MMS Blog

Milling Tools 23 Sep 2008

The Anatomy Of An End Mill For Aluminum

By using specialized cutter geometry and incorporating smooth finishes with tough coatings, Toolmex Corp., created an end mill well suited to cut aluminum aggressively. This tool called the "Mako" is part of the SharC line of specialized tools from the same company.

Turning Machines 18 Sep 2008

Exploring Niches With New EDM Technologies

A shop specializing in wire EDM for large mold components now offers EDM “turning” of small, intricate parts. Despite the potential risks involved in early adoption of new technologies, the shop believes this practice gives it a leg-up on the competition and lets it gain experience with alternative machining techniques before offering them to customers.

Aerospace 18 Sep 2008

New Honing Options For Hypereutectic Aluminum Cylinder Bores

Hypereutectic aluminum is saturated with silicon particles that must be exposed during honing. A two-stage process first hones a cylinder’s wall to a mirror-like finish and then relieves aluminum around the silicon particles.

CAD/CAM 17 Sep 2008

Integrating Design, Manufacturing Processes

Lack of associativity between this shop’s design and manufacturing software packages led to extra work and a high risk of introducing errors into the process. To address these challenges, the mold manufacturer implemented an end-to-end CAD/CAM package from Cimatron that ensured a seamless workflow and eliminated time-consuming manual operations.

CAD/CAM 17 Sep 2008

Shop Aims For G Code

When rising material prices and the weak U.S. dollar contributed to a surge in demand from the mining industry, this manufacturer of rock-crushing equipment knew it had to boost productivity to keep up. Along with extensive support from trusted suppliers and an investment in new machines and cutting tools, the shop pushed the limits of its long-time CAM system to stay ahead of the curve.

Aerospace 17 Sep 2008

Alternate Tool Material For Hogging Large Workpieces

Shops often use either carbide or high speed steel cutting tools for hogging out the large workpieces common to the aerospace and moldmaking industries. While both materials have their advantages and disadvantages, cutting tool manufacturer Precision Cutting Tools says powder metal combines the best features of both.

Turn/Mill 17 Sep 2008

Consider Swiss-Types For Medical Opportunities

Adopting the latest machining technologies is key for shops to accurately and repeatably create medical components. Swiss-style lathes offer a good combination of precision and repeatability for these applications thanks in part to their guide-bushing design, which provides support for the workpieces very close to the cut.

Basics 17 Sep 2008

How to Hone an Atypical Aluminum Alloy

Hypereutectic aluminum used for engine blocks contains silicon particles that must be exposed during cylinder honing. This can be done using a cushioning, elastomer honing tool that allows individual abrasive particles to “bounce” over the silicon particles.

CAD/CAM 17 Sep 2008

Programming A Robot The Way You Program A CNC Machine Tool

Programming a robot with the same CAM software used for a multi-axis machine tool makes it unnecessary to “teach” the robot by jogging it manually from point to point and recording these point-to-point moves as the robot’s motion commands. Robotmaster is a software package that provides this CAD/CAM-based, off-line programming for robots. It runs fully integrated inside Mastercam CAM software for CNC machine tools.

27 Aug 2008

If You Prototype It, They Will Come

For an upcoming article, I recently visited Protofab in Petaluma, California. I wanted to learn how this small job shop got into micro-machining medical implants. It turns out the shop didn’t win this work because it had the right equipment or because it was knowledgeable about machining tiny parts. The equipment a

27 Aug 2008

Making Your Shop Eco-Friendly

A recent of MMS Extra issue asked how shops feel about environmentally conscious machining and carbon-footprint reduction. Dan Goldsmith at Elmira Stamping & Mfg. in Elmira, New York, ( www.elmirastamping.com ) responded by mentioning some of the practical steps that have been taken at his shop to reduce its e

EDM 27 Aug 2008

Check Machine Details Before Delivery To Your Shop

When I am interested in writing about a new type of machine tool, I like to visit a shop or plant that has a representative model in place. Getting this user’s perspective is more objective and more relevant than just picking up info from other proponents. Writing the article is more fun, too. So typically, I talk

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