Tom Beard Former Executive VP
Machining In Circles
By converting conventional point-to-point contouring programs to arcs, shops are slashing program lengths, boosting average feed rates, and getting better surface finishes.
Read MoreWhat's It All For?
I once was explaining to a German fellow with perhaps a bit too much enthusiasm all about a Japanese style job shop I'd visited. The shop was the very model of efficiency, of course, and their most impressive achievement was how, through various forms of automation, they'd been able to squeeze the very last drop of unnecessary labor out of the operation.
Read MoreSuperabrasives In The Groove
For the right applications, superabrasive machining can produce dramatic reductions in the total time required to produce a ground-quality part. But don't call it 'grinding' or you may miss the point.
Read MoreLow Cost Machine - High Efficiency Machining
This captive machine shop gets extremely high utilization of their vertical machining centers through clever workholding and handling procedures.
Read MoreTheory For The Rest Of Us
If you've paid any attention at all to the newer thinking in manufacturing philosophy over the last decade, you probably don't need to read this book. Then again, maybe it wouldn't hurt.
Read MoreIt Needs To Be Said Anyway
I met a pretty remarkable guy the other day at Global Precision, a mold shop down in Davie, Florida. He's Rick Zicarelli, the CNC programming manager there.
Read MoreFadal, Part Two
At the end of December a little publicized event passed that in fact was a major milestone for the American machine tool industry: Larry and David de Caussin retired. While that milestone may be good cause for a moment of sentiment on the part of the de Caussins' close friends and associates, if Steve Peterson has his way, it will pass virtually unnoticed by everyone else.
Read MoreTell Me A Good One
A group of people I know has an ongoing E-mail version of the quiz game Jeopardy. Each day a new answer is sent out to all the players who then reply with their question.
Read MoreMoving CAM/CAD to the Shop Floor
Creating a tool path is no longer the exclusive province of the CAD/CAM department. Shops are putting better CAM tools in the hands of their skilled toolmakers so they can assume responsibility for their own part programs.
Read MoreRight After All
If Ken Gettelman, the long-time editor of this magazine, ever had a favorite expression, it was this: "Nothing ever happens until the tool hits the metal. " Ken was fond of saying that just about any time he thought a discussion on any given technology needed a sense of context, and certainly when he felt the conversation was straying too far from the essential "truths" of the trade.
Read MoreWhat I Want For Christmas
We were kicking around some ideas here about whether or not we should do anything special for the December issue, and it was looking like the answer was no. After all, Modern Machine Shop is really about how shops can apply technology, not how they celebrate the holidays.
Read MoreBeyond Swiss Precision
This medical-industry job shop has staked its reputation on superior process expertise with multi-axis--and multifunction--CNC Swiss-style turning centers. The ability to cut small and complex parts completely in a single setup provides huge benefits to the shop and its customers.
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