Welding End Prep Tool works with hard-to-machine materials

Prepzilla MILLHOG[R] pipe milling end prep tool features one mandrel and 8 sets of interchangeable clamps to cover 11/2 in. ID to 8 5/8 in. OD operating range. Designed for materials such as stainless steel and P-91, tool has 23/4 hp pneumatic motor, generates 1,500 lb-ft of torque at cutter blade, and pulls thick chip without cutting fluids. It uses EscoLock(TM) blade lock system and TiN coated cutter blades and is capable of beveling and facing or boring in one operation.

An I.D. clamping pipe milling welding end prep tool that covers a broad range of tube and pipe with one mandrel and eight sets of easily inter-changeable clamps is available from ESCO Tool of Medfield, Massachusetts.

The Esco Prepzilla MILLHOG[R] pipe milling end prep tool features one mandrel and eight sets of easily interchangeable clamps to cover the full 11/2" I.D. to 8 5/8" O.D. operating range of the tool. Designed for hard-to-machine materials such as stainless steel and P-91, this tool has a 23/4 HP pneumatic motor, a rugged gear head design, generates 1,500 ft.-lbs. of torque at the cutter blade and pulls a thick chip without cutting fluids.

Capable of beveling and facing or beveling and boring in one operation, the Esco Prepzilla MILLHOG[R] pipe milling end prep tool uses the EscoLock(TM) blade lock system and TiN coated cutter blades. An optional cross-feed attachment that advances another blade in .003" increments to sever the heat affected zone (HAZ) and permits flange facing and grooving for couplings is offered.

The Esco Prepzilla MILLHOG[R] is priced at $7,995.00 and the optional cross- feed attachment is $2,400. This tool is also available for rent in the continental U.S. Literature is provide upon request.

VMC Design Turned Upside Down - YCI Supermax breaks from convention with new machine tool design

Is there room for improvement in the fundamental design of a vertical machining center? At least one machine tool builder thinks the answer is yes. For its larger-travel VMCs, YCI Supermax (Santa Fe Springs, California) has broken from design convention to place the Y axis on top of the X axis. Improved precision is the reason for the change.

A conventional VMC has X atop Y. This means that support for the work remains near the middle of the machine no matter where the work is located in X. As the work moves toward extreme positions in X, overhang increases. Some machine tool builders address this problem with non-integral supports located on either side of the base. By contrast, placing the X axis on the bottom of the machine results in a one-piece base providing consistent support along the machine's travel.

There are tradeoffs. According to company executive vice president Bryan Chen, the design's one-piece, T-shaped base results in a machine that is more expensive both to manufacture and to ship.

However, for large, heavy jobs, the improved precision may justify the added cost. The one-piece design not only counters overhang, it also improves leveling accuracy.

It may also improve floorspace requirements. The footprint for one of these machines is 20 to 30 percent smaller than the footprint for comparable machines with the same travels, YCI says. This design is available for machines featuring X-axis travels of 59 or 82 inches.

Flexible Cable withstands rigors of machine tool use

Resistant to oils as well as cooling and cutting fluids found on machine tools, Chainflex[R] CF170 is designed as continuously flexing cable for use in cable carriers. Product, available from stock from 20-8 AWG and up to 30 conductors, is PVC- and halogen-free and conforms to DESINA standards.

EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. - August 25,2005 - Igus[R] Inc., the industry-leading developer of Energy Chain[R] cable carriers, Chainflex[R] cables and iglide[R] plastic bearings, offers Chainflex CF170, a low-cost continuous-flex cable for machine tools. Chainflex CF170 is resistant to oils, cooling and cutting fluids found on machine tools. Like all Chainflex cables, it is designed specifically as a continuously flexing cable for use in cable carriers.

CF170 is available from stock from 20 AWG to 8 AWG and up to 30 conductors with no minimum purchase quantity. It is PVC-free, halogen-free and conforms to DESINA standards.

About igus

Igus Inc., founded in 1985 and based in East Providence, R.I., develops and manufactures industry-leading plastic cable carriers, continuous-flex cables, plastic bearings and linear guide systems. With more than 28,000 products available from stock, the company meets the motion control and machinery component needs of customers worldwide. Product lines include Energy Chain Systems[R] to protect and house moving cables, Chainflex continuous-flex cables, iglide self-lubricating, oil-free, plastic bearings, DryLin[R] linear guide systems and igubal[R] spherical bearings. For more information, contact igus at (800) 521-2747 or visit www.igus.com.

igus, Energy Chain, Chainflex iglide, Energy Chain Systems, DryLin and igubal are registered trademarks of igus Inc. All other company names and products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Today's Options for Machine Tool Financing

How to pay for o new machine tool con be as complex on issue as deciding which machine tool to buy.

