IMTS Show Daily

Tips for Thread Milling Tricky Materials

Compared to tapping, thread-milling technology offers advantages for creating threads in challenging materials, such as tool steel, stainless steel and high-temperature alloys. Here are a few tips for establishing an effective thread-milling process in those materials.

Developing Shopfloor Talent: Why "Vocational" Is Not a Dirty Word in Europe

Employing apprentices is a smart move because they can be trained to develop exactly the skills and knowledge your company wants them to have. But how do you find these apprentices and why does this concept work better in some countries than in others? A closer look at the German system and the Grob Group’s approach to training, which has replicated its Germany apprenticeship approach in the United States, reveals some insights.

Machining Parts for the World’s Largest Digital Camera

SLAC is building the world’s largest digital camera, to be installed inside the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope. Getting there requires the machining expertise of shops like Keller Technology....Continue Reading

Four Questions a Shop Considering HMCs Should Ask

Compared to vertical machining centers, horizontal machining centers offer the potential for improved spindle uptime, cycle times and throughput. Although they come with a higher price tag, their higher productivity can be significant to shops of all sizes, as Valley Tool has experienced.

Using Cameras to Align Tools and Spindles on Swiss-Type Lathes

Installing cameras in the spindles of a Swiss-type lathe can simplify the alignment of tools with the main and subspindles as well as the alignment of those spindles with each other.