Tooling It Up for Composites April 1, 2010 From Boeing 787s to new Navy destroyers, fiber-reinforced composites are gaining in use. As production scales up, more-efficient manufacturing remains a focus. One key to that efficiency is tooling for composites. These molds and forms give the final shape to a part, and are often integral to their final curing.
Edge Finishing — Product Enhancement or Wasted Cost? June 1, 2009 Edge finishing is a relatively new term in manufacturing. It’s a new and deeper focus on what many used to call deburring, edge honing, edge preparation, edge prepping, burring, chamfering, or edge blending. Edge finishing goes beyond any of those definitions. Deburring, which is often considered wasted effort by managers, wrongly carries a negative connotation. In reality, deburring and edge-finishing processes add many benefits to parts—they create highly desirable edge quality—the quality most products need.
When Clamps Aren’t the Answer August 1, 2008 Workholding techniques using a magnetic field, a vacuum, or an adhesive can be effective alternatives to clamps. When these techniques are used, more part area is available for the cutting tools, thin parts can be held, and initial setup can be fast and simple. Plus, there is a potential for smoother surfaces and a shorter overall production cycle.
Why Use Waterjet Deburring? August 1, 2007 High-pressure water can simultaneously clean and deburr a workpiece, and hybrid systems can include mechanical deburring in the process.
Tooling and Workholding August 1, 2004 Cutting tool developments are a key driving force in manufacturing productivity, accuracy, and quality. At Sandvik Coromant (Fairlawn, NJ) one of the main trends influencing cutting tool design is developing cutting tools for small-part manufacturing, particularly the medical industry, which is seeing a phenomenal growth of 10 – 20% annually.
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The Essentials of Tool Balancing May 25, 2020 Balanced toolholding assemblies, with even weight distribution, operate better. Unbalanced assemblies may experience vibration and shorter tool life, which are amplified by high machining speeds.
How Bright is the Future of Automation? April 17, 2020 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.
Intelligent Toolholder Controls Cutting in Real Time April 15, 2020 Vibrations, chatter marks, and tool failure are all problems that can be prevented with intelligent monitoring and feedback systems.
Tooling Technology Past, Present and Future April 14, 2020 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.