Dr. James A. Ryan is a healer, a man who literally helps people walk again without pain or serious discomfort. I met Dr. Ryan at Delcam’s American Technical Summit, which recently took place in the Boston area. There, he gave me a healthy new outlook on the value of CAD/CAM software and CNC machining. His experience at the summit was also restorative—he came away with a fuller vision of how automated manufacturing could change our whole approach to foot care. Dr. Ryan envisions a practical application of mass customization that could ward off or cure a nation’s injuries related to problems with feet and ankles. Click here for the full story.
Industry Information
New Production Machining e-Newsletter
Production Machining magazine, which writes about products and processes used in the manufacture of precision turned parts, is introducing a new e-Newsletter.
The monthly email will keep recipients up-to-date on technologies, products and developments driving the precision turned parts industry.
Click here (or the adjancent image) for more information.
Your Thoughts
Candid or Canned It?
Some shops are installing cameras so they can monitor jobs that are running on machine tools while everyone is away for the evening. Of course, the same cameras can keep watch during regular hours—when operators and other employees are present. Does that make this technology too hot to handle?
Share your opinions and experiences. If we publish your response, you’ll receive your choice of one free book from the metalworking section of the Hanser Gardner bookstore.
To respond, send an e-mail to Mark.
Re: Your Thoughts
Recycling Carbide Pays
A recent issue of MMS Extra asked if you recycle carbide tools.
Mike Schwartz, a buyer at GAMFG Precision, LLC, in Franklin, Wisconsin, told us that recycling carbide is definitely worthwhile. He wrote: “When I was in charge of the tool crib, I always requested that the machine operators bring back a full box of used inserts before they got to sign out new inserts. When they request a carbide tool, we request that the broken and used carbide shanks be returned. We usually save our carbide in locked, 55-gallon drums—one for carbide inserts (we toss the ceramic) and one for carbide solids. At $9 or more a pound, we usually take in approximately $15,000 to $30,000 at a crack.”
What about shops that aren’t big carbide users? Louis Quindlen, who chairs the Machine Technology Department at Laney College in Oakland, California, had a good suggestion: Donate the used carbide to your local community college or high school machine shop program. “We have several shops that donate their used carbide to the Laney College Machine Technology Program. Over the course of a year, it adds up to several thousand dollars that we can spend on carbide tooling, which we would have a difficult time buying otherwise.”
New On MMS Online
Five Axis Machining
Full five-axis machining is a boon to a shop that does cylinder head ports. A video and an EdgeCAM simulation of the simultaneous motion illustrate the process.
Click here to view this video.
Inbox Insights
Make Your IMTS Plans Now
The International Manufacturing Technology Show is less than 3 months away. Now is the time to be booking hotel rooms, getting plane tickets or making other transportation arrangements. Don’t forget that IMTS will be a shorter show and that it starts a week AFTER Labor Day (Monday, September 8 through Saturday, September 13). The show will be at Chicago’s fabulous McCormick Place, as usual.
Find everything you need to know about IMTS at www.imts.com.
Our Next Issue
Micromachining/Hole Making The July 2008 issue of Modern Machine Shop shows how standard machining centers can be used to make miniscule workpieces, but special techniques—not special technology—are key to success.
The issue also spotlights four ideas related to hole making: a diamond-coated drill designed for drilling carbon fiber-reinforced plastic, a tapping unit that makes threaded holes in tube or pipe while on laser cutting machine, precision boring tools that fit ER-style collet systems and a vision system that automates bore finish inspection.
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