[unable to retrieve full-text content](sponsored content) A 1″ square shoulder shell mill is shown 90-degree pocketing aluminum with Dapra’s XPET lapped aluminum-cutting inserts.

Click Image to Enlarge Quala-Die creates fine details in hardened powder metal tooling using small tools such as this 0.4-mm semi-finishing end mill.

Recently, I came across an article online from Production Machining that sums up five options that are cited to produce higher productivity in a shop. The first option jumped out as something I could pass on to my readers: “Add a digital readout (DRO) to any mill, lathe or grinder currently without one.”

[unable to retrieve full-text content]A shop owner describes his simple approach to evaluating cutting tool performance and finding the best parameters.

W Machine Works is a 48-employee aerospace job shop in San Fernando, California. The company’s high mix of part requirements also includes a high mix of materials, including aluminum, stainless steels, high-temperature nickel-based alloys like Inconel, and titanium.

Click Image to Enlarge The 140-degree, solid carbide Accupro drill used to machine bushing holes at Laser Fabrications features an AlTiN coating, self-centering points and a flute geometry designed for high penetration rates and maximum tool life. Chuck Thacker, shop supervisor at Laser Fabrication & Machine, says switching to the Accupro tool enabled more aggressive drilling of the hinge bushing holes with this Okuma lathe. Produced at Micor Industries, this aluminum rail for mounting scopes and other accessories to firearms requires several machined slots

Click Image to Enlarge Mark Kawczynski (left), president of Melrose Mold & Machining, and Darije Nikolic (right), president of Abrasives Inc., examine a completed 20-cavity mold, the first project to benefit from OSG cutting tools. Initially, the company estimated that this mold would require as long as 170 hours to produce, an unacceptable timeframe because the customer had requested an expedited delivery

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Click Image to Enlarge Tom Delio is one of the nation’s leading authorities on high speed machining and machine tool dynamics. He answers questions from readers on challenges related to high speed machining. To ask your question, visit our High Speed Machining Zone and click on “Ask an Expert.” A reader recently used the “Ask an Expert” feature of our High Speed Machining Zone to ask a series of questions aimed at better understanding high speed machining

The shop’s previous cutters wore out quickly during initial attempts to machine this Acme 2 thread in 70-Rc chilled white iron. The thread’s pitch, depth and surface finish exacerbated the bottleneck