The Precision Machining Technology Show is a great example of discovering ways shopfloor employees can become more efficient, thereby helping shops become more profitable.

Founded in 2001, PMTS reconvenes in April 2025 to celebrate its 13th biennial event for precision machining pros. Mark your calendar now and plan to join the precision machined parts community when we once again gather in person to share challenges and insights, see new technology solutions and learn about process innovations – everything you need to take back and immediately put to use in your own shop. __PRESENT

Under a microscope the structure that results from the increasing carbon can be seen. The carbon forms a darker, harder phase called pearlite, which is composed of the ferrite interspersed with layers of iron carbide, a very hard constituent. It is the increase in this pearlite phase, driven by the carbon content, that explains the increase in the steel’s mechanical properties, especially the hardness. Above 0.60 carbon in plain carbon steels, a thermal treatment called an anneal is used to modify the microstructure and reduce the steel’s hardness.

Rotary transfer machines remain well-suited for high-volume production, but are now more accommodating to smaller batch sizes.

Various methodologies paired with online tools can help small to mid-sized manufacturers determine how to predict and calculate the potential economic benefits of robotic equipment for their specific needs.

Production Machining’s September 2024 technology showcase includes some of the latest technology from Expand Machinery, Paperless Parts, Monaghan Tooling Group, Walter USA and more.

Sandvik Coromant’s CoroCut 2 with -RF geometry is designed for secure and high-precision profiling, eliminating the trade-off between chip control and optimized surface finish.

Now representing six brands in North America, Platinum Tooling offers tooling and related accessories for a range of machine tool types, including CNC mills, lathes and Swiss-types.

Join this webinar and discover how to overcome multi-channel mill-turn and Swiss CAM programming challenges using SolidCAM, with amazing machine simulation and customized post-processors tailored for your mill-turn and Swiss CNCs. Darrin Bryant, SolidCAM’s applications engineer, will highlight how to utilize SolidCAM's CAM software to enhance your CNC manufacturing and demonstrate how to optimally set up your projects for guaranteed success. Agenda: Major benefits of SolidCAM's single window integration and full associativity in Solidworks Embracing the future of increasingly complex CNC machines—including five-axis, Multi-Channel Mill-Turn and Swiss CNCs Exclusive features of SolidCAM's iMachining that provides much shorter cycle times and superior tool life Using iMachining Technology Wizard takes the guesswork out of defining cutting conditions and automatically provides optimal feeds and speeds while considering stock materials, cutting tools and CNC machine properties Using SolidCAM’s Toolkit to easily create customized precision project setups Highlighting the advantages of multiple verification options in SolidCAM Utilizing SolidCAM’s operations sequence manager to simplify synchronized part creation with fewer steps and higher success

Dillon Manufacturing’s extra-long hard jaws feature extended reach, making them well suited for machining small diameters.

Zeiss Quality Innovation Days brings together quality and metrology experts from all over the world to take part in industry-specific sessions.

Precision Machined Products Association's mission is to progressively lead  members to sustainable success with reliable and relevant information, resources, advocacy, and networking opportunities. More information for the conference to come.

Starting on Thursday August 8, 2024, PM will begin “gating” its premium content, asking all new website users to provide some information about themselves — name, title, employer, email address — before they are provided free access to the content.

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Ecoclean’s Acoustic Performance Measurement (APM) system provides in-line measurement of ultrasonic frequency and power in fully automated immersion cleaning systems on a batch-by-batch basis or at defined time intervals, such as once a shift, day or week.

Production Machining’s October 2024 technology showcase includes some of the latest technology from Ceratizit, Kennametal, Mate Precision Techologies, Horn and Mazak.

Each year Products Finishing partners with thousands of finishing operations in the U.S. to celebrate National Surface Finishing Day (NSFD) on the first Wednesday in March. NSFD is designed to celebrate and showcase the industry to trade schools, businesses, officials and media, as well as to celebrate employees and staff. The overarching goal of NSFD is to bring further awareness to the important roles plating and coating facilities play in their communities. Facilities are encouraged to host events and work with local media to build awareness about the contributions made by the surface finishing industry. For a helpful guide to reaching out to media outlets, download the NSFD toolkit here. How can you celebrate? Share your company’s story Hold an open house where the public can check out your facility –— either in person or virtual Offer student shop tours to local trade schools Invite local elected officials to visit and get to know your staff Celebrate your employees Share news about what you’re doing on social media and use the hashtag #NationalSurfaceFinishingDay or #NSFD

Marubeni Citizen-Cincom’s tooling and accessory workshop at IMTS 2024 offered a chance to learn more about ancillary devices that can boost machining efficiency and capability.

