Chris Koepfer Editor Emeritus

17 May 2001

Playing Global Chess

I recently returned from a visit to the Taiwan machine tool show, TIMTOS. Besides the usual booth visits, I was able to see several machine tool builders in the country’s manufacturing center in Taichung, about two hours south of Taipei.

15 May 2001

Dynamic Thermal Comp Keeps Things Cool

All materials are affected by temperature deviations. While the rate and degree of change varies from material to material, demand for tighter tolerances means that thermal compensation is increasingly finding its way into general manufacturing.

15 Apr 2001

Thermally Stabilize Spindles With Air

Heat is the number one enemy of machine tools. The machine tool spindle is one of the prime sources for generating heat in a machine.

Turning Machines 15 Apr 2001

Center-Drive Offers A Turning Alternative

An interesting aspect of the metalworking industry is that for a given application there is often more than one way to process the workpiece.

1 Apr 2001

MSD Regulations Are DOA

Well it looks like the United States Congress has effectively killed OSHA's latest regulatory intrusion into an estimated 6. 1 million work sites across the country.

Milling Tools 15 Mar 2001

Bringing Cryogenics In From The Cold

There are numerous cases of significantly improved performance from steel and carbide cutting tools that have undergone cryogenic (deep freeze) treatment. But wide use of the process seems to suffer from a perceived lack of scientific underpinnings.

1 Mar 2001

Power To The People?

California's problems of acute electric power shortages, with rolling blackouts, should remind us of the apparent disconnect among those who want things and those who make things. California is the fifth or sixth largest economy in the world.

15 Feb 2001

Making Motors With Non-Sync Lines

Many shops use cellular manufacturing as the basis for their production capability and capacity. Briggs&Stratton used cells to make its small engines until the plant hit a production efficiency wall. The company then turned to non-synchronous transfer lines. Here's how this technology has impacted the plant.

Basics 15 Jan 2001

When You Need Really Accurate Bores

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.

15 Jan 2001

Status Quo Rules

In January it's customary to look into our respective crystal balls and try to divine what fortune or misfortune is likely to befall us. One interesting aspect of this exercise is that in spite of our confidence that some of our guesses will be right or close to right—and indeed some will—experience tells us the completely unanticipated blind-sides are lurking as well.

Inspection and Measurement 15 Jan 2001

On-Demand Inspection Programs

This new software takes the programming of inspection routines, and the overhead that goes with along with it, out of the shop.

15 Dec 2000

Centerless Grinding: Not Magic!

Achieving consistent and quality results from the centerless grinding process requires an understanding of the basic fundamentals. Most application problems associated with centerless grinding derive from a misunderstanding of the basics. This article explains why the centerless process works and how to use it most effectively in your shop.