May 2018
Digital Issue
The old-school world of microwaves and refrigerators is about to change soon. We’re entering a brave new world of 5G connectivity where smart ovens, refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, toasters, coffee pots and more are all managed from anywhere in the house through voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri, or by using a mobile computing device or a simple app – which is good news for appliance manufacturers and fabricators who supply them with parts, assemblies and other support services.
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Where stainless steel and aluminum is concerned, there has been a drift away from traditional wire brushes and harsh chemical cleaning solutions in favor of more efficient, environment-friendly electrochemical weld cleaning technologies that make more economic and safety sense than other costlier, traditional and sometimes toxic methods.
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about filler metals and welding best practices to help improve weld quality, productivity and overall welding success. These tips can help you make the right filler metal selection, address common challenges and get the most from your welding operation.
It might come as a surprise that the press brake you walk by on the shop floor each day can do a lot more than make flanges. When considering how to get from product drawings to finished goods, keep in mind that your press brake can do so much more than just bend.
The old-school world of microwaves and refrigerators is about to change soon. We’re entering a brave new world of 5G connectivity where smart ovens, refrigerators, stoves, air conditioners, vacuum cleaners, washing machines, toasters, coffee pots and more are all managed from anywhere in the house through voice assistants like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, or Apple Siri, or by using a mobile computing device or a simple app – which is good news for appliance manufacturers and the fabricators who supply them with parts, assemblies and other support services.
The customized Model LI84-M24 from Lucifer Furnaces heats to 2,200 deg F and the lower draw chamber to 1,600 deg F with 23 kW power.
The 750 deg F gas-fired No. 1046 cabinet oven from Grieve provides 800,000 Btu/hr installed in a modulating natural gas burner and 12,500 CFM vertical upward airflow to the workload.
E-Shops, Marketplaces, Trading Systems: The fax and telephone era in the steel and metal trading business is coming to an end. The winners will be the traders who have been quick and purposeful in the digitization of their processes. This development will lead to fully automatic steel supply via the Internet of Things (IoT) – with or without steel traders.
This custom-built aluminum cut-to-length line from Burghardt+Schmidt guarantees leveling quality for evenness, narrow tolerances, high surface quality and fewer rejects so that Martinrea Honsel Germany can optimize their light metal plate and strip production.
Understanding the relationship between the V-opening, radius, bending allowance, and K factor can help you to properly calculate an unfolded part for more accurate bending on a press brake.
The rugged C-650MNC Automatic Mitering Horizontal Pivot Band Saw from Cosen uses Smart NC-100 technology that provides most of the benefits of NC-controlled saws at a mere fraction of the cost.
It might come as a surprise that the press brake you walk by on the shop floor each day can do a lot more than make flanges. When considering how to get from product drawings to finished goods, keep in mind that your press brake can do so much more than just bend.
To manufacture complex and efficient lightweight structures where every gram counts, FEM calculations and topology optimization can create even more efficient printed components.
By designing a chair that employs tracks instead of wheels, Tim Swenson of Action Manufacturing made a difference in the life of his paralyzed son – and delivered the ultimate in transportation for all those confined to wheelchairs.
If you think that all of the advances in CNC machining have been exhausted, think again. To prove it, here are some of the latest innovations that increasing productivity in shops throughout the industry.
E-Shops, Marketplaces, Trading Systems: The fax and telephone era in the steel and metal trading business is coming to an end. The winners will be the traders who have been quick and purposeful in the digitization of their processes. This development will lead to fully automatic steel supply via the Internet of Things (IoT) – with or without steel traders.
Using a #2 Morse Taper arbor system, the HMD2MT portable magnetic drill from Hougen can be used for tapping holes, reaming to clean or enlarge holes, drilling blind and smaller holes, and countersinking.
Here are some of the latest welding systems and accessories that can help fabricators increase their welding productivity, improve process quality and safety, and reduce their overall operating costs.
New back-cast resistance welding electrodes made of tungsten and copper ensure optimum current transfer in resistance welding applications used in the automobile, aviation, electrical and electronics, and household appliance industries.
While increasing throughput, improving product quality, dealing with labor shortage and right-sizing a robotic cell are valid factors to consider when pricing out a system, the best designed system can still miss the mark. You should really pay more attention to these two factors before diving too deep into cell design and component specifications.