Do you remember what financing a machine tool was like in the mid-1980s? In those days, financing was a very slow and cumbersome process! Overnight deliveries and fax machines were hard to come by. Not only did it take days for the preparation and mailing of financial data, but it took even longer for an answer from the finance source in most cases. Once you received an approval and you agreed with the terms, even more days were lost while waiting for documents to be prepared. In addition, the basic products that were provided 15 years ago were usually a $1.00 purchase option, a 10-percent purchase option and the "dreaded" Fair Market purchase option. There simply were not the same financing options available then that there are today.

Imagine your company has decided to finance a piece of manufacturing equipment. It could be a five-axis machining center, a turn-mill machine or a creepfeed grinder. Do you lease it, buy it or rent it? Are there tax implications? Does it really make a difference how you finance it?

The answer to these questions can only be determined after analyzing your company's particular circumstances. Let me illustrate how your company can acquire the same piece of equipment using several different finance structures and at the same time have the "cost" to you be identical.

(Assume an equipment cost of $250,000 with a 10-percent yield (APR) over 60 months with no up-front payments or money down.)

Structure #1: A loan or $1.00 purchase option lease. Payment amount is $5,311.76. Total of payments equals $318,705.60.

Structure #2: A finance lease with a 10-percent purchase option. Payment Amount is $4,988.92. Residual due at end of lease is $25,000. Total of payments is $324,335.20.

Structure #3: A finance lease with a 20-percent purchase option. Payment amount is $4,666.08. Residual due at end of lease is $50,000. Total of payments is $329,964.80

Structure #4: A true lease (Fair Market Value purchase option). Payment Amount is $4,002.03. Total of payments is $240,121.80 The equipment is owned by the lender, and your company would expense the payments on the Profit and Loss statement. The purchase option is the Fair Market Value of the equipment at the end of the lease. You could purchase or return the equipment at the end of the lease term.

As you can see, the structures are all different in terms of the actual dollars paid by your company. However in terms of actual cost (yield), structures 1-3 above are identical! This is because of the timing of the payments made to the lender. Another factor that potentially impacts the true economic cost to your company is the accounting treatment given to the transaction. Your accountant may choose to "expense" the payments on the lease and not account for the depreciation and interest under a purchase scenario. This option will likely affect your tax rate.

Given the above, I would like to further illustrate and explain how many services and structures are available when purchasing equipment today. This will help your company decide what your best options are when it comes to financing an asset in the future.

What is A Lease?

A lease is a contract in which one party conveys the right to use an asset to another party for a specified period in exchange for a specified stream of payments. At the end of the lease term, the lessee usually either purchases the asset (by exercising the Purchase Option) or returns it to the lessor.

Leases can be structured in several different ways.

$1.00 Buyout Lease. This is the most commonly used leasing structure. It provides the rights of ownership to the lessee. The asset(s) will be capitalized on the lessee's books, allowing the lessee to expense the depreciation and interest on his or her profit-and-loss statement. This structure requires the highest monthly payment over the term, and the customer then "buys" the asset for $1.00.

Fixed Price Purchase Option (Finance Lease). This structure allows the lessee to purchase the equipment for a preset percentage of the original equipment cost (such as 10 percent, 15 percent and so on). Fixed price options are usually structured to give the lessee lower monthly payments (compared to a $1.00 buyout lease, for example) while still retaining the rights of ownership. At the end of term, the lessee can return the equipment, buy it for the preset amount or finance the option. The lessee depreciates the equipment and deducts interest payments in the same manner as the $1.00 buyout lease. It is generally believed that less than a 20-percent Fixed Price purchase option would allow for the lessee to retain ownership. However, you should always consult your tax advisor concerning the tax consequences of a lease with a Fixed Price purchase option.

Fair Market Value Lease (FMV or True Lease). Typically, an FMV lease product allows for the lowest monthly payment among the leases offered. The payments are usually fully tax-deductible (same as a rental). At the end of the term, the lessee would buy the equipment for its current Fair Market Value, return the equipment or renew the lease. Many companies utilize this structure to their advantage.

