Articles & Columns

During the summer, writes the Shop Operations columnist in the October 2013 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering, it gets pretty hot in a shop that's not air conditioned. With sweat running down my semibald head, I was trying to get a part set up in a CNC lathe. This particular part was giving me some trouble because of a tool compensation problem. I was hot and frustrated.

New technology has reduced the footprints of sinker EDMs and made them smarter, faster and more efficient.

A review of metalworking products as compiled by the editors of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Multisensor measurement can make part inspection for machine shops more efficient.

Cutting cycle time for a 3,000-piece run. Two wire EDMs.

The Machine Technology column in the October 2013 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering offers guidance for protecting spindles from contamination.

I'm a big a supporter of my local community college's machining programs. There's one facet of machine shop management a classroom can't prepare a student for, though: the constant, yet unexpected, gear shifting that goes on when you're running a shop.

Design for manufacturability is catching on among the more sophisticated clients of machine shops.

Simultaneously improve product quality and productivity when EDMing PCD and PCBN cutting tools and wear parts. An automation process that incorporates work cells.

New and traditional part grinding technologies combine to control vibration and improve precision.

Abrasive waterjet users can benefit by learning about the technology's expanding applicability.

After working in the machining and fabrication business for 21 years, Keith Jennings, the Manager's Desk columnist for Cutting Tool Engineering, has concluded that million-dollar jobs don't guarantee big profits.

Cutting Tool Engineering Editorial Director Alan Rooks ponders the impact additive manufacturing will make on the industry.

When management smiles down upon CAM initiatives, shops can realize numerous benefits, according to the Get With The Program column in this month's Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Ultrashort pulsed-laser deposition of diamond-like coatings.

Improve cutting edge integrity and flute faces of cutting tools. A flute finishing process that uses a fine-grit, hybrid resin-bond flute polishing grinding wheel, special truing wheels and fine-grit dressing sticks.

Electron beam drills make short work of microholes.

Producing prototype automotive parts via 3-D printing helps reduce time to market while boosting vehicle quality and fuel efficiency.

Tom Lipton, the author of Cutting Tool Engineering's Shop Operations column, shares a trick he learned that reveals an interesting use of relatively crash-proof soft metal or plastic bed plates on a milling machine.

Minimize lubricant for a mass-production cylinder head line. Switch to minimum quantity lubrication.