Automated 5-Axis Machining  04/14/08
The topic of 5-axis machining has been a hot topic lately. Automation and 5-axis machining continue to gain popularity. This seminar presented by Makino will illustrate how to combine both technologies to achieve high productivity while providing high flexibility and ease of use.

Direct Edge Finding Via Laser  03/01/08
A laser edge finder offers a direct method for locating workpiece edges that can save setup time.

No Need For Speed  03/01/08

High speed machining makes sense at 4,000 rpm in this shop. While the disciplines the shop put in place made a new 15,000-rpm profiler dramatically more productive, high speed machining would have remained valuable even if the new machine never came. Here is why.

Photo Essay: Short-Run, High-Complexity Job  01/29/08
This series of photos describes how the shop machined the part shown in Get Better Before You Get Bigger and even why the shop took on this work.

Clamping System Enhances Productivity Of Five-Axis Machine  11/01/07
With Kurt Manufacturing Company's VB 5X100 Schenke 5.1 clamping system, this shop managed to use a single five-axis VMC to cut a mold that previously required two separate machining centers. 

Five-Axis Machining Has Special Workholding Needs  10/01/07

This clamping system allows a workpiece to be rigidly clamped while raised up from the surface of the worktable on a five-axis machining center. Moving the workpiece away from the table creates clearance for the spindle nose and cutting tool when the table swivels the workpiece for multi-sided machining, or when the spindle head rotates and swivels to do contouring or sculptured surfaces. Without this clearance, the user may be forced to refixture the part or to switch to a longer, less rigid tool.

Applying Creative Workholding Techniques  05/01/07
Not all parts can be fixtured by conventional workholding methods. Here are a few examples of ways that shops secure feisty workpieces for milling and turning operations.

Workholding That Holds Off Chatter  05/01/07
Clamping fixtures can be part of the problem when chatter occurs in a high speed machining process. Researchers have now discovered that clamping fixtures can also be part of the solution. A supplier of integrated tooling systems has developed palletized workholding that uses a viscoelastic layer to absorb vibrational energy, thus reducing the tendency for a machining process to cause chatter. The benefits of this technology are improved surface finish, lower cutting forces and longer tool life.

Expanding The Expanding Mandrel's Usefulness  04/16/07
This expanding mandrel is designed to locate and hold thin-walled parts on the ID to avoid distortion during precision machining.  It can also be used to hold heavy parts with large bores for heavy machining operations.

Vises Facilitate Swift Change-Overs, Reduce Errors  02/01/07
Syron Engineering & Manufacturing is a 28-year-old company specializing in the design and manufacture of tooling and sensors for industrial automation. One of the company's main fields of activity is the development of equipment to transfer sheet metal from one press operation to the next, primarily for automotive stamping

Ductile-Iron Towers Provide Needed Clamping Rigidity  10/01/06
Holding 0.001-inch tolerances while machining and removing large amounts of material from a brass part is a challenging task when the job is run at 10,000 revolutions per minute with feed rate of 240 inches per minute.

Everything Changes  10/01/06
Through a sweeping transition to high speed machining, a Maryland contract shop realizes its goal of same-day, "in by 9, out by 5" turnaround.

Tightening Inventory And Setups  10/01/06
Producing three models of spray guns with differing machining requirements translated to 2 1/2 -day-long setups, not to mention the additional stress of not being able to keep up with production. All of that changed for the better, however, when a Columbus, Ohio industrial equipment manufacturer investigated alternate workholding products. Using a twin-station vise with machinable soft jaws, Rimrock Corporation eliminated continual refixturing while improving cycle times by 60 percent and reducing actual manned labor hours-to the tune of 50 percent.

Innovative Fixturing  07/06/06
MMS inMotion Multimedia Presentation Makino demonstrates the latest techniques and technologies in fixturing. Check out presentations on fixture economics, fixture design, modular fixturing, new technology in CNC workholding as well as case studies of shops using innovative fixturing.