Machine Tool Status

A recent Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) (McLean, VA) publication shows that the US manufacturing technology industry is experiencing renewed growth in major markets, but continues to face tough global competition. Highlights include:

* The US machine-tool market finished 2004 with orders more than 40% above 2003 levels and shipments up 25%. But, consumption fell more than 60% from its peaks in 1998.

* While growth has been strong over the past two years, our manufacturing technology market is less than 60% of its peak in 1998.

* Optimists forecast double-digit growth in 2005, while forecasts for the following years diverge. Some sectors in the manufacturing technology markets will begin to slow as early as 2006.

* Consumer demand has slowed in recent months in key markets-such as autos, off-road and highway construction equipment, and appliances.

* Continuation of the capitalspending boom will depend upon the export markets for US-built capital goods and nontraditional, but expanding, domestic markets such as the medical equipment industry.

* The weakened dollar has made US products more attractive in Western Europe. Exports of both manufactured products and manufacturing technology equipment illustrate the temporary competitive advantages provided by exchange rate shifts. The weakened dollar, relative to Asian currencies, is likely to also lead to increased exports of US manufacturing technology.

* The US continues to excel in important categories, including: composite tape-laying machines; transfer lines and systems; small, medium, and large-size CNC machining centers; spar and skin mills for aircraft components; abrasive flow machining for difficult finishing problems, CNC turning centers, small assembly robots, and open-architecture controls.

Wringing Extra Life From Inserts - R and J Tool Inc., machine part reconditioning

Throwing away worn carbide inserts? Then you may be interested in a service that not only resharpens those inserts for added use, but also guarantees that the reclaimed inserts will perform at least as well as brand new ones.

"Most companies do throw away their worn inserts," explains Bob Laflamme, president of R & J Tool Inc. (Laconia, New Hampshire). "That's a waste, because the insert's usefulness has not been exhausted. We can resharpen it as many as three or four times before it is no longer usable."

Insert resharpening is hardly a new idea, but the process has had some definite drawbacks. "The traditional insert-resharpening process has been a downsizing process that retains the original shape of the insert but grinds it to the next smaller standard size," Mr. Laflamme continues. "The user must then go out of the way to accommodate the smaller size, resorting to such things as shimming the insert, going to a different tool body, and so on."

R & J Tool has developed an insert-resharpening process that overcomes most of the shortcomings of the traditional process. The firm's process sharpens the worn insert without changing its inscribed circle (IC) size or clamping height. As a result, the resharpened insert can be installed in the tool as if it were a brand new insert; no adjustments are required because the overall size of the insert is unchanged.

Worn inserts are ground using one or more of four grinding patterns that can be used for virtually any carbide insert. Grinding of the worn insert is confined to the cutting edges. "For example, on a square milling insert, we generally just grind the top of the insert on its outer edge; we don't grind the full thickness of the insert, so the IC size of the insert remains unchanged," explains R & J Tool sales manager Michael King. "And when grinding the top of the insert, we avoid the area where the insert is clamped, so that the reground insert fits the holder just like a new insert."

Better Than New

However, grinding is only a part of R & J Tool's insert-reconditioning process. The process begins with analyzing the user's particular application to modify cutting edge geometry of the insert for optimum cutting performance, grinding and honing the insert, and then applying a coating (which can be one of several proprietary coatings).

"The worn inserts are the starting point for our analysis, but we also ask for enough information to enable us to engineer a cutting edge for the customer's particular application," Mr. King elaborates. "We guarantee that our reconditioned inserts will provide 100 percent of the performance of new inserts, however they typically deliver 125 to 150 percent, and in some cases as much as 300 percent of new insert performance.

"Our analysis also includes the cost to recondition the insert so that the customer can calculate the savings compared to new-insert costs," Mr. King continues. "New carbide inserts range in price from $2 to $32. We can recondition inserts for about half of the cost of new, so as the price of the insert increases, sharpening becomes an increasingly attractive alternative."

R & J Tool's insert-recycling program is geared primarily to users of inserts in large quantities. "Our customers typically spend many thousands of dollars annually for new inserts, and we can offer them significant cost savings," Mr. Laflamme adds. "Our process also addresses environmental concerns. We can reclaim inserts for only 5 to 10 percent of the energy required to produce them originally. And our automotive and aircraft/aerospace customers are pleased that we can offer them a recycling process that reduces their waste stream, addressing ISO 14,000 concerns, at the same time that it reduces production costs."

