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Competing On A Multi-Spindle
For many high-volume applications, multi-spindle automatics are the right technology for production machining. Increasingly, that production efficiency has been pressured by changes in the needs of shops in the form of shorter run jobs and higher tolerances. This article looks at some of the steps one OEM has taken to address quick change-over issues on its multi-spindle machines and their tooling.
Read MoreMake March Madness—Year Round
I think there are valuable lessons for manufacturers to learn from the consistency of these elite basketball programs. Two key ingredients that I believe help these programs excel over time are attitude and flexibility, and these characteristics relate to precision machined parts makers.
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Are You Medical OEM Material?
As the baby-boomer generation inexorably falls apart, screws, plates, rods and less invasive surgical tools are increasingly available to put "humpty" back together again. A question for many precision part makers is, "How do I get into the medical machining game?" To find out, we talked to a major OEM about its supplier selection criteria.
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The Art And Science Of Precision Cutting Tools
Machine tools become faster and more stable while cutting tools get tougher, longer lasting and geometrically more complex. I visited a premier German cutting tool manufacturer to look at the state of the art of making carbide cutting tools that complement today’s machine tool technology.
Read MorePut The ‘Pro’ In Professional
When it comes to the so-called real world, the dividing line between professional and non-professional, I submit, is blurrier. Like professional athletes, we in industry do our jobs for money. In all my years in metalworking, I’ve never met a soul who works for free.
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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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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.
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Workholding Advantages Of Barstock
Barstock is versatile raw material. It’s easily held, easily fed and has significant capacity for many parts per bar. Usually we think of barstock and bar feeders in relation to turning machines. What about applying the advantages of automatically fed barstock to a vertical machining center?
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Thread Whirling On The Subspindle
The screw machine industry, not surprisingly, started out making screws. Then, screw machines were used to make almost everything but screws—electrical components, aerospace fasteners, plumbing connections and thousands of other kinds of parts.
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A Different Way To Turn
The Esco concept turns turning 180 degrees. Unlike conventional lathes, the material, which is coil stock or bar from 0.02 mm to 12 mm, does not rotate. Stationary stock allows the use of round and profiled material.
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One Guide Channel, No Spindle Liners
It’s only 5 years old, but bar feed manufacturer Top Automazioni is growing fast. On a recent visit to the company headquarters in Italy, I found out first hand how technology has developed faster change-over of bar feeders and how it is fueling demand.
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Rethinking The Multi-Spindle
When the Index MS line, with its open front-end design, hit the streets 4 years ago, it was obviously different. The question is why is it so different? The answer is revealing.
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