How To Handle Tall Wire EDM Work  05/01/06
Modular workpiece fixturing plays a vital role in this shop's quest to win larger, more difficult wire EDM jobs.

Improving In-The-Cut Time And Part Setups With Ductile Iron Vises  04/01/06
Previously using double-station vises with aluminum bodies, Vincent Precision Machining's workholding upgrade to HDL vises from this manufacturer provided the workholding rigidity that assured repeatable precision part after part, while the setup eliminated expensive scrap parts.

Vises Eliminate Multiple Setups  03/01/06
Manufacturing an array of component parts in small to medium quantities required that Purakal Cylinders Inc. (Eugene, Oregon) consider functionality and quality when deciding to upgrade its production capabilities. The manufacturer of hydraulic and pneumatic cylinders and manifolds, which offers standard and custom-built products, explored various options in an effort to streamline production.

Shop Gets Fixturing On The Ball  02/01/06
An integrated mounting system enabled this producer of specialty medical tables to improve throughput and reduce setups. As a result, a significant number of jobs have been brought back in-house.

Vises Used As An Alternative To Custom Fixturing  10/01/05
Impact Forge, Inc. (Columbus, Indiana) is comprised of four companies that offer a range of forging technologies, including producing hammer dies requiring large milling operations. The company reports that positioning and clamping these dies in a machining center can be challenging because of characteristics such as heaviness and bulkiness.

Vise Configuration Helps Company Achieve Tight Tolerances  05/25/05
This manufacturer is a global supplier of pressure regulators, valves and electronic controllers for a range of industrial and high-purity applications.

Unplug-And-Play Hydraulic Workholding  05/01/05
An OEM and contract shop have found value in an unconventional, untethered hydraulic workholding method that uses mechanical energy transfer to charge a fixture's sealed hydraulic circuit. Free and easy HMC pallet movement is the result.

Alternate Gripping Methods For Grinding Machines  04/25/05
Are you using your grinding machine to its full job capacity? Machine operators don't often think past centers, arbors, fixtures and magnetic chucks. Many shops are still doing second operation work when they could be set up to finish parts complete with an alternate workholding method. Here are several suggestions for additional or improved gripping solutions.

Incremental Automation Pays Dividends  04/01/05
While automation is necessary for mold makers to remain competitive, opinions vary as to how to integrate automation. This mold maker does it in gradual phases, driving its workers to roles of greater responsibility.

Creating A Machine Shop Franchise Template  02/01/05
This contract shop applies basic franchising concepts to maximize efficiency in all aspects of its business. Its intent is not to sow multiple franchise locations, but rather to make its sole facility perform as predictably and profitably as possible.

T-Slotted Tombstones Improve Setup Time  02/01/05
This company carries an inventory of tombstones, including square machined, square T-slotted, square with tapped holes, T-style machined, T-style tapped holes and T-style modular, and it offers the capability of modifying and/or manufacturing custom tombstones.

Vise Helps Shop Cut Maintenance Time  02/01/05
According to this shop owner, this vise's locking mechanism, cast iron construction and pass-through space between guide bars easily accommodate his unusual fixture design.

Light-Activated Glue Holds And Releases Workpieces In A Flash  11/01/04
This alternative workholding method uses adhesive cured by UV light to "clamp" complex-shaped parts to a fixture. After machining, a quick laser beam "unclamps" the part by destroying the adhesive.

Combining Workholding Vises And Fixtures Maximizes Machine Output  10/01/04
This company is a manufacturer of automotive tools and equipment ranging from heavy-duty diesel engine service tools to wheel dollies and bearing cup removers. Many of the components for these products require milling, drilling and tapping on machining centers.

Custom Fixtures Off The Shelf  05/01/04
Using a new software system, custom 3D fixtures can be generated automatically. The software creates 2D fixture components that can be laser cut and assembled for a fraction of the cost and in significantly less time than other methods.

Securing The Future  05/01/04
Multiple-part fixturing helps boost the output of these high-volume machining cells while preserving flexibility. The success of these cells is proving to be a critical component of this automotive part maker's turnaround strategy.

