North Dakota State University Engineering Team Wins 3M’s Disruptive Design Challenge April 19, 2018 Four universities—Iowa State University, University of Minnesota, University of Wisconsin-Madison and North Dakota State University (NDSU)—competed in the inaugural 3M Industrial Adhesives and Tapes Disruptive Design Challenge (DDC) at 3M’s headquarters (St. Paul, MN), Friday, April 13.
The Basics of Live Tooling April 27, 2018 Live Tooling, as the name implies, is specifically driven by the CNC control and the turret of various spindle and powered sub-spindle configurations on CNC lathes to perform various operations while the workpiece remains in orientation to the main spindle.
Jabil Establishes New 3D Printing Network April 24, 2018 Jabil Inc. (St. Petersburg, FL) said it’s establishing a global network of 3D printing facilities as the company expands its additive manufacturing business.
Workholding Solutions to Reduce Costs, Increase Throughput April 24, 2018 At the Nirvana Machine Shop on planet Perfection, every workpiece is clamped to a custom-built fixture mounted on a dedicated machine tool. Each workpiece is dimensionally identical to the one before and the one after. All the fixtures are totally automatic—instantly positioning, clamping, machining, inspecting, and releasing the part with the ultimate precision.
Metal AM Class is in Session at Morf3D April 4, 2018 In the near absence of academic programs to teach undergraduate engineering students additive manufacturing, a California-based startup has stepped in to help fill the void through internships.
Ellsworth Launches Free Adhesives Database for Engineers May 19, 2018 Engineers trying to keep track of liquid adhesives, coatings, sealants, and specialty chemical materials now have access to the free, searchable Gluespec database from Ellsworth Adhesives (Germantown, WI). The engineering research tool is designed by engineers to help engineers find the right adhesive and specialty materials for their projects as quickly and effectively as possible.
Cutting Strategies for Airframe Components March 5, 2018 Machining aerospace materials is a challenging task. Not only are machining operations tightly controlled, a wide variety of workpiece materials are employed, including aluminum, titanium, and carbon-fiber reinforced plastics (CFRPs). The following is a brief guide to cutting tool options for successful machining of airframe components. All of the tools referenced are manufactured by Mitsubishi Materials.
Optimizing Oil Country Workholding November 29, 2018 There is no real problem with threading a pipe. Most DIY types can do it in their workshop with hand tools, but when the pipe is 40′ long and ordered by the ton, you are in oil country. Pumping crude oil out of the ground requires drill pipe, casing, tool joints, tees, crosses, flanges, and couplings. All those items need to be machined. And that takes specialized workholding.
A Supermarket for Tooling and Workholding November 5, 2018 If you’re looking for new solutions to tooling and workholding challenges, IMTS was a great place to start. The bi-annual trade show, held this past September in Chicago, allowed shops to browse for the “latest and greatest” technologies.
Sorting Out the Options Leads to Successful Presetting November 2, 2018 With the number of offline and in-process toolsetting options on the rise, developing a way to efficiently utilize this technology can be confusing. Which presetter should we buy? What about the software that’s so often part of these systems—do we really need it?