PM Blog
Tooling Up For Hard Turning
Hard turning isn’t hard to do. However, it does require an understanding of the process dynamics and a systematic approach to the tooling involved. This article looks at how proper preparation will deliver consistent, predictable hard-turning results.
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First-Hand Experience Adds To Builder's Success
Near the foothills of one of the greatest mountain ranges in the world lies a family-owned machine tool builder specializing in Swiss machines. The story may sound familiar, but there’s a twist, as KSI Swiss is nowhere near the Alps.
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Revisiting An Intriguing CNC Multi-Spindle Experiment
Otto Engineering is a manufacturer of mechanical switches and related products. The vertically-integrated company has its own machine shop, which produces many of the switch components that supply the company’s assembly lines. Like most other manufacturing firms, Otto was looking for ways to cut costs and improve the efficiency of its manufacturing operations.
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Meet The Multi-Center
How shops use the multi-spindle machine tool is changing. Complex workpieces, shorter production runs, rapid change-over and single part handling reflect the new reality of multi-spindle production. Builders are responding to these changing needs with new ways to make the multi-spindle machine more profitable, useful and efficient.
Read MoreInteraction With An Auditor
A recent PMPA Listserve thread indirectly referred to the role of the outside auditor. Are such auditors called in to measure you to the standard to which you are trying to be certified or are they there to provide advice and direction? How should your management representative interact with these auditors?
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Multifunctional Tool Brings Immediate Savings
What would it be worth to a shop to address a problem job in the morning and by afternoon, be running it 40 percent faster? That was exactly BVR Technologies’ (Rockford, Illinois) situation in regards to a standard carrier—a turned part they were machining on a regular basis.
Read MoreEuropean Environmental Directives Impact The North American Machining Industry
The PMPA Technology Services Department has recently published a technical overview of five European directives and regulations. The report is available only to PMPA members.
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Software Meets Shop's Multitasking Machine Programming Needs
Structure Medical is not new to the medical supply industry; it is a spin-off of a company called Inovo, which is a manufacturer of oxygen regulators used in hospitals, nursing homes and the like. Inovo’s principals had been looking for growth opportunities.
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Forming Hex Holes For Bone Screws
Close tolerances and quality surface finish are critical in successful medical machining. To meet such requirements in broaching titanium and stainless steel bone screws, with machined depths ranging anywhere between 0.080 and 0.150 inches, Hassay Savage Company (Turners Falls, Massachusetts) has recently developed an indexing-broach process using four-point or two-point punch broaches for use in Swiss-type CNC lathes.
Read MoreCritical Skills For Effectiveness
Today's business and competitive world is different than it was even a couple of years ago. Are we using the right tools to maximize our effectiveness today or are we still using yesterday's tools because we are comfortable with them?
Read MoreMember Profile: Teton Machine Company
Teton Machine Company began in 1952 as a small tool and die shop in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. Named for the surrounding Teton mountain range, the company was originally located in the basement of the founder's house. Eventually, the operation outgrew that space and, in 1979, was purchased by current owner Rick Rupp.
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Putting More Teeth In Thread Whirling
When it comes to producing OD threads in difficult-to-machine metals, few processes are as fast or as efficient as the thread whirling process. Although the process is not new, its popularity is increasing because of the growing availability of thread whirling tooling for single-spindle Swiss screw machines that provides a relatively inexpensive alternative to investing in dedicated thread whirling machines.
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