The fact that the system for naming steels is based on chemical make-up shows the importance of chemical factors on the properties, including machinability, of these steels. The incorporation of the mean carbon content as the last two digits of the grade designation shows the importance of carbon as the primary determinant of the steel grade’s properties.

The Metalnox line of solvent products are designed to improve reliability and increase the ease of cleaning in vacuum and vapor degreasing processes.

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It is widely established that lead promotes machinability, but the relative contribution of lead compared to sulfur is little known. For example, grade 1117 is virtually identical to 1018 except for the manganese and sulfur. Yet the increase in production rate (as measured by inches of tool travel per minute) is 33 percent, attributable to the increased sulfur. Adding lead to 1018 to make 10L18 increases the production rate by 27 percent, while adding lead to 1117 results in a production rating of 65 percent greater than 1018. These differences in production rate show that there are two different mechanisms involved. The addition of sulfur controls the built up edge on the tool, so that the maximum temperature during the cut is in the built up edge rather than the tool, promoting longer tool life and both higher speeds and feeds. In addition, a close examination of the chips will show that they get thinner in resulfurized steels, demonstrating that the strain hardening by the tool is decreased. Strain hardening accounts for as much as 75 percent of the heat involved in cutting, according to some experts.

Here are answers to frequently asked questions we as a provider of testing, consulting, information and compliance services receive about Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification.

Can increasing productivity and reducing carbon emissions go hand-in-hand? For its high-volume machining customers, Sandvik Coromant offers a tool for data collection and comparison to aid sustainability-minded process decisions.

Individual elements of the machining process such as machine tools, tooling and even CAD/CAM software play a role in overall machine shop sustainability. Observing the entire process especially when it comes to their influences on energy usage is key.

Steels are iron-based metals to which other chemical elements have been added. The addition of these elements can create new constituents in the metal, affecting its mechanical properties (hardness, tensile and yield strength, ductility) and machinability. Steels are considered to be carbon steel when no minimum content is specified for chemical elements including aluminum, chromium, cobalt, columbium, molybdenum, nickel, titanium, tungsten or vanadium for alloying effect; when the specified minimum for copper is 0.40 or less; and when the limits for the following elements are not exceeded: manganese—1.65 percent; silicon—0.60 percent; and copper—0.60 percent.

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Verisurf’s Machine Tool Probing (MTP) suite is an in-process automated inspection solution for CNC machine tools, offering inspection and reporting capabilities.

Verisurf will offer complete metrology solutions that combine its model-based inspection and measurement software, training and live technical support with Hexagon CMMs.

The SLV901 and SLV803 solvents are formulated to maintain cleaning efficacy while providing a safe, environmentally friendly alternative to processes that use PFAS and HFCs.

Cold drawing is a multi-step process where the bars are first cleaned by abrasive shot blasting to remove the hard abrasive oxide scale, then cold reduced by pulling through a carbide die smaller than the bars’ starting diameter, resulting in a uniform amount of cold work being imparted to the bars. (It is called “cold drawing” because no heat is deliberately added in the process.) After drawing, the bars are straightened and cut to length by a saw or shear before packaging for shipment.

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Vericut Intelligence and Vericut Assistant aim to simplify the way users can interact with and gain knowledge from Vericut’s software products.

To get the maximum production from automatic machines, additions of lead, bismuth, selenium and tellurium have been commonly used. Consolidation in the global steel industry has made lead and bismuth the most widely available choices today. However, another “unleaded” steel, called 12T14, is available from Laurel Steel (Ontario, Canada). This steel uses tin as an addition to promote machinability.

As a result, it has become increasingly important for PM evolve its audience development strategy and learn as much as possible about who is accessing our content, what content they are accessing and how they are accessing it.

This parts cleaning company is elevating its efforts to become a technical cleanliness expert, which presents an exciting, yet sometimes arduous, journey. The ongoing education of the team as well as significant investments in equipment and processes attribute to this shop’s success.