Gone are the days of using an overhead crane or brute force to maneuver parts around. The heavy duty Powered Manipulator from Bluco is a specialized modular fixturing system that raises, lowers, rotates or tilts your workpiece into any position to a comfortable working height.
Where stainless steel and aluminum is concerned, there has been a drift away from traditional wire brushes and harsh chemical cleaning solutions in favor of more efficient, environment-friendly electrochemical weld cleaning technologies that make more economic and safety sense than other costlier, traditional and sometimes toxic methods.
Here are the answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about filler metals and welding best practices to help improve weld quality, productivity and overall welding success. These tips can help you make the right filler metal selection, address common challenges and get the most from your welding operation.
A lack of skilled labor may mean missed deadlines, a reduced ability to compete for jobs, higher costs and lost productivity due to rework. But new technologies and welding systems being designed by welding equipment manufacturers can help fabricators address these challenges, bridge the labor gap and remain competitive by completing jobs on time with high quality.
To improve productivity in their robotic welding operations, Crown has begun to replace the time-consuming manual teaching of their robot systems with simulation-based offline programming for tool path generation.
Take a closer look at some of the latest maintenance equipment and accessories that might help you increase productivity, improve morale, reduce risks and lower shop operating costs.
Side Mount Kits from Exair maintain the NEMA 4X rating of large and small electrical enclosures used for cooling PLCs, microprocessors, variable frequency drives, industrial computers, and robotics.
Where stainless steel and aluminum is concerned, there has been a drift away from traditional wire brushes and harsh chemical cleaning solutions in favor of more efficient, environment-friendly electrochemical weld cleaning technologies that make more economic and safety sense than other costlier, traditional and sometimes toxic methods.
How close are we to a downtime free age?
Rockford Systems examines several strategic trends that could significantly impact or even disrupt existing processes in metal fabrication and leave some shops out of compliance with newer OSHA/ANSI codes.
The idea of adding a third cutting edge to drills for higher feed rates is nothing new, but the challenging chip evacuation made them suitable for only a few applications, such as machining cast iron. So how has this supposed slow seller made it into the top league of high performance tools for steel machining? A new design has harnessed the advantages of the three-flute drill for long-chipping steels and stainless steel materials.
Precision Stamping Company had to remove the heavy burrs left on pierced holes in the stepped sections of a deep drawn spring cup that is flared at the top of a narrower body diameter. Instead of sending the parts outside for expensive thermal deburring or tumbling, they turned to a custom ball hone to do the job themselves. Here’s how they did it.
Gone are the days of using an overhead crane or brute force to maneuver parts around. The heavy duty Powered Manipulator from Bluco is a specialized modular fixturing system that raises, lowers, rotates or tilts your workpiece into any position to a comfortable working height.
Cutting-edge chucks and custom fixtures from Kitagawa North-Tech are engineered, modified and/or customized to solve part specific machining for a myriad of automotive applications.
New flap discs from Metabo can grind down weld seams flush without gouging into the base material, including shaping fillet welds and grinding on edge in confined areas.
The abrasives offered in the new, free Abrasive Catalog from Dynabrade compliment their high quality American-made power tools.
Understanding the relationship between the V-opening, radius, bending allowance, and K factor can help you to properly calculate an unfolded part for more accurate bending on a press brake.
A healthy relationship goes beyond a vendor’s ability to consistently deliver performance, reliability, quality and customer service at a competitive price. The key is putting the right people in place to foster mutual trust and flexibility. As our industry continues to evolve, so too must our relationships with our customers and suppliers.
Selecting the right disposable flap disc to use for a specific grinding, blending or finishing job also minimizes the risk of removing too much material and ensures the best possible finish. To maximize flap disc effectiveness and longevity, here are several key factors to consider for choosing the right tool for the job.
By using special drive keys in the tool holder that perfectly match the spiral-shaped grooves on the cutting tool shank to create frictional clamping forces and a positive locking form-fit, the Safe-Lock system from Haimer effectively prevents the cutting tool from pulling out of the tool holder, increases the productivity through faster permissible speeds, and increases tool life.
SPC for the small shop starts small, taking one step at a time and keeping operators involved. Using wireless gaging, operators don’t do more work: with this simple automation, they still measure the parts, but now they can watch their measurement data being collected right into the spreadsheet.
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