Category: BLOG

Dealing with five axes when machining isn’t a simple process in any industry, but it gets especially interesting in the realm of aerospace. When we’re talking about subtractive manufacturing in general, you have to consider everything from your material and holding that work to your tooling and the toolpaths to get to your finished part.…

In the constantly evolving world of manufacturing, mold and die shops must continually improve productivity without sacrificing part quality. As you strive to stay competitive, you may need to work smarter and harder… With harder materials, that is. Many molds and dies require these hard materials to operate optimally. For example, H13 steel is capable of…

What you don’t know about High Efficiency Roughing vs High Speed Roughing is costing you money It is often joked that you can tell a good machinist from an average machinist by their Kennedy toolbox. However, what is not a joke is that a good machinist can hear the difference between a high quality and…

Although there are dozens of CAM systems available, choosing one is not as difficult as many believe. It comes down to choosing the best one for your application. This paper is meant to help give you the tools to help pick the best one for you. Consider the packaging CAM software is available in three…

Advantages of Automatic CAM When utilizing CAM software, one of the common requests is why can’t it be more automatic. There are many people that would like to simply load a CAD model, and have the CAM software determine the best way to mill it, then automatically program it. While this utopia world of CAM…

The future of manufacturing is an exciting one. The rapid pace of innovation across the globe has given rise to the need for technologies that can keep up with this blistering pace. One of the largest overarching themes in the manufacturing industry has been the approach of the fourth industrial revolution, or Industry 4.0, which…

Using automated inspection tools in CNC machining provides numerous benefits that improve productivity and reduce scrap. In-process metrology is both a product of automation and a necessary step towards further automation. It enables a shop to measure at any point in the manufacturing process, providing numerous opportunities to address out-of-spec parts without removing the workpiece…

There’s little doubt that the manufacturing industry is undergoing some seismic changes at the moment. Technological advances in automation, computing power and communications (the 4th industrial revolution) have made intelligent manufacturing and smart factories a reality. In a nutshell, smart factories employ advanced technology to optimize planning, production, transportation, and management processes. A recent report…

Over the years there have been plenty of false dawns with supposedly ‘revolutionary’ technology. Segways and maglev trains were supposed to revolutionize transport. Sony mini-discs were quickly superseded by the iPod. It’s easy to become skeptical when you hear about the next big thing. But some innovations are so powerful that it’s apparent they will…

Augmented reality, or AR for short, overlays virtual information over a user’s existing natural environment. Sound, graphics and touch feedback are seamlessly integrated to create an enhanced experience. The information overlaid is highly topical and relevant to what the user is doing. It ranges from simple text to instructions for complicated surgical procedures. Uses for…

Generative design creates various outputs through an iterative process. These outputs must meet certain constraints set by the designer, which can include parameters such as material type, manufacturing methods, and manufacturing costs. The process is different from methods such as topology optimization and lattice optimization as it can generate many possible solutions for the design.…

Additive manufacturing made a splash in the consumer market nearly a decade ago, but 3D printing has been around much longer than that. Now that 3D printers are available and functional for anybody with the internet and $200, they have become a necessary tool in most engineering environments. But what about manufacturing? Metal 3D Printing…

CNC machines and automation have long been the bastion of success for growing shops. When a business can afford to add these tools to their shop, it usually means that they have had enough business to grow. But adding automation isn’t just for the major shops anymore. In the past, shops had to rely on…

Additive manufacturing is a process that uses 3D design software and a multi-axis arm to deposit materials onto a printing platform. The material can be resin, nylon, ceramic, and many others. It differs from conventional subtraction techniques which remove unwanted pieces from a solid block to reveal the final product. Not only does this save…

Additive manufacturing or AM for short was first developed in the 1980s. This technology is unlike traditional manufacturing as it is additive by nature, meaning that the process starts with an empty build envelope and material is subsequently added layer by layer. These layers are usually measured in microns and are deposited and melted together…