Peter Zelinski Editorial Director

Turn/Mill 15 Sep 1999

Banking On A Swiss-Type

To shops used to conventional turning, the CNC Swiss-type is a strange sort of lathe. But for the right jobs, the machine is worth both the price and the learning curve.

Aerospace 1 Aug 1999

High Speed Machining: Aerospace -- Boeing's One Part Harmony

Faster, lighter cuts can let one solid part replace an assembly of hundreds of components. Better manufacturing and a better airplane both result. But before Boeing could realize these benefits, a more finely tuned process was needed.

CAD/CAM 1 Jul 1999

Understanding NURBS Interpolation

The right way to program curves? A solution to yesterday's problems? The truth is probably somewhere in between.

Horizontal Machining Centers 15 Jun 1999

High Volume, High Flexibility

Does a highly automated process have to be highly customized? Here is a snapshot of one low-manpower process machining thousands of parts per week on standard CNC machines.

Horizontal Machining Centers 1 Mar 1999

Four Types Of Five-Axis Machining Centers

Different machines offer different approaches to rotary travel, and each design has its own strengths. Here's how they compare.

Shop Management Software 15 Nov 1998

More And Better Information

That's what employees of this shop now have. It's also what the shop itself has - improved information about its own needs and capabilities.

15 Sep 1998

The Practically Dedicated Flexible Cell

Machining centers make sense for this high volume process, even though the machines have continuously produced just one part for years.

15 Sep 1998

No Experience Necessary

This shop assembled standard machine tools and components into a process for flexible production of a series of complex hydraulic cylinder components - all machined from solid, all accurate in some dimensions to +/-0.025 mm - in quantities that can exceed 3,000 per day, using only two operators per shift to shepherd this production from bar stock to shipping container.