PM Blog
Quick-Change Tooling For Swiss-Style Machines
The productivity of new Swiss-style machines has increased in recent years as faster spindles, more rigid bases and improved controls have made it possible to dramatically increase metal removal rate. But while cycle times have been substantially reduced, the time required to change cutting tools has stayed largely the same.
Read More
A Look at Today's Cast Iron
This article explores a variety of factors affecting machinability of grey and ductile irons. Choosing the right combination of metal and cutting tools can have a dramatic impact on the cost of a part.
Read More
Can You Afford To Ignore Tool Monitoring?
In production, eliminating variability is the key to making good parts consistently. Cutting tool condition is a critical variable in the process. With a return on investment, in many cases, of less than a month, in-process tool monitoring is a cost-effective way to help plan and verify a shop's cutting tool strategy.
Read MoreSelecting The Right Shaft Coupling
When designing machinery, how do you begin to select the right coupling for a drivetrain application? How do you find one that will not only compensate for misalignments in the joined shafts but will also provide the flexibility, torque capacity, corrosion-resistance and other performance capabilities that the application requires? Here’s a case in point that provides some of the answers.
Read MoreAhead of the Curve
As the 1980s drew to a close, Tad Korndoerfer knew that if his Long Island, New York-based company was to survive, it was going to have to undergo a paradigm shift in the way it did business. No longer, he felt, could Action Machined Products be content to compete in the commodity-type business on which it had grown up. Price pressures from the consuming industries were eating the margins of Action Machined Products. Plus, while low cost foreign competition was just starting to become a factor in the precision machined products industry, it was obvious which way things were headed. Action Machined Products, which up until then produced the lion’s share of its parts on aging Brown&Sharpe machinery, needed to evolve to the next level.
Read MoreSolving Your Technical Problems
Sharing technical and shop information and working with others in the industry to solve problems in these areas are the biggest benefits of attending the Precision Machined Products Association’s annual National Technical Conference (NTC), to be held May 3 - 5 at the Greater Columbus (Ohio) Convention Center.
Read MoreHow To Impress Young Recruits: Take Them To PMTS
Jerry Eighmy sees the world in a different light. Where others may see a potential problem, he sees an opportunity. While some in the precision machined products industry believe the labor pool for talented young adults is thin, Mr. Eighmy is working to increase the size of the pool.
Read MoreThe Dirt On Cleaner Crankshafts
A high-pressure waterjet blasts away burrs and machining residues that resist more traditional cleaning methods.
Read MoreLess Setup Equals Being More Competitive
Using CAM software as part of a setup reduction strategy has paid big dividends for this Ohio shop.
Read MoreSlashing Secondary Ops With New Swiss CNCs
This company employs 55 people. As labor costs have continued to grow, ownership has begun to realize that the only way to maintain profit margins is to become more efficient. Analyzing the operation, they've honed in on eliminating, or it least drastically reducing, secondary operations.
Read MoreControlling Machine Vibration And Shock
Dynamic loads, and the resulting vibration or shock, are a fact of life with rotating and oscillating machinery. Both shock and vibration can damage equipment, increase operating costs, reduce quality and productivity, and generate objectionable noise levels.
Read MoreChoosing Advanced Tooling For Swiss Machining
The right tools for Swiss machines can boost throughput and improve the quality of finished parts. For example, switching from brazed carbide parting tools to more wear resistant coated carbide inserts with sharper edges reduced cycle time on an automotive fluid connector from 11 seconds to just 5 seconds.
Read More