Smaller firms can also take advantage of the insert-recycling program, however. Mr. King cites as an example a small shop that uses basically one insert type for machining aluminum. The shop placed an order with R & J Tool to recondition 250 inserts, which represented a year's supply. The shop paid $6 per insert for the reconditioning as opposed to $12 apiece for new inserts. The savings more than justified stocking a year's supply of reconditioned inserts.

Making a flexible machine tool more flexible: cutting tools that can perform more than one machining operation can help realize more of a multitasking

Anyone with the resources and the inclination can buy a machine tool. But not everyone can wring out the same amount of production from the same machine. Multitasking machines loaded with multiple turrets and/or spindles offer a great deal of production potential, as they can often completely machine a part on its own. Granted, these machines are more costly than their straightforward lathe and milling machine brethren. However, it's clear that shops battling just-in-time delivery schedules and shrinking batch sizes recognize the moneymaking potential of such machines, as their sales increase every year. It's the classic case of biting the bullet and choosing equipment that initially is more expensive, but offers greater payback down the road.

But the multitasking machine can't do it alone. The choices made in combining various machining elements and strategies into an efficient process ultimately separate the great shops from the average Joes. CAM programming continues to be a challenge for multitasking machines, which isn't surprising considering it involves simultaneous machining operations and orchestrated movement of a number of machine components.

Tooling can also play a make-or-break role. It's logical to think that a multitasking machine designed with flexibility in mind would use tooling that was also flexible. Such tooling would provide the capability to perform a variety of different machining operations with just one tool. A universal spindle interface that can accommodate both turning and milling operations can also augment process versatility. There are a few reasons for this.

First, space can be saved--turret space, to be more specific. The multiple turrets and spindles located within a multitasking machine not only limit space within the machining zone, but also place limits on tool magazine capacity. A single tool that offers five different cutting operations, for example, could free up four tool pockets. Those extra pockets could then be used to hold different tools for parts that require many machining operations or sister tooling to allow extended, unattended operation.

Second, cycle times can be quicker through the elimination of non-value-adding tool change time. A multitasking tool might just require spindle indexing to bring a different turning insert into position, for example.

Third, a universal, modular spindle interface that is effective for milling, turning and drilling operations allows for one common tooling platform for the shop's entire operation. This concept of standardization falls in line with the strategies of lean manufacturing.

During a recent visit to its international headquarters in Sandviken, Sweden, Sandvik Coromant (Fair Lawn, New Jersey) demonstrated the value that a multitasking tool platform, such as its Coroplex line, can provide for multitasking machines. The visit included a tour through the production facility for its mining and construction division, which heeds the advice of its sister tooling company by using robot-tended cells that combine multitasking machines with multitasking tools to produce various mining drill bit components (see "Multitasking Application").

Tooling Versatility

There are a few different approaches in terms of multitasking tool design. One is the combination of turning and milling inserts on a single tool body. That one tool could perform shoulder milling, turn-milling or circular interpolation, for example, as well as face and longitudinal turning, profiling or internal turning. To combine turning and milling capability on one tool requires a design in which the turning inserts don't contact the workpiece while the tool is milling. To avoid this, the milling inserts are located just ahead of the turning inserts axially and radially so that the turning inserts are not in cut when the tool is milling.

Another technique combines two turning inserts located on opposite sides of a tool body. The tool can perform a rough turning operation, then be indexed 180 degrees in the spindle to allow finish turning.

Yet another concept uses a modular mini turret unit that can combine four different cutting modules to allow four turning operations on one tool. This would enable a single tool to rough turn, finish turn, cut a groove and turn a thread, for example. The combination of cutting modules is user-selectable, and it would depend on the type of part and the required machining operations.

Maintaining tool center line accuracy is especially important for multitasking machines to make sure that the tool is precisely positioned to perform a turning operation. This is where it is helpful to have a modular, universal spindle/tool interface. Such an interface is effective for multitasking machines, as their spindle(s) could be called on to mill or lock into position for a turning operation.

Software Links Presetters To Machine Controls

Designed to maximize efficiency, the new Gamma Tool software passes presetter information to machine tool controls. This Windows-based software eliminates the manual input of data and does away with data entry errors, the company says. Integration into Lyndex/Elbo Controlli presetters is said to be easy.

