Gundrilling On A Machining Center  05/01/08
In many applications, gundrilling does not require specialized equipment. This article explains how gundrilling can be performed effectively on standard vertical or horizontal machining centers.

New Boring Tool Phases Out Multiple-Pass Operation  04/01/08
Boring large holes often takes multiple passes that lead to lengthy cycle times. This oil industry manufacturer turned to Allied Machine and Engineering for help with one such troublesome application. A custom tool saved the shop hours on cycle time.

Smoothing Insert Surfaces Extends Tool Life  02/01/08
A post-coating finishing process smoothes any cracks in the outer coating of a cutting tool insert that develop during CVD and also removes droplets that PVD might leave behind. The resulting reduction in friction, heat and surface stresses is said to extend tool life and cutting performance.

Air-Actuated Boring Tool Offers In-Process Gaging  11/01/07
An air-actuated boring tool semi-finishes cylinders on the down stroke and finishes on the up stroke. In-process gaging compensates for tool wear to maintain bore accuracy.

Drill Cuts Cycle Time, Costs By More Than 60 Percent  11/01/07
This supplier of engineered gear and drive systems had problems with tool life and lengthy cycle times when drilling holes on a large drive shaft made of forged alloy steel. A new drilling system resolved these issues and exceeded the company's expectations. 

Dual-Carbide Technology Addresses Basic Drilling Challenge  11/01/07
A dual-carbide-grade drill has a micro-grain carbide core blended to provide toughness to prevent chipping at the drill's point. Surrounding the core is a second carbide grade that provides hardness needed for wear resistance at the drill's outer edges.

Lose The Peaks, Leave The Valleys  11/01/07
Plateau honing improves cylinder wall surface finish by gently removing tiny peaks of torn or folded material. Ball-style honing tools are commonly used to produce this desirable finish.

When Cold Forming Threads Makes Sense  11/01/07
Recent tap geometry refinement and advances in coating technologies have made the chip-less, cold-forming operation suitable for a wider range of workpiece materials.

Indexable-Insert Broaching Tool Technology For Lathes  08/01/07
A new indexable-insert-style broaching tool for CNC lathes provides two cutting edges per carbide insert. Because the tool body can remain installed in the lathe's turret during insert indexing or replacement, it is unnecessary to re-zero the tool after the change. 

Introducing Partners In THINC  08/01/07
Okuma's Larry Schwartz explains the philosophy that led to the creation of the Partners in THINC facility where leading companies have teamed to creatively problem solve and develop solutions for the manufacturing industry.

A Quick Look At PEEK Machining  06/01/07
The use of PEEK polymer for medical implant devices is on the rise. A supplier of this material offers cutting tool tips for shops that may soon add PEEK machining to their list of capabilities.

Machining Center Tool Eliminates Camshaft Burrs  06/01/07
A special tool performs burr removal inside the part where holes intersect.

Why We Use Honing  05/01/07
A gear manufacturer describes the advantages it realizes by sizing and finishing bores through automated honing.

Self-Reversing Tapping Head Speeds CNC Production Job  12/04/06
When Prestige Precision Products (PPP), a shop in Rochester, New York, began ramping up for a recent high-production job, it made a substantial investment in new equipment dedicated to the project. Among the acquisitions were a new HMC with a pallet changer, customized tombstone fixtures for the pallets and some innovative tooling items. The part, an aluminum component for the automotive industry, had one hole to be drilled and tapped.

Re-Designing The Reamer  12/01/06
This reaming system uses a multiple-cutting-edge, solid carbide cutting disc that can be changed as easily as an end mill's insert.

Finishing Process Extends Life Of Cutting Tools And Components  10/01/06
By applying compressive forces and abrasive media to cutting tools or workpieces, this surface finishing process improves component wear resistance and lubricity.

Chip-Free Drilling Process Creates Holes And Bushings  07/01/06
This chip-free drilling technique can create both a hole and support bushing in thin-walled parts in one machining operation.

The Real Cost Of Runout  07/01/06
A seemingly small amount of runout can still be too large for the tool. Reduce this runout, and tool life or productivity may dramatically increase.

Cutting Tools Enable Shop To Substantially Reduce Cycle Times  04/01/06
A Wisconsin automotive component manufacturer recently faced a chip control problem on an ID turning operation.

Making Programming Hands-Free (Almost)  04/01/06
Feature-recognition CAM software helps this technology company's internal mold shop deliver critical molds more quickly. A programmer is still needed, but the software automation saves considerable time.

A Cheap Tool May Be More Expensive Than You Think  02/23/06
Boeing engineer/scientist Keith Young warns machining suppliers not to focus solely on the purchase price of a cutting tool.