This new vertical turning center with measurement and robotic automation processes is able to produce vehicle ball joint ball pins in 7 seconds.

A multispindle platform designed to combine the high production speed of a cam-driven machine with the precision and repeatability of CNC also includes technology to speed set ups for new jobs.

Recent testing has shown that thread rolling can be more economical than thread cutting when producing 4,000 parts or more. A newly created calculator can help you to determine which might be the better option for your threading applications.

PMTS 2023: The Mazak Syncrex series comes in four bar capacities, ranging from 20 to 38 mm, and is available in 7-, 8- and 9-axis configurations as well as a 9-axis model with full B-axis contouring.

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Failures of steel parts in service or production occur infrequently. However, when steel parts fail, the consequences are dire. Here are seven ways that steel can fail as a result of quench cracking from heat treatment.

High-speed spindle technology was key to effective milling of small cardiac monitoring components complete on a CNC sliding-headstock machine platform instead of running them across two mills.

SolidCAM aims to align its product development and customer engagement strategies to address the evolving needs and challenges of the manufacturing industry.

Production Machining’s October 2024 technology showcase includes some of the latest technology from Ceratizit, Kennametal, Mate Precision Techologies, Horn and Mazak.

New part programming developments continue to be added to the Tri-County Technical College curriculum and solutions for Swiss-type lathes might soon be included.

These spindles available on Tschudin CNC centerless grinders are designed to minimize the heat transfer factor while optimizing dimensional stability and material removal rate.

I recently learned about a 153-year-old manufacturer that has produced billions upon billions of precision, metal pins which started another business making one-off wooden baseball bats. (Like I asked it to do for me and you’ll see at this year’s Precision Machining Technology Show). Here I explain why it’s worth the time to read that article.

We are doing this because the ways PM’s audience finds and accesses our content is changing. Google’s search algorithms, increasingly, make it difficult to connect PM’s content with the people who might make use of it. On top of that, generative AI like ChatGPT is serving up PM content to internet users without attributing that content to PM.

Various methodologies paired with online tools can help small to mid-sized manufacturers determine how to predict and calculate the potential economic benefits of robotic equipment for their specific needs.

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In the hot-rolled, as-rolled condition, the plain carbon steels typically have the mechanical properties shown in the HR entry for the three grades shown in Figure 1. Most bars for machining are cold drawn, which increases tensile and yield strength and hardness and reduces ductility as measured by percent elongation and percent area reduction. The cold-drawn properties are shown in the line labeled CD for each of the three grades. The percent change line shows the percent effect of the cold work on the steel’s mechanical properties.

ATI Inc. has joined the University of Strathclyde’s AFRC as a tier one member, aiming to develop metallic alloys that support sustainability in the aerospace sector.

Production Machining’s June 2024 technology showcase includes some of the latest technology from Siemens, Ceratizit, Walter, Kennametal and more.

Degreasers are the best option for cleaning parts machined with oil. Vacuum degreasers are recommended for cleaning complex parts.

ModuleWorks and Toolpath announce a technology partnership that intends to utilize intelligent cloud-based manufacturing solutions for machining estimation and CAM automation.

These spindles available on Tschudin CNC centerless grinders are designed to minimize the heat transfer factor while optimizing dimensional stability and material removal rate.

Over the past year, Mike Gresen has led his team through the process of opening a new Benchmark Electronics location without interrupting supply to customers and within the company budget, shutting down production for only three business days.

Machine tools capable of performing multiple functions and machining parts to completion are becoming the standard rather than the exception. Incorporating automation into these systems allows for extended periods of operation without the need for operator intervention.

In this case, new controllers for two coordinate measuring machines — one 26 years old — with new programming software offers the possibility to enable multisensor inspection of critical, turned aerospace components.

Learn the factors that contribute to carbon steels and their machinability as well as the 1214 steels, 1215 steels and 1018 steels, other grades, and more.

Production Machining’s September 2024 technology showcase includes some of the latest technology from Expand Machinery, Paperless Parts, Monaghan Tooling Group, Walter USA and more.

Here are some tips for choosing, maintaining and customizing a granite solution that will best meet your shop’s particular inspection needs.

This new vertical turning center with measurement and robotic automation processes is able to produce vehicle ball joint ball pins in 7 seconds.

