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.
It is common sense—a vehicle that weighs less requires less fuel to move it. A number of studies show that reducing the mass of a vehicle by 10% results in anywhere from 4.5 to 6% better fuel economy—well worth the effort.
Aluminum and its alloys are highly popular in the machining industry for many reasons. Did you know it is the most abundant metal on Earth?
Full line of fiber and diode laser machines for cutting and hardening
Sharpe Products recently installed a BLM Group LT7 4-kW laser cutting system. This equipment cuts round, square, rectangle and open profile pipe or tube up to 6" OD.
Glenn Bridgman describes the difference between his shop’s manual grinders and its newest state-of-the-art CNC ID/OD grinder, a Studer CT960 OD/ID from United Grinding (Miamisburg, OH), as “feel vs. facts.” Bridgman, president of Bridge Tool & Die (Buckley, MI), believes that manual grinding is a somewhat personal operation.
Shops need both chemical and five-axis laser texturing capabilities to generate patterns that were once considered unattainable.
Desktop Metal Inc., the company founded in 2015 with no plan to produce a production-level printer, is now promoting 3D printing for high-volume serial production under its AM (additive manufacturing) 2.0 initiative.
3D Systems today announced two additions to its industry-leading materials portfolio.
The best way to solve the skills gap is to ignite the already existing and yet dormant fuel of curiosity inside of young minds.