Machining Composites By Conventional Means  12/01/05
Composites machining is dusty, messy and hard on tools. But this company accepts these difficulties, and machines the material using standard metalworking processes and equipment.

Carbide Prices Bring Attention To Replaceable Tips  10/01/05
Small-diameter milling and drilling tools with replaceable tips not only save on carbide cost, but also save on tool management and inventory costs.

Tool Streamlines Deburring And Chamfering Operations  10/01/05
In business since 1968, Do-Rite Tool, Inc. (Garden City, Michigan), an eight-person job shop occupying 5,000 square feet, processes runs varying from one to 1,000 pieces. Its main source of work stems from the automotive industry, and the company cites milling and turning flat and round stock as its areas of expertise.

Upgrade Your Cutting Tool Mindset  06/28/05
A handful of timely observations may boost the productivity of your thinking about cutting tools.

Biomedical Devices Drive Machining Processes To New Lows  06/01/05
The exotic materials and micron-level features common to the latest biomedical devices present machining challenges that physical milling and drilling often cannot surmount. This shop uses ultraviolet laser machining, which in some cases is the only means to machine certain biomedical parts.

Stepping Up To Hole-Making Challenges  06/01/05
Lately, several cutting tool manufacturers have re-examined indexable insert drills, seeking to overcome the disadvantages of unbalanced cutting forces inherent in their design. One of the most recent developments along these lines is the CoroDrill 880 introduced by Sandvik Coromant.

Drill Reduces Machining Time, Increasing Capacity  05/25/05
This company specializes in developing electromagnetic systems with switching and/or sensor capabilities. Typical product applications include general mechanical engineering and plant construction; automotive engineering equipment and materials handling equipment; and automation, medical and power technologies.

A Time To Tap, A Time To Mill  05/15/05
Thread milling and tapping are two methods for machining threads in a hole. Tapping is more popular, but thread milling has several specific advantages.

Cutting Tools Expedite Product Processing  05/01/05
Considering the "manufacturability" of a new product before the design is finalized can help avoid costly alterations. This requires communication and cooperation between the product designers and their manufacturing counterparts.

Portable Drill And Tooling Combination Solves Fabricator's Dilemma  04/01/05


The Case For A Chromium-Based Coating  03/01/05
A cutting tool coating based on chromium can take even better advantage of the protective value of aluminum.

Developing A Safer Way To Machine Magnesium  01/01/05
Machining magnesium is risky business, as the chips and dust generated are flammable. A research consortium has developed a novel way to extract magnesium particles out of the machine by vacuuming them through a hollow tool and spindle during machining.

End Mill Designed For Ramping  01/01/05
Features of the tool facilitate ramping and other aspects of milling holes and pockets.

Handle With Care  01/01/05
Micro-size drills and end mills don't have to be difficult to use.

Machining More Than Meets The Eye  01/01/05
Manufacturing parts that may be smaller than the chips generated during machining requires more than just the right cutting tool and machine. It requires a micro-mindset that focuses on all aspects of tiny parts processing--handling, inspection, finishing and assembly.

Carbide Drill Improves Productivity For Heat Exchanger Manufacturer  11/01/04
After using this solid carbide drill, the company experienced a 250 percent increase in feed rates and a 250 percent jump in speed.

Inside The Mind Of The Drill Designer  09/01/04
Designing hole-making tools is a game of compromises, says Goran Melin, drilling product manager at Seco Carboloy. 'Where you gain in one area, you must pay somewhere else,' he says. The trade-offs usually include tool life, accuracy and stability. Tool designers are constantly juggling these variables to find the best solution.

Leveraging Little Holes To Lure Additional Work  06/01/04
Not many contract shops can drill a 0.001-inch hole. This one can, and it uses its micro-hole-making capabilities to attract more 'traditional' machining work from its customers.

When 30K Is Not 'High Speed"  06/01/04
With small tools, the speed that can be achieved with an add-on air-powered spindle may be needed just to use the tools effectively.

Consider Passive Damping To Bore Deep Holes  02/27/04
The old bromide, 'an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,' comes into play for preventing chatter when boring deep holes.

Minimizing Vibration Tendencies In Machining  02/27/04
Precision internal machining operations are now carried out almost exclusively using hard-metal or diamond tipped cutting tools. Tool holders are available in a variety of forms to suit the specific machining requirements. The material properties of the toolholder have a large influence on both the surface quality and dimensional accuracy of the machined component (workpiece), and on the life of the cutting tool. This becomes critical when machining deep holes, because it is necessary to use a tool with large length to diameter (L/D) ratio or overhang.

Choose The Best Drill Point Geometry  01/13/04
The more common twist drill point geometries often are not the best for the job at hand. By choosing the best point for the material being drilled, it is possible to achieve better tool life, hole geometry, precision, and productivity.