Thousands of people visit our Supplier Guide every day to source equipment and materials. Get in front of them with a free company profile.

These manganese sulfide inclusions are visible under the microscope, generally elongated, and distributed throughout the steel. An additional benefit provided by these sulfides is their role in the retention of built up edge on the tool, which is influenced by the anti-weld properties of manganese sulfide.

The machinability of carbon steels is determined by a number of factors. Microstructure, cold work and content of carbon, sulfur, manganese, phosphorus, nitrogen and lead all play a role in improving machining productivity. As a general rule, higher sulfur contents promote higher feeds by reducing strain hardening of the chip and maintaining a consistent built up edge on the tool. The addition of lead permits higher speeds as its lubricating action reduces the friction and, thus, heat. Both mechanisms prolong tool life. For applications requiring no lead, 1215 or a proprietary tin-added 12XX series grade (12T14) may be appropriate. When the machinist wonders why there seems to be so much variation between different lots or grades of steel, the variation that could occur in any of the above discussed factors ought to give them a starting point for understanding.

Improving surface finish can be done by making adjustments to one or more of these points: operational parameters, wheel dressing, grit size, coolant delivery and machine condition.

The addition of lead to steel while it is still liquid results in the lead being deposited as pure metallic lead particle on the heads and tails of the manganese sulfides dispersed throughout the steel. Pure lead is both softer than steel and has a coefficient of friction comparable to that of graphite lube. Because of its role as an internal lubricant, lead allows the steel to be machined at higher speeds than its non-leaded counterpart.

User-friendly inspection software for CNC machining centers was shown at IMTS 2024 monitoring measurements between and after machining while performing SPC based on recorded measurement values.

Participants who pass the program quizzes earn a certificate of successful completion, as well as 4 hours of continuing education credit from Sam Houston State University.

Lead, on the other hand, acts as an internal lubricant, reducing friction, resulting in a much less significant improvement in machining production. As other technological means have been developed to remove the heat during machining (high-pressure and high-velocity coolants, for example) the importance of lead is not as critical as it once was.

The expanded partnership now includes advanced production metrology systems, covering contour, roughness and form instruments, as well as advanced optical metrology systems.

Production Machining’s September 2024 technology showcase includes some of the latest technology from Expand Machinery, Paperless Parts, Monaghan Tooling Group, Walter USA and more.

In the 12T14 steel, the tin additive is thought to promote machinability by its segregation in the grain boundaries of the steel. This allows the grains to be separated with lower forces and less energy than similar but non-tin treated steels during machining. While speeds and feeds for 12T14 are not consistently equal to those of 12L14, many thousands of tons have been sold for applications specifying no lead and production rates higher than those routinely achieved with 1215.

Sulfur combines with manganese to form a solid but nonmetallic inclusion substance called manganese sulfide. Manganese sulfides act as discontinuities in the steel, providing nucleation sites for the chip to break. The 11XX series of steels has more sulfur and manganese than the 10XX grades. It is more machinable because of the manganese sulfides resulting from the increase in manganese and sulfur content. (The manganese is added to tie up the sulfur and prevent it from reacting with the iron in the steel, forming iron sulfides or pyrites that are brittle at steel rolling temperatures.)

Both the hardness and machinability of plain carbon steel grades increase for these grades up to a point, after which machinability declines as the hardness continues to increase.

A multispindle platform designed to combine the high production speed of a cam-driven machine with the precision and repeatability of CNC also includes technology to speed set ups for new jobs.

Plain carbon steels “peak” at 0.18 to 0.22 percent carbon before the machinability starts to decrease because of the higher hardiness resulting from higher carbon contents. A steel of optimum machinability—one both soft enough to easily form a chip, yet brittle enough to allow that chip to break and separate—results in longer tool life and a superior surface finish. The 11XX steels, called resulfurized steels, employ additions of sulfur and manganese to try to create this soft, yet brittle workpiece material.

Recent testing has shown that thread rolling can be more economical than thread cutting when producing 4,000 parts or more. A newly created calculator can help you to determine which might be the better option for your threading applications.

Mike Medeiros, production manager at North Easton Machine Co., has been advocating CNC Swiss lathes for years, attempting to persuade his local high school’s administration to add the technology to the school’s machining program. Finally, his efforts paid off.

