All of the answers have been great, I would add one thing - schedule yourself to go to IMTS 2008 (in Chicago, in September)(IMTS.org website) to see all of the latest stuff in manufacturing / inspection / CAD / CAM. You will need at least 3 days to get an idea of what is shown. If your boss...
You can machine this material post heat treatment with few problems. I rough out a tight tolerance investment casting and after HT I finish machine and thread the part. I'm not a big fan of doing heat treatment after I've done threading since it is a close tolerance operation. And if you are...
tomwalz,
For custom tooling I've been using Maximet and Micro 100 as the basis for a lot of tooling where I need toughness and wear resistance. I feel that the improvements in the production of micro-grain carbides have pushed the curve so you can have both hardness (for wear resistance) and...
USCFan, I did wire drawing at one time and here are some basic questions that I would ask of manufacturing to resolve the problem:
1. Did we change our anti-rust compound or drawing compound with rust inhibiter? Has this ever happened before, and if yes, what were the issues surrounding the...
Back to the rant .... I does not matter if you have degrees and 30 years experience you will never get respect outside of those who understand what we do. I agree with the other posts that for most people this is not, and never will be, possible. I once said to my wife "why don't they have an...
I hope that this experienced engineer isn't so fragile that a newly minted engineer is a threat. Please talk with him privately and ask him "that being new engineer and still learining how to behave at work, was there something that I've done that offended you since it seems like I don't get...
The reason why engineers do not get respect is that they do not fight for it. No matter how much work you do as a legal asst or nurse you can't be promoted to the next level. Period. I have had to endure many senseless discussions with semi & wanna-be engineers that if I was a doctor I would...
This is a lathe project, plunge the radius with a form tool that you can easily make,then turn this as a whole disk and cut / mill out the sector you need. As a turned surface you will be able to get a smooth finish in the radius.
jck26
I preface this with I'm not a structurual engineer so I don't know the depth of the calculation issues and their relationship to "will if fall down", but I will comment on the chain of command and lack of action.
Engineers are employed to bring technical issues to the fore when the situation...
A tip for plastics, get sharp tools with reduced contact to the material. Also I'm a big fan of the cold air guns that will keep the plastic from building up on the tool.
I also agree to talk with your tool supplier to get excellent info on how to apply the tooling to the job.
jck26
Mark, you can use any moderately strong steel to suit the purpose. 4340 is a good all around steel for many tool holding issues, but why are you making a tool when you can have a tool on your desk tomorrow from McMaster-Carr or MSC?
If you are looking for a speical holder you can go outside of...
If you are an airplane, especially warplane, nut you must go to Dayton Ohio to see the National Museum of the US Air Force. Everything from the Wright Brothers to the F117 Stealth Fighter in 3 HUGH hangers.
www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/
Here is a quote from the Museum: "The museum has more than...
As a big carbide user I'd say you're done. If the chips are restricted truely to the edge maybe you can regrind the tool, if that is allowed. If edge chipping is a constant issue then you need to look at another grade of carbide.
The changes in carbide materials and the coatings for carbide...
Use what you know since there are no other users. Make damn sure that the data you load the system with can very closely match the actual operating conditions that you have on the floor. If you enter in an actual set of present conditions it must correlate to what you have or those who can't...
I/m not sure what Lean Design is but if it involved the practice of DFMA (design for manufacturing & assembly) contact these guys for a system to get you going.
www.dfma.com
jck26
We do ours the same way. It was time intensive but once you have many types of process models developed you are going to use the "same as except" type of editing plan. I used to write 10+ new process plans a week but only 2 or so a month were totally from scratch. The document coordinator was...
Daphne24
I too agree with all the rest - time to get a job and go out to the shop floor. I would suggest that you find a company where you can do a full range of work. At large companies you may work on a narrow area and never get the exposure to the proceses that you are seeking. Pick...
Joe, this is a complex question to answer. I did lots of cutting tool testing in school and industry. You need to ask the question what defines the life of the tool? Is it failure to cut or surface finish requirement. Most would not want to use failure as the mode and surfcae finish is the...
1. Builder of cool stuff out of any and all materials.
2. College prof.
I did have the ulitimate job. I left my engr mgr job to own/run an ice arena and got to do all of the activities: zamboni driving, skating, hockey playing, 1st aid, and watching figure skaters. But I had some really bad...
