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Here’s how a new part design became the “hub” of future victory for students working on the Formula SAE car project at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. The year was 2013 and our Formula SAE car team had just returned from a successful run at their competition, albeit with some scorching critiques from the design judges.

As the cost of tungsten rapidly rises, cutting tool manufacturers focus on developing inserts that reduce carbide consumption while boosting productivity. By Alan Richter Like so many other commodities, the price of tungsten ammonium paratungstate (APT), which is used to make carbide cutting tools, has moved in only one direction: up — way up.

‘Everything is big, heavy and expensive’ for shops serving the energy industry. By Christopher Tate Each segment of manufacturing has unique characteristics. Automotive machining is characterized by high volume and low margins. Aerospace is highly regulated with tight tolerances. Medical machining is also highly regulated with difficult to machine alloys.

All businesses feel the pressure to improve productivity, precision and profitability. For machine shops, one of the most influential decisions — yet often misunderstood — involves choosing the right turning insert for the job. With countless insert types, coatings and geometries available, understanding when to use ISO-standard inserts versus proprietary options can significantly impact your throughput, part quality and tool life.

The workholding basics for CNC machining. By Erez Speiser The best CNC machines and cutting tools are only as effective as the workholding system used to secure a workpiece to the table during the machining process. The foundation of successful precision machining begins with the selection of the proper workholding system for the workpiece and machining operation at hand.

The bedrock of success How Better Workholding Cuts Hidden Costs and Boosts Spindle Uptime. By Austin Heisick In many machining environments, workholding is still evaluated using narrow criteria: can the workholding securely hold the part, and how much does it cost? While ensuring adequate clamping force is critical, this perspective overlooks the broader role workholding plays in CNC machining.

This month’s column is a primer on FlexArm, a product line of articulating cantilever arms from Flex Machine Tools, Wapakoneta, Ohio. The arms assist an operator in performing various manufacturing tasks. The company began manufacturing tapping arms in 1984, and over the years has expanded the product line to include arms for drilling, die and mold grinding, polishing, and for manipulating heavy workpieces — to name a few.

END USER LNS North America Inc. 513-528-5674 www.lnsgroup.com SOLUTION PROVIDER Rimon Technologies 872-335-4974 www.rimon.tech CHALLENGE Reduce the number of service calls handled by workers and transfer knowledge from experienced to inexperienced workers. SOLUTION An AI-powered chatbot and a video-based documentation system.

Regardless of the industry being served, effective worker training is critical to a part manufacturer’s success. Horst Engineering’s core focus is producing aerospace and defense parts, but states that precision machined components are just as essential to many high technology industries, including power generation.

END USER Petitpierre SA +41 32 843 44 22 www.petitpierre.ch SOLUTION PROVIDER MVTec LLC 617-401-2112 www.mvtec.com CHALLENGE Inspect precision, microscale components in a fast, accurate and contactless manner. SOLUTION A machine vision system. The precise inspection of very small components, for example in watchmaking, is a challenge.