Videos

With so much of the news focused on manufacturing lost to China, India and elsewhere, Illinois ProTurn is growing, doubling in size, says Dan Lamz, president of the McHenry, Ill., shop. The majority of the shop's work is in the plastic injection mold industry, and Lamz says the company's forté is hard turning. View the video above to learn more about Illinois ProTurn's success and its ability to produce tight tolerance parts over and over again.

Western Oklahoma job shop Kos Machine LLC makes it a point to help out local farmers. Follow along as Kos repairs an old Case tractor in this video slide show.

CTE Plus offers a look at minimum-quantity lubrication in action thanks to video provided by the Horkos Corp.

Watch how some companies are fighting the negative image of manufacturing with a clean, high-tech message aimed at youth.

This brief video report features United Titanium employees who demonstrate the production of proprietary threaded titanium fasteners.

Though ITI Tooling Co. Inc. introduced the Varia Rapid-Change Tooling System some four years ago, the company's product manager—Lee Hebenstreit—says word of this technology has not yet spread throughout the markets it could help. That's why the company produced a 22-second video showing the Varia tool changing system in action. 

Greenleaf Corp. introduced its WG-300 ceramic composite  tool material about 25 years ago. The ceramic matrix  is reinforced with silicon-carbide "whiskers” that boost  toughness. Initially applied in the relatively constant cutting  conditions of turning operations, the composite tools  provided a significant increase in productivity when roughing  aerospace alloys. Shops are now using WG-300 tools in hard  milling operations. 

Interrupted turning is common in aero-engine machining, said Sean Holt, aerospace specialist for Sandvik Coromant Co., Fair Lawn, N.J. There, a complete, finished component is machined out of a single, large block of material (most commonly Inconel 718) in several process stages that involve accurately removing a vast amount of material to meet strict parameters for the finished part's dimensions and characteristics. Sandvik Coromant claims to have cutting tools and machining methods that greatly improve aerospace component manufacturing.

Microlution President Andy Phillip would like to spread the word about the capabilities of micromanufacturing companies like his own. Watch this 3-part video report.

SmalTec International General Manager Jerry Mraz discusses the expansion of the Lisle, Ill., company and the benefits and features of its new micromachine, the GM703.

The new 5-axis micromachining center from AtometricInc. generated some welcome excitement at shows like the recent Medical Design & Manufacturing event in Minneapolis, Minn. Learn more about the company and its new machine in this special MICROmanufacturing report.