Columns

CNC Tech Talks 7 Nov 2019

How to Improve Peck Drilling Canned Cycles

Most CNCs don’t have a canned cycle for machining deep holes into malleable materials. Here’s what you do.

Basics 4 Nov 2019

Getting More with Digital Indicators

Today’s digital indicators are not only replacing dial indicators in some instances, but they are also approaching the performance of bench amplifiers at a fraction of the cost.

Automation 12 Oct 2019

AI Demands Meaningful Metrics

Machine learning can identify patterns and trends faster than any human, but correlations are only as meaningful as the data driving the analysis.

CNC Tech Talks 11 Oct 2019

How to Effectively Train CNC Machine Operators

A blended-learning approach uses external resources to teach the basics, saving in-house training for company-specific issues.

Additive Manufacturing 10 Oct 2019

Material Jetting: It's Like Printing, Just in 3D

Recent advances in material processing capabilities have renewed interest in material jetting, the additive process that allows 3D objects to be built by placing different combinations of material drop-by-drop.

Inspection and Measurement 9 Oct 2019

Taking A Reading on Gages

Are we taking advantage of the vast amounts of dimensional information that a gage or hand tool can produce? Certainly not if the information presented on the gage display reads only “over,” “under” or “good.”

Data-Driven Manufacturing 23 Sep 2019

5 Impressions of EMO 2019, from Automated to Autonomous Manufacturing

The robot show? Not quite that. But automation and the expectation of processes that can run unattended if needed are clearly core to manufacturing now.

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CNC Tech Talks 16 Sep 2019

5 Ways the External Work Offset Can Help You

External work offsets can be valuable because they let you shift the point of reference for fixture offset entries from the machine’s home position to a more logical one.