Workholding System Uses Stepped Jaws To  03/01/04
The Integrated Hydraulics division of Parker Hannifin Corporation is a manufacturer of hydraulic cartridge products and integrated systems used in fluid power applications.

Plugging Into Tombstone Productivity  12/15/03
Customized software helps this machine tool builder maximize the output of its horizontal machining centers.

Securing A New Process  05/15/03
A Minnesota manufacturer of precision parts boosts productivity by expanding its workholding capacity.

Stitching Together A Strategy For Survival  05/15/03
This U.S. industrial sewing machine manufacturer is doing what it takes to stay competitive in a global marketplace.

Vises Are An Integral Part Of Custom Bicycle Production  01/01/03
This company's automatic self-centering production vise features jaws that are connected by a concealed gear and rack so that they move together equally on both sides of center.

Holding The Center  12/15/02
Using a collet-type workholding system, a high-volume shop improves accuracy when machining round parts.

An Intelligent Fixturing System  11/15/02
Have you ever wished for a workholding system that could (1) pick any of a family of parts from an assembly line, (2) identify it, (3) automatically fixture it, and (4) present it precisely oriented to a machine tool for machining or assembly?

Cold Cuts  11/15/02
What does a shop do with a workpiece that needs machining but can't be toe-clamped, bolted, chucked or held in a conventional vise? Securely holding many so called exotic materials - ceramics, carbides, glass, and other brittle blanks - is a challenge. The Ice Vice may offer a solution.

Balancing Workholding Density And Flexibility  10/15/02
Like many contract manufacturers and job shops, this company found itself doing runs that were too short for dedicated fixtures and too long for one-vise setups.

New Fixture Multiplies Productivity Of Horizontal Machining Center  10/15/02
The setup for batch processing of each stem version and time expended in load/unload for the second operation created a production bottleneck that became more critical as market demand for the part took off.

Rethinking Machine Tool Spindles  07/15/02
Through extensive research involving more than 4,000 individual tests, this company determined that unequal air pressure - caused by the location of ports around the circumference of a spindle's seals - creates adjacent zones of high and low pressure inside the seal.

A Platform For Flexibility  05/15/02
Starting with a flexible cell, this shop added efficient tool management plus workholding hardware designed for fast and error-free changeover.

Making The Most of Modular Fixturing  05/15/02
Modular fixturing makes sense for this manufacturer, whether it's machining one- or two-of-a-kind parts for its custom machine tools or larger quantities for its contract machining business.

Concentric Clamps Hold Down Setup Time  03/15/02
A problem for many shops is that workpiece blanks vary from one to another. This is especially true with molded part blanks such as castings and forgings. These variations require some flexibility from the workholding device.

Low-Cost Labor Savings  02/15/02
These productivity enhancements all were produced in house.

Workholding Provides Maximum Versatility For Unattended Machining  10/01/01
This company manufactures a broad line of custom manifold assemblies used in all types of fluid power applications such as off-highway vehicles, tractors and road graders. These manifolds are made from 6061 aluminum and are finish machined in a wide range of sizes and with numerous SAE ports, valve cavities and threaded holes, some with precision features designed to handle various fluid power components.

Holding Large Parts Achieves Quality Measurement  07/15/01
The A2 from Audi, an automobile that has been on the market since June 2000, undergoes technical and measuring procedures from pre-series through series production at a measuring center in Neckarsulm, Germany.

Flexible Workholding Maximizes Machine Output  05/15/01
More and more companies are finding that by juggling work scheduling on their machining centers and adding a vise tower setup on the right machine, they can increase productivity without adding operating hours.

Strategic Use Of Standard Workholding Components  05/15/01
If every workpiece were symmetrical and standard, workholding would be among the simplest aspects of the metalcutting process. But the real world of cutting parts includes numerous asymmetrical and non-standard applications. Shops need to be creative in workholding. The general idea is to get as much custom workholding from standard workholders as possible. This web exclusive looks at some real world considerations to workholding problems and gives some tips to keep your machine and workholding setup running long term.

