While some companies focus on individual elements of a hydraulic system when designing their lubricants, Shell Lubricants has used sophisticated fluid mechanics modeling to understand the different sources of energy loss in the system as a whole, This information has then been used to help to develop a fluid with a balance of physical and [...]
Gun drilling is an integral part of the moldmaking process. When deep holes—such as water lines—need to be drilled, the gun drill is the tool for the job. […]
Re-Working Overseas MoldsPerhaps one of the more interesting markets we’ve seen in moldmaking in recent years is applying North American quality to overseas molds. In other words, shops are finding that making poorly made molds work properly, even having to re-machine features or whole molds, is an area of growth potential. […]
The key factor in choosing a vise for a knee mill is the vise opening, and whether or not a swivel base is needed. Workholding selection for HMCs and VMCs should be based on desired density, clamping station opening size, clamping pressure needed and shape of the part. […]
First-rate Mold Solution Co., Ltd generates an average of 200 new CNC programs every month. The company’s CNC programming productivity was limited in the past by the need to separately apply toolpaths to each of the part’s surfaces and other limitations of its previous programming software. […]
Are you maximizing your control’s technology features? It’s easy to get complacent and rest on your laurels when it comes to process efficiency. You’ve invested time and money in getting the right people and the right CAD/CAM system, and they both work well. But could everything work better? […]
Throughout the last 10 years, the rate of change has increased and technology has led to new possibilities in mold design and production. The most significant industry changes have been in regard to production techniques, manufacturing speeds, mold size and mold complexity. […]
1) Are there sufficient machining cycles or strategies? 2) Can a user devise a manufacturing plan according to his experience and preferences, or will a limited set of machining strategies dictate the machining process? […]
RP is basically a visual aid that allows the moldmaker to evaluate the design and know it is correct before the process moves to the hard tooling stage. From the model he can accurately determine where parting lines in the mold can and should be set up. If minor modifications need to be made, [...]
Today many original equipment manufacturers are under tight restraints, such as cost, new product development and time-to-market, giving mold builders an enormous opportunity to develop the necessary technology to support today’s plastics industry. […]