Fast Machining With Fewer Tools  01/01/04
Machining centers capable of precise motion at high feed rates can reduce the number of tools it takes to complete a part.

New Drilling Process Helps Manufacturer Expand  08/15/03
Planning to expand its services in the high-quality, high-pressure end of the heat exchanger market, this long-tim manufacturer started the search for new high speed drilling machines to advance its technology and improve quality and response time.

Job Shop Finds Its Niche With The Help Of Tapping Machines  07/15/03
The metalworking job shop market can be illustrated as a pyramid. At the base of the pyramid is the largest segment of the discrete parts manufacturing business.

Rigid Tapping--Sometimes You Need A Little Float  07/15/03
One of the most common methods of tapping in use today on CNC machines is 'rigid tapping' or 'synchronous feed tapping.' A rigid tapping cycle synchronizes the machine spindle rotation and feed to match a specific thread pitch. Since the feed into the hole is synchronized, in theory a solid holder without any tension-compression can be used.

The Real-World Economics Of High-Performance Drilling  07/15/03
To determine true cost, consider the total life of the drill.

Deep Thinking  06/15/03
A job shop that specializes in gundrilling points out the special requirements of machining deep holes.

Heavy-Duty Hole Making  06/15/03
A modular drilling and boring system has changed this oilfield product manufacturer's holemaking operations.

The Hole Business  06/15/03
It's generally acknowledged that making holes is by far the most common metalworking operation. So how does a shop find a way to carve a niche for itself applying such a common process as hole making? This Ohio job shop has managed.

Drilling Dry With A Heat Pipe  05/15/03
It's widely known that hole making is, by a significant margin, the most frequently performed process among metalworking operations. It's also among the most difficult operations to control from a thermal perspective.

A Boring System For Non-Round Holes  12/15/02
Machining an out-of-round bore is easy if you're not particular about the location or magnitude of the roundness error. But accurately machining a hole that has a precisely defined non-round profile is a capability that would seem to be well beyond what a standard boring bar can accomplish.

Boring Bar Adjusts In The Cut  09/15/02
Firms that do a lot of boring of gear boxes, valves, castings and other complex components on horizontal boring mills, floor-type boring mills and similar horizontal-spindle machines should be interested in Controlled Boring Bars and Contouring Heads.

Curvilinear Tool Paths For Pocket Machining  07/01/02
Recognizing the limitations of traditional approaches to pocketing, mathematicians at The Boeing Company have developed a system for generating tool paths that are better suited to pocketing at high feed rates. The same tool paths have demonstrated their usefulness at lower feed rates as well.

Good Planning Makes Better Threaded Holes  06/15/02
Hole making is as common an operation as exists in metalworking. Tapping those holes is also very common. Finding a way to get quality threads and using efficient processing are ongoing jobs for this Indiana shop.

Non-Traditional Methods For Making Small Holes  06/15/02
Consider these alternatives when conventional drilling can't do the job.

The Role Of Balance In High Speed Finish Boring  06/15/02
Precision boring is particularly vulnerable to unbalance, but not every high speed boring application demands a balanceable tool.

A Better Process For Hole Making  03/15/02
This company is in the business of drilling millions of holes in very large parts. As an established manufacturer of heat exchangers and components, the Calgary, Alberta-based company drills an estimated 1.5 million holes per year in metal plates.

Small-Diameter Drilling Under Scrutiny  03/15/02
Today's smooth-running high rpm spindles not only allow shops to cut faster with standard tool designs, they also unlock the potential of tiny tools.

PCD Tools Get Tough  09/15/01
Contrary to their reputation as tools reserved strictly for finish machining of non-ferrous metals, some polycrystalline diamond (PCD) cutting tools now possess the durability to handle a much wider range of applications.

Drilling Deep Holes On A VMC  06/01/01
The recipe for best results is simple: Start with a rigid machine, add a high pressure through-the-spindle coolant system, then combine these with the right drill geometry plus the right speeds and feeds.

Multi-Axis Drill Sharpening Made Easy  06/01/01
Today, metalworking is privy to some very remarkable performances by the combination of things mechanical and things electronic--mechtronics. We've seen the reality of lights out shift operations. Programming systems that make what was state of the art 5 years ago seem like writing with a hammer and chisel. An example of the melding of mechtronics is this new drill sharpening system.

Reclaiming The Hole-making Process  06/01/01
A shop that had been farming out hole-making operations on oversized components brought this work back in-house after acquiring a large-format, CNC drilling machine. The process now can be done more quickly, at lower costs and on schedule, with many workpieces machined as assemblies instead of separate pieces.

