June 2008 Issue

June 2008

Striving To Be Partners, Not Shops

The two divisions within this business machine complex parts for the medical and aerospace industries. So in that sense they’re shops. However, in order to grow with their customers, they realized they had to be more than just providers of good parts. They needed to serve as their customers’ manufacturing partners.

Features

Featured articles from the June 2008 issue of Modern Machine Shop

Cutting Tools 1 Jun 2008

Learn From Your Mistakes

Admit it. There have been instances in which an operator’s mistake or a programming error turned one of your shop’s perfectly good cutters into a deformed creature.

Medical 22 Jun 2008

Economies Of Scale

Medical implant work is not just small in terms of workpiece sizes. Lot sizes and lead times can also be small when the product is still under development. To compete for implant work, this shop aims to offer cost savings in the face of all of this smallness.

Holemaking 1 Jun 1997

Don't Overlook EDM Tapping

In many difficult hole making applications, the best way (and often the only way) to form internal threads is with electrical discharge machining.

Holemaking 17 Jun 2008

More Than Big Machines

This shop specializes in very large components such as rotor hubs and support bases for wind turbines. Its lineup of large horizontal boring mills can handle parts weighing 40,000 pounds and 12 feet on a side. However, the shop’s success also lies in other manufacturing resources and strategies. These include material handling equipment, customized tooling, special fixtures and wireless, portable measuring systems.

Basics 21 Jun 2008

Compact Handling Facility Sticks To Basics

Shops consider a number of factors when justifying automated parts storage systems, including cost, required floor space and machining application.

CNC & Machine Controls 17 Jun 2008

The Case For Constant Velocity

Constant Velocity Technology uses high speed computer hardware and creative algorithms to enable machine tools to achieve fast, consistent feed rates across complicated 3D surfaces.

Metalworking Fluids 21 Jun 2008

Collet System Keeps Cool Under Pressure

Coolant-through tooling is becoming increasingly popular as manufacturers continue to search for new ways to maintain the tight tolerances, high accuracies and smooth surface finishes required for many of today’s jobs. While coolant-through spindles are now a standard feature on many new machines, the machines and tools themselves represent only part of the equation. The interface between the spindle and the tool—a properly sealed toolholder—is just as important.