Workholding In A Vacuum  05/15/01
An aerospace machine shop meets a special need by using a vacuum chuck.

Workholding Supplier Expands Capabilities  05/15/01
The new NorthTech Workholding name signifies the expanded product line, staff of workholding engineers and range of engineered workholding solutions offered to the metalworking industry.

Toggle Clamps Provide Solution For Hand Truck Manufacturer  03/15/01
The toggle clamp, which is used for a myriad of workholding, toolholding and miscellaneous hold-down applications, is a very versatile industrial device.

Fast Action Vises  10/15/00
Vises are the workhorses of workholding. With innovations like the Plumb multi-flex CNC, the ubiquitous vise will continue to evolve as a useful tool for metalworking shops.

Getting Versatility While Operating Twin Machining Centers Non-Stop  10/01/00
Quick-change workholding systems continue to multiply and become more flexible in the job shop environment. Just a few years ago, seeing a twin pallet machine with a cluster tower setup on each pallet was cutting edge technology. Where vises were used on the towers, they lacked today's machined changeable jaws and other features that made them really flexible.

Hold Multiple Parts In One Vise  07/15/00
Traditionally, machine tool buyers have relied heavily on machine tool distributors for advice on buying the equipment best suited to their particular needs. In today's Internet age, however, the buyer has unprecedented access to a world of information with which to make informed purchase decisions.

Interlocking Serrated Surfaces Enhance Modular Fixturing  05/15/00
This pedestal-type workholding fixture matches its grooves and ridges naturally and automatically aligns the surfaces of the workpiece, making subsequent reclampings highly repeatable.

Hydraulic Clamping Shows Its Staying Power  04/15/00
This company discovered first-hand the inconsistencies of manual clamping, where two sides of the fixture were clamped with wrenches, occasionally resulting in parts shifting on the fixtures and sometimes leading to scrap. Learn how they 'fixed' things.

Chatter-Free Milling And Optimized Material Removal Rates  03/15/00
This multi-part piece presents techniques for achieving chatter-free milling and optimized metal removal rates for industrial metal cutting applications. Techniques including acoustics, computer simulations, experimental vibrations, and finite element analysis are shown to be suitable for chatter identification and process optimization.

Getting High Part Yield, Rigid Part Clamping And Low Workholding Cost  06/15/99
JBJ Manufacturing mostly machines heavy parts of iron and steel used in drive trains and other systems for construction and agricultural equipment. The parts range from an inch square to parts longer than two feet. The company machines them in runs of just four or five parts up to 500 pieces. To be efficient and profitable with this kind of work, JBJ needed to take a creative approach with its workholding to be fast and flexible.

Flexibility Is A Vise  05/15/99
The ubiquitous table vise is more than a fixture in metalworking shops. It's a necessity. Like the machine tools they attach to, metalworking vises have had their share of technical advances aimed at extending the flexibility of these popular workholders.

Get A Grip On Process Improvements  05/15/99
Innovative workholding solutions help you hold onto productivity and profit in a machining process. Five new ideas show the value of creative clamping and fixturing.

Efficient, Precise And Flexible  04/01/99
Technological advances in workholding for CNC turning centers and machining centers can provide dramatic increases in overall productivity.

Fixtures Improve Machine Performance, Product Quality And Throughput  03/15/99
This company previously purchased end caps and cylinder rod guides as outside components, but recently turned to Yamazen, Inc. and its line of Brother CNC tapping centers for improvement in the overall production and quality control and for a flexible manufacturing protocol on these parts.

More Parts, Less Space  05/15/98
High-density workholding techniques allow this shop to achieve high production-like efficiencies on an inexpensive CNC bed mill.

Flexible Workholding For Flexible Cells  04/01/96
At this shop, workpiece blanks are generally castings and forgings. Holding irregular and dimensionally variable shapes, accurately and securely, calls for fixturing with flexibility to match that of their four-machine cell.