The Dynamics Of Better Drilling  06/01/01
Vibration is at the heart of a variety of common problems in machining holes. Mathematical analysis is helping to bring about a better understanding of hole-making processes...including how these vibrations behave, and what steps to take to bring them under control.

Tooling Provides Productivity And Technological Advantages  06/01/01
Main Systems Ltd. manufactures sheet steel enclosures for use in electrical and electronic applications and is one of the largest manufacturers of this type of equipment in the United Kingdom.

Understanding Boring Bar Deflection  06/01/01
An equation has a lot to say about more effective boring.

Using Helical Interpolation To Make Large-Diameter Holes  05/15/01
Producing a large-diameter hole is a common application for many shops, and there are numerous methods that can be used to achieve the end result. However, there are often numerous obstacles to completing the process cost effectively.

Retooling Saves Time And Space  04/15/01
Fermer Precision machines a variety of precision parts from aluminum, cast iron, powdered metal, carbon steel and low-carbon steel for automobiles, firearms, medical products and train brake systems. The company relies on a Mori Seiki SV-500 and two OKK KVC 600 vertical machining centers for drilling, reaming and chamfering operations.

When You Need Really Accurate Bores  01/15/01
When bore specifications move beyond the capability of more traditional cutting operations, shops look to honing as the next step in the finish and accuracy continuum. Here you'll find a process that, in some applications, produces better results than honing can.

Cutting More Holes Per Hour With Special Tooling  12/15/00
This company has specialized in the fabrication of processing equipment and components for the sugar industry and provides its services worldwide. Included are the boilers and heat exchangers, referred to as sugar mill calandria, used for the carefully staged process and extraction of the sugars from the ground cane.

Smart Boring Bar Auto-Comps  12/15/00
Because boring is a finishing or semi-finishing operation, there is generally little or no margin for dimensional or surface finish error. In production, dimensional accuracy of a precise bore can be negatively affected by tool wear over time.

Drilling And Beyond  06/01/00
This collection of hole making-technologies offers some new, unusual and overlooked ways to make holes in machined parts. One of these tools might be the solution you're looking for. All of them will help you rethink your approach to hole making.

Trends That Drive Cutting Tool Development  04/01/00
Cutting tools have highly engineered coatings and geometries for all types of manufacturing methods and materials.

High-Performance Tooling Maximizes Output For North Carolina Supplier  02/15/00
This company was looking to achieve faster cycle times, reduced scrap and insert cost savings in the production of these swing frames. It decided to look at modular tools.

Mold Maker Reduces Cycle Time 50 Percent With New Drilling System  07/15/99
Despite a 120 hour week and frequent overtime, Special Mold Engineering Inc. (Rochester Hills, Michigan) didn't have enough deephole drilling capacity to keep up with customer demand for its injection mold bases. So it reluctantly farmed out some of the gundrilling for the excess.

High Performance Twist Drills In Perspective  06/15/99
The trend today is clearly toward high performance twist drills made of tungsten carbide or other premium materials, combined with innovative geometries, tighter tolerances, and advanced coatings. The pressure to reduce costs through productivity gains is driving this change.

Widening Interest In Twist Drills  09/15/98
Wide-web drills with high-performance points help speed machining center paybacks.

Find Your Feed Rate On The Fly  07/15/98
Truly 'adaptive' motion control is now a retrofit option for a wide range of CNCs. This job shop uses the technology to reduce tooling costs and cycle times

Big Boring On Smaller Machines  06/15/98
This modular boring system lets you bore holes up to eight inches in diameter on machining centers with 40-taper spindles.

The Fast Track To High Speed Drilling  06/15/98
Drill more productively by making a few strategic changes to the process. Those same changes may also let you drill dry.

Drill And Bore With A Face Mill  06/01/97
Cutting holes by interpolating a face milling cutter may be a better process choice for many rough and even finish boring operations. Software improvements and better cutter designs allow expanding use of the versatile face mill for hole making.

Drilling Tiny Holes Takes Practice...Good Practice  06/01/96
William Force Company makes the tough jobs. Among its specialties is micro-drilling. While drilling very tiny holes may not be your shop's goal, how Force applies process controls, making difficult machining routine, is relevant for any metalworking operation.

Half-Inch Holes With Indexable Inserts  06/01/96
Small indexable inserts that can be used for hole drilling are a recent development.

Stating The Case For Spade Drills  06/01/96
Spade drills are economical and can solve critical hole-making problems, too.

Large-Diameter Holes From Small-Diameter Drills  
This machine shop suggests a technique for large-hole machining that combines high speed with high economy.

Pro-Active Chatter Reduction  
This article looks at a General Dynamics research project that developed a device to automatically counteract vibration in applications using boring bars.