top-tier OEM manufacturers of cranes, aerial work platforms, mining, and other heavy equipment requires keen attention to both quality and productivity. For Miller Welding and Machine Co.,...

Dabbling in grinding's 'black arts': there's more to grinding than specs and feeds. For a shop entering a new business area, there's some "magic" involved in knowing how to grind mirror finishes.(GRINDING)
September 1, 2008... When it comes to the "black art" of precision grinding, Tim Middlehurst, president of Hi-Quality Carbide Tooling Inc., Orangeville, Ontario, Canada, was born with it. He began working in his father's grinding shop when he was 16, with his...

Punching up productivity: adding a new punch press was the catalyst for modernization at a precision sheet metal shop.(FORMING & FABRICATING)
September 1, 2008... "Artistry in Metal" is not only the corporate slogan for Wesgar Industries Ltd., Port Coquitlam, BC, Canada, a precision sheet metal shop, but the underlying philosophy of the company. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] "Our people add the art of...

MIG gun includes all replacement parts.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... A Binzel MB style MIG gun includes all the replacement parts from front end to rear end. The parts include power pins for Tweco, Miller, and Lincoln. The gun offers an ergonomic front-end handle with a Lightning rear-end assembly and handle,...

Milling tools now for steel and cast iron.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... The CoroMill 490 family of milling tools has been expanded for applications in steel and cast iron. According to the manufacturer, the tool offers high performance for contouring, edging and slot, shoulder and face milling. Its design is...

Clamping system has repeat accuracy of 0.01mm.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... The TANDEM KSP plus is a stationary clamping system. The multi-tooth guidance of the base jaws, the long jaw guidance, and the exact centering via the clamping sleeves help reduce jaw lifting, letting it achieve a repeat accuracy of up to...

Power sources for the sub arc process.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... The Sub Arc DC 650 and Sub Arc DC 1000 are optimized for the sub arc process while providing air carbon, arc cutting and gouging, stick, and flux cored capabilities. The sub arc components, available separately or mounted on a Sub Arc Tractor,...

One-stop shopping for X-Y-Z machine protection.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... Ready-to-install subassemblies for machine protection include a range of units that can be combined as needed and adapted to the customer's requirements in regard to technical specifications, load, use, visual effect, and economic efficiency....

PCBN grade increases productivity by 35 to 60 percent.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... Secomax CBN400C is a PCBN--polycrystalline cubic boron nitride--grade optimized for finishing of grey iron components found in automotive manufacturing. It offers surface finish, dimensional tolerance, and tool life requirements, as well as...

Saw eliminates abrasive particle dispersion.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... Model K12-14MS Manual Metallurgical Saw features an enclosed wet-cutting area with dual coolant nozzles to eliminate the dispersion of abrasive particles into the work-place. The saw has a 14" abrasive wheel, a 5 hp, three-phase, 1,725 rpm TEFC...

Precision and rigidity for Swiss-style and lathe tooling.(New Products)
September 1, 2008... Integral collet tooling to connect to Hi-Pos-Micro indexable endmills and Chip-Surfer solid carbide tipped tooling lines is now available. Worn tooling can be replaced in seconds with 0.0005" axial and radial repeatability. The tooling...

Customer partnership means two-way trust: developing a strategic partnership means opening communication and trusting each other.(THE LAST WORD)
September 1, 2008... As president of a machine tool services company, I have learned firsthand the value of strategic relationships. In my 25 years in the machine tool services industry, I also have witnessed the failures of small manufacturing businesses. ...