Identifying and preventing these manufacturing sins will reduce or eliminate unnecessary waste, improve efficiency and productivity as well as protect profitability and cash flow.

MicroCare offers alternatives and expertise for replacing 3M Novec vapor degreasing fluids which are being discontinued, including fluoropolymers, fluorinated fluids and PFAS-based additive products.

ModuleWorks and Toolpath announce a technology partnership that intends to utilize intelligent cloud-based manufacturing solutions for machining estimation and CAM automation.

PM plays a distinctive role and has earned a place of esteem within the focused and specialized industry it serves. Large developments in the media landscape are forcing us to change the way we communicate with our audience. We are confident that our audience values the role PM plays in their professional lives and will join us in this effort to stay connected to them.

PMTS 2023: The InchMax Series includes 2- and 4-flute square end mills which feature Union Tools’ UT coating and its standard Super Micro Grain carbide and tolerances.

This 2023 Emerging Leader developed a product in response to a call for help from Yamaha that was a huge hit in the snowmobile industry when it hit the market in 2010. In fact, it is now a common product that most snowmobile OEMs have implemented.

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We thank you for your continued interest in and support of PM and welcome any questions you might have about the brand’s new content gating strategy.

There are nuances to training a person to effectively operate a Swiss-type lathe. A shop I visited a while back offers some suggestions.

Many North American machine shops are starting to get requests from their customers to certify their parts machined from steel to meet the requirements of the European Union’s End of Life Vehicles (ELV), Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) and the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) directives. Each of these directives purports to ban lead, but each actually permits lead as an “alloying element” in steels up to 0.35 percent, according to the exemption statements and annexes. As long as the material certification shows 0.15 to 0.35 percent for lead, the steel parts are compliant with these directives.

We have seen that the plain carbon steels reached an optimum machinability (about 35 percent of 1212 tool travel per minute production rating) and hardness in the range of 125 to 140 BHN. We have seen how the addition of sulfur (and manganese) can improve the machinability of steel. Figure 1 shows how cold work by cold drawing can improve the mechanical properties of the steel and by increasing strength, eliminates gumminess. In the 12XX series steels, all of these approaches combine to make a product that is optimized for machining:

As he progressed to CNC Swiss lead and later to his current position as CNC Swiss production supervisor, Darrin Baker helped the Swiss department at Liberty Precision double its productivity, according to his nominator.

Various methodologies paired with online tools can help small to mid-sized manufacturers determine how to predict and calculate the potential economic benefits of robotic equipment for their specific needs.

By equipping MassRobotics with its advanced cobots, ABB aims to facilitate the creation of new and impactful solutions that address real-world challenges across various industries.

PMTS 2023: This tool management solution with Optik software is designed to help shops increase production output and decrease human error.

Carbon has a leading role in the machinability of plain carbon steels, primarily by its effect on the bulk mechanical properties like hardness, tensile and yield strength and ductility.

Grade 1008 (0.08 mean carbon), 1018 (0.18 mean carbon) and 1045 (0.45 mean carbon) are all carbon steels, yet they have significantly different properties. Grade 1008 has high ductility because of its low carbon content and is better for cold heading and forming than for machining. Grade 1018 is a common grade used for many general applications, including welding, and is often selected on the basis of its low cost. Grade 1045 is frequently selected for its higher strength and mechanical properties. While its carbon content makes it difficult to weld without special techniques, 1045 is common in shafting and other power transmission parts. (Read “Material Influences on the Weldability of Carbon Steel.”)

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Superb critical thinking, top-notch leadership skills and a passion for building a strong team are a few of the common traits held by this year’s five Production Machining Emerging Leader award winners.

If the grade designation of a steel begins with a “1,” chances are that it is a carbon steel. The 10XX series steels (where the XX or last two digits represent the average or mean carbon content of the grade) are plain carbon grades. The 11XX steels are resulfurized grades and are free machining steels. The 12XX steels, resulfurized and rephosphorized, are the “best” machining grades. The 15XX series steels contain high manganese of more than 1.00 percent; the 13XX series have even higher manganese content and are the only exception to the “1 as a first digit means carbon steel” rule. The 13XX steels (manganese more than 1.60 percent) are considered alloys.

At EMO 2023 in Hannover, Germany, FANUC presented an automated manufacturing cell simulating the complete production and measurement of aluminum electric vehicle (EV) inverter cases.