Machines

15 Oct 2002

Manufacturer Slices Cycle Time 80 Percent

Most of this company's work is machined to tight tolerances and super-high finishes. It builds, assembles, tests and then ships a complete product. The many multi-faceted parts being machined typically required several setups on different machines, often with cumbersome pallet and indexing devices.

Horizontal Machining Centers 15 Oct 2002

Getting To Know Grob

With some familiar names in the machine tool building business fading away recently through mergers, acquisitions, or shutdowns, it may be interesting to learn of an unfamiliar or little known machine tool builder.

15 Oct 2002

New Fixture Multiplies Productivity Of Horizontal Machining Center

The setup for batch processing of each stem version and time expended in load/unload for the second operation created a production bottleneck that became more critical as market demand for the part took off.

15 Oct 2002

Getting In Gear With An Automated Cell

This production cell embodies several unusual but very effective concepts for keeping process variables under control with little operator intervention.

15 Oct 2002

System Simplifies Probing Operations On VMCs

Few machinists will dispute the merits of probing for speeding part setup, setting tool offsets and performing in-process inspection . . . at least in theory. In practice, however, probe systems often have been viewed as difficult to use and expensive to buy.

15 Oct 2002

Internal Grinding Spindle Listens To See

This company has taken the use of acoustical technology for grinding machines in a different direction. It has placed a wide frequency acoustic sensor directly into the high frequency spindle of an internal grinder.

15 Sep 2002

Turning The Downside Up

An Ohio shop uses inverted-spindle machines to improve production of a high-volume part.

15 Sep 2002

New Borders For Swiss-Type Turning

The traditional niche may be too narrow. This shop uses sliding-headstock lathes for jobs that wouldn't normally be run on this type of machine.

15 Sep 2002

High Speed Spindle Helps Mold Maker Stay Ahead

In the competitive arena of moldmaking, shops must produce molds quickly and within tolerance to remain profitable and attract new business. Technological advances in high speed spindles, sophisticated programming methods and high-performance cutting tools allow shops to save time and improve accuracy.

15 Sep 2002

Orthodontist Turns To CNC Swiss To Manufacture His Device

This orthodontist decided to take the plunge into CNC Swiss after having difficulty finding job shops with the machining time to make his parts, tiny components that go into an orthodontic appliance.