American National Standards Institute
After their new-year updates, you won't recognize the place. MUCH more information, a great layout and, if you're a member (yes, you can join), a wealth of data rarely seen (standards-wise) on the Web. For the non-member, it's still a wonderful source of information. Databases and a technical library are notable for their content. Be advised: you will need the ol' (Adobe Acrobat) plug-in for many features of the site.

ANSI has added a significant purchasing utility on their site called Site License, which allows visitors to "buy" time with a document. What that means is, for a price, you get a window—say, 7 days—within which to download the spec(s) you've bought. Of course, you can still purchase hard copies, if you want to wait for them to come via snail-mail.

ASTM International
ASTM International is one of the largest voluntary standards development organizations in the world, a non-profit organization that looks to develop voluntary consensus standards for materials, products, systems, and services within manufacturing. Their site is simple to use and cleanly organized. You'll find some of the typical association online fare here, along with access to members (laboratories, consultants, etc.) and standards themselves (in CD, print or online forms).

Best Manufacturing Practices
Excellent site. It is a repository of useful technical information and news, provides communications to this useful organization, is fully searchable, and has a huge amount of BMP's for metalworking and manufacturing. The site is still a bit dependant upon the (Adobe Acrobat) plug-in for many documents, but this site has grown into a more user-friendly format over the years. Many of BMP's documents and surveys are supported by both html and PDF. BMP is still well worth the visit.

ISO Standards for Machine Tools
While many paths through this site lead to standards that must be purchased from the International Organization for Standardization, there are still many references here that you might find helpful. Among the more interesting bits of info are those that define the development of standards for hundreds of discrete machine tool applications and ancillary processes.

Manufacturing Engineering Laboratory (MEL)
The MEL is a subset of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and is sort of a conduit to technology for manufacturers. Their stated purpose is to "provide the best in the world calibration services, accurate machining processes characterizations, and technical access to the rich opportunities of information technology." The MEL is organized into 6 "sectors" that include 5 divisions (Precision Engineering, Manufacturing Metrology, Intelligent Systems, Manufacturing Systems Integration, and Fabrication Technology) and the Advanced Manufacturing Laboratory. Not only is this Web site a portal into the MEL that you may use to engage them in research, it is also as rich a repository for manufacturing info as any you'll find from the U.S. Government. The access to their published reports alone (under "Publications" on the home page) is worth the visit. Nice work.

metricUSA
If you have anything to do with tools or parts or machines that are metric-based, then you owe it to yourself to scope this site out. International standards, an "All About Metrics" index, and a conversion calculator are worthy of mention. This site is extremely frame-dependant, so you'll need an appropriately capable browser. This is a "new" site (aren't we all), so be patient and watch it grow. Good idea for a site, we think.

NIST WWW Home Page
The National Institute of Science and Technology is an agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce's Technology Administration. Metalworking professionals of all types can find useful data here. NIST has updated their site—it's much easier to navigate through and find info in. A valuable resource.

Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center
The Web site of the non-profit organization offers several information sources for machining professionals, including a wealth of data regarding metalcutting fluid management, preservation and utilization. It also aggregates information topically into "Hubs" -- including those for Metal Fabrication & Machining and Metal Finishing. Though the PPRC is environmentally focused, you will find this site well-rounded, with business tools, compliance standards, and access to more manufacturing-related content.

Standards.gov
This site was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to help with access to standards, regulations and other data used by the federal gub-mint. Of particular note to manufacturers should be those standards employed to select sources for manufacturing services.

Standards.gov
This site was developed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) to help with access to standards, regulations and other data used by the federal gub-mint. Of particular note to manufacturers should be those standards employed to select sources for manufacturing services.

Step Tools
STEP is the STandard for the Exchange of Product model data, a comprehensive ISO standard that describes how to represent and exchange digital product information. STEP aspires to replace IGES as the means by which graphical information is shared among unlike computer systems around the world. But one big difference is that STEP is designed so that virtually all essential information about a product, not just CAD files, can be passed back and forth among users. This site is the "home base" of the STEP initiative, and it contains a wealth of related information, including associated and ancillary language apps and subsets (XML, STEP-NC, etc.) as well as news, technical data and access to tranlation services.

UPDATE: The STEP-NC site continues to expand along with interest in the STEP standard itself, especially in their formidable developers' databases where you can find examples of the standard already developed for use in myriad formats. There are also "virtual tours" that will expand your understanding of what STEP can/will do.

Superfactory
Look, I'm not so sure I know what Superfactory really is, except to say it's a California-based site with loads of links to … well, you just have to take a look at it. From what we gather, Superfactory is an ongoing, growing collection of links to various resources related to many management topics, mainly involving Lean Manufacturing. Those topics include 5S, Cellular Manufacturing, Benchmarking, Six Sigma, Just In Time, and others. The links are submitted by registered members of Superfactory (yes, you can become a contributor just by filling out a form), so the destinations are varied, to say the least—some point to open repositories of data, some point to sites that require registration, and still others point to sites that sell their information. But this new site offers promise, in that it may include access to topics useful to growing your machining enterprise.

UPDATE: Superfactory has grown into a lean manufacturing and lean machining resource powerhouse. You’ll find access to presentations, books, studies, data and every conceivable media to support your company’s pursuit of lean practices. This site has grown into one of manufacturing’s great online repositories.

Techdata
This very simple but effective personal site includes one of the best collections of tables and data for many machining-related topics: material and metals properties; machinability data; dimension tables; and much more. All pages and info on this site download very quickly and must be included in any respectable machining professionals bookmarks.

Nearly anything you could need, from aluminum to yellow brass.

TechSavvy.com
You're gonna need a mapped-out Web Genome to track this site's heritage. These guys were once IndustryNet (a LONG time ago -- '96), then became DataGalaxy (a specifications matching service), and now is TechSavvy.com, a site for matching military and other historical specification info to parts and equipment. Their info database can be searched across historical data, military and parts info, and several industry standards (ANSI, ASTM, ASME, ISO, etc.). Some data cannot be viewed without payment.

U.S. Department Of Commerce
Sure, there's a partisan slant to much of this site. But, heck -- it's the Government. And there are potentially useful links to the individual agencies within Commerce, as well as business-related information within the Federal Labyrinth.