Cutting Tool Engineering Magazine

CTE’s 2012 Salary Survey reveals how much various metalworking professionals are making, and the results are mixed. PLUS:

• Retrofitting is an effective and economical option to make new money with old machine tools
• Groove milling can effectively perform slotting and slitting
• Vending machines can help manage tool and supply usage and keep costs in check
• Minnesota shop succeeds by being good at many different part-grinding methods
• CTE Web site grows traffic, expands video, product and machine shop content.

Users reap the rewards of high-speed milling when elements of the machining system complement each other. PLUS:

• A sidelock holder or an ER collet can be the best choice for holding endmills
• Benefits abound when workers and students are exposed to machine and CNC training
• Deburring recommendations for small machine shops with tight tolerances.

The market for ceramic medical implants continues to grow along with the demands for making them. PLUS:

• Spot drills are essential when making ‘perfect’ holes
• The top 10 issues for maintaining and enhancing QC in parts manufacturing
• Managing energy costs and improving energy performance requires an ongoing commitment
• Understanding and controlling wheel truing and dressing forces when rotary plunge dressing.

Remotely monitoring machine tools quickens maintenance and repair. PLUS:

• There is a boring system to get the job done, regardless of hole size
• How do VMCs stack up against HMCs
• Maintaining machine performance with ‘green’ coolant chemistries
• Understanding tangential cutting force when milling
• Learn details about the many new products manufacturers are offering the metalworking industry.

A programmable B-axis on a Swiss-style machine gives part manufacturers a better angle for doing complex work. PLUS:

• Sizing up the state-of-the-art of micro-moldmaking
• Anodizing parts offers numerous benefits, including wear and corrosion resistance
• When choosing among coated-abrasive flap discs to remove metal and finish parts, grit size is just the beginning.

Making parts for hydraulic fracturing drilling operations is a big opportunity for shops but requires the right tools. PLUS:

• Benefits of plunge, or Z-axis, milling
• Considerations when choosing a hard tool or brush to deburr holes
• Bar feeders enable high-speed, automated operation, but choosing the right one depends on your part volume and budget
• Dynomax Inc., an unusually diversified manufacturer, is investing in equipment and employees to target new markets
• The right insert for Swiss-style machining of microparts is often one with a near-zero radius.

Producing commercial aircraft replacement parts requires unwavering commitment. PLUS:

• Improving productivity and quality with unattended horizontal machining cells
• Multiple-operation cylindrical grinding machines complete parts in a single setup
• With the right approach, machinists can eff ectively cut nickel-base and other high-temperature superalloys
• Swiss Automation’s success is based on machining complex parts quickly, accurately and consistently.

Strategic approaches maximize utilization when multitask machining. PLUS:

• Recycling coolant pays big dividends for job shops
• Knowledge of the different facets of sawing can make the process more productive
• A guide to converting from conventional abrasives to superabrasives when double-disc grinding
• Bridging the gap between academic and shop-fl oor grinding knowledge. 

When accuracy counts, thread grinding shines. PLUS:

• Triumph Actuation Systems makes systems that keep aircraft flying straight
• Shops find many uses for presetters
• Manufacturing was a star in 2011 and looks to shine brightly in 2012
• Requirements for milling hardened steels.

2012 Buyers Guide issue:

• Manufacturers index
• Disributors index
• Machne Shop index.

Manufacturers large and small develop strategies to quickly redesign and machine new parts for military customers. PLUS:

• Tools and techniques for engraving 2-D data matrix bar codes on machined metal parts
• Fine finishing with wire EDM is eliminating the need for secondary operations
• How microscopes and vision systems are used in machine shops for noncontact inspection and measurement
• Statistical analysis of metalcutting data can help shops select the right indexable insert geometry.

‘Lightweighting’ vehicles through the use of magnesium parts can improve vehicle mileage and impact resistance, among other benefits. PLUS:

• Tapping medical parts requires unique considerations not needed in general-purpose tapping
• Special glasses are not required, but multiple other considerations apply in 3-D abrasive waterjet machining
• High-density workholding squeezes more productivity from machining centers
• Wisconsin-based Pointe Precision creates business opportunities with new machines and skilled employees
• With technology, experience and attitude, M&S Centerless Grinding is breeding grinding success—on a very small scale.