Articles & Columns

High-silicon aluminum--aluminum that consists of at least 11.8 percent silicon--has qualities such as lightness and strength that appeal to automakers. The abrasives nature of the material, however, makes it difficult to machine. The author offers suggestions for milling, tapping, drilling, turning and grinding high-silicon aluminum.

Gundrilling: going deep

The author discusses the disadvantages of using a finishing endmill for roughing applications. He also presents a quick, systematic, step-by-step series of calculations that allows machinists to optimize metalcutting when applying coarse-pitch, cobalt-HSS roughing endmills.

A conversation with Lee Iacocca, chief spokesman and a member of the board of directors of The Online Asset Exchange (onlineassetexchange.com), a service for buyers and sellers of machine tools. Iacocca also is involved with a company that produces electric bicycles. The former president of Ford Motor Co. and of Chrysler Corp. was at WESTEC 2000, where he met with CUTTING TOOL ENGINEERING to discuss manufacturing’s role in the economy, his perceptions of the machine tool industry and business-to-business e-commerce.

A look at the different types of inserts used for single-point threading and how to figure feed rates for cutting threads on a CNC lathe. Also offers programming tips and recommendations for reducing tool wear.

Establishing a good relationship with your cutting tool salesperson can benefit your operation. A good salesperson can help solve problems you don't have time to tackle and offer recommendations for machining difficult parts. The author also addresses what to do when a relationship sours.

A rotary table allows a 3-axis vertical machining center to machine in the
4th and 5th axes. The author explains the different types of rotary tables
that are available and discusses the advantages and disadvantages of each.

Switching from a brazed-tip trepanning tool to an indexable-insert tool
reduced downtime for a manufacturer of cast iron cylinder heads by 45
minutes. And, incredibly, the price-per-piece dropped so much that the
company could save $690,000 annually.

Ninety-nine percent of indexable tools that break can be repaired, according to companies that repair tools. And, they say, a broken indexable tool can
be repaired so it performs as well as or better than the original.

Round-up of five recently introduced indexable tools: stub drill, universal
milling cutter, center-cutting endmill, dovetail cutter and insert clamp.

Tool chatter is one of the biggest obstacles to effective machining that job
shops face. The author discusses the sources of chatter and offers
suggestions for minimizing it.

People in the aerospace industry expect a lot from reamers. The author, an
engineer who works for a manufacturer of aerospace components, discusses
strategies for job shops interested in developing a precision reaming
program.

Creep-feed grinding is not as popular a process as it was predicted to become in the late 1980s. But a machine shop that specializes in CF grinding has found great success by using the process. The shop's owner and other CF-grinding experts contend that as workpiece tolerances become tighter and manufacturers begin using more exotic workpiece materials, CF grinding will grow in popularity.

As the government publishes ever-stricter regulations for metalworking fluids, more shops try dry machining. The author examines the cost benefits of machining dry and looks at the various types of tool materials designed to enhance dry-machining applications.

The author, an expert on cutting tool edge preparation, explains the importance of applying the proper edge hone to a tool. He also discusses a brush-type honing machine designed to apply a variable edge--a capability not available with other machines on the market.

Tool management software is designed to help users of cutting tools get more control of their toolcribs. The article describes the types of tool management software available, the savings possible by utilizing software and includes comments from shop owners who've installed these systems.

Dry milling and turning grow in popularity day by day, but dry drilling is
another matter. Because of the nature of drilling, it's more difficult to
perform this operation without coolant. Still, progress is being made,
thanks to research and more sophisticated coatings.

A detailed description of a combination drill that machines six different
hole diameters. Used on a dedicated drilling machine that drills cast iron
cylinder heads, it was developed over a number of years. The six-in-one tool
is made of HSS and has carbide inserts.

Most people know that using the right grade of insert can improve
productivity dramatically. Few know that the proper grade is also important
when utilizing round tools. The author examines the different types of
carbide grades available for round tools.

The CNCs on many lathes don't have drill-pecking cycles. The author
describes several ways to program CNCs to peck, including shortcuts such as
subprogramming and parametric programming.