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The Evolution of Workholding

Makers of workholding devices face a moving target. The machine tools they work with are changing. There’s more high-speed machining. More high-feed machining. More multi-axis machines. New uses of coolant to reduce temperatures during cutting operations.

In Laser Welding, Power Needs Precision

With great power comes great responsibility, the saying goes. And with greater laser power being used to weld sheet metal, tubes, copper and aluminum, operators have a greater responsibility to deliver that power with a precision that avoids defects.

Testing the Metal

Materials science has opened new possibilities for designers of cars, planes and other products. Metal alloys are now as precisely engineered as they are machined. The result is longer lasting, stronger parts. But with a wider selection of materials comes risk—how can you be sure that one piece of gray metal stock is different than another? Careful warehousing procedures and paperwork only go so far.

How Bright is the Future of Automation?

In the 1955 short story “Autofac,” Philip K. Dick envisioned a world dominated by self-replicating robots that work incessantly, eventually depleting the planet’s resources.

Tooling Technology Past, Present and Future

The history of cutting tools goes back a ways—a long, long way. Our prehistoric ancestors were pretty good at making stone tools, and the technology has improved from there. I saw how much on a February visit to the Deutsches Museum in Munich, which has an exhibit on the history of machining.