Using a serial connection (cable included with Gamma software) between a PC and a presetter, an operator can acquire tool measurements and then organize them into tooling tables. Tables can then be translated into the desired CNC language (G-codes). After creating and measuring the tooling table, offset data can be directly sent to the CNC. Data storage is limitless.

An easy and powerful programming module (GUPP) allows for editing and the creation of post processor templates by the operator/programmer. GUPP makes customization of any postprocessor possible for adaptation into a CNC. More than 50 post-processor templates, all pre-tested, are included.

Status Quo Rules - predictions for the coming year in the machine tool industry and metalworking business

In January it's customary to look into our respective crystal balls and try to divine what fortune or misfortune is likely to befall us. One interesting aspect of this exercise is that in spite of our confidence that some of our guesses will be right or close to right--and indeed some will--experience tells us the completely unanticipated blind-sides are lurking as well. The following are some of the things that I think will happen as we cruise through 2001, officially the first year of the new millennium.

Call me a wide-eyed dreamer, but I do think we will inaugurate a new president of the United States on January 20. Obviously, half of us will be happy with the new guy, and half of us won't be. But, I see we the people coming together, as is our custom, to support our new leader--at least until he screws up, which I also predict will happen.

I think that some consolidation of the machine tool industry will continue, as too many builders chase too few customers. Moreover the increasing demands of globalization require companies to join together to create a competitive level of critical mass (read size) to play the global chess game.

On the other side of the coin, I think some builders are going to look hard at some of their product offerings and lop off non-viable machines in an effort to define and focus more resources on their core competencies.

As far as processing technology, I see a continuation of the trend of more operations performed on a single machine tool platform. Better programming tools and increased performance of the metalcutting modules will represent continued refinement of this multiple process class of machine tool.

I see the market drivers for these developments coming from shops looking to increase the performance of each spindle in the shop. The shortage of qualified workers will continue to plague the nation's shop floors in 2001, making the need for process automation, reduced setup times and reduced workpiece handling even more acute.

Everyone is interested in what business levels will be in the upcoming year. Most guesses seem to indicate a flat to moderately up year for metalworking overall. One way to keep tabs on metalworking's health is to monitor the plant capacity utilization index. It reflects a percentage of the theoretical metalworking capacity of the nation. If the number is 80 percent or above, it indicates growth. It's a helpful index. Now, let's sit back and see what happens.

Okuma named official machine tool of NHRA

Okuma America, a world-class leader in machine-tool technology and manufacturing, has been named the official machine tool of NHRA.

The official marketing partnership is the first for Okuma in NHRA POWERade Drag Racing and increases Okuma's presence in NHRA. The company also is the primary sponsor of Bill Miller's Top Fuel team and an active sponsor of a NASCAR race team.

"We believe the lessons learned from the application of advanced machining technology to the production of highendurance, high-reliability racing engines give Okuma machine tools a competitive edge in the market," said Okuma President Larry Schwartz. "That's why we're very excited about our partnership with NHRA."

As part of the exclusive multiyear agreement, NHRA is providing Okuma with multiple exposure opportunities through a variety of marketing platforms, including NHRA-produced publications and track signage at each NHRA POWERade Drag Racing Series event. In addition, Okuma will have the opportunity to use the NHRA mark in its advertising and promotional campaigns.

"We are pleased to welcome Okuma America as a valued official sponsor of NHRA," said NHRA Vice President-Sales & Business Development John Covarrubias. "We are looking forward to providing Okuma with optimum marketing value by helping them identify more potential customers through their association with NHRA."

Monitoring Service Platform suits machine tool industry

Internet-based ePS Network Services supports maintenance processes while simultaneously forming platform for cross-company service and support between OEMs and machine operators. Service provides detailed information for localization of machine faults and can send service personnel notifications by email or text message if fault occurs. Direct connection to Internet with web browser allows data to be analyzed via servers as well as remote machine control.

CHICAGO, August 11, 2005 - ePS Network Services from Siemens is offering the machine tool market powerful IT infrastructures and service packages that build on each other to provide simpler, safer and more efficient methods for performing service and maintenance.

ePS Network Services is an Internet-based service from Siemens that supports maintenance processes while simultaneously forming a platform for cross-company service and support between OEMs and machine operators.

Any machine tool equipped with Siemens SINUMERIK 810D, 840D or 840Di CNCs, along with the Siemens PCU 50 industrial PC, Internet access and a standard web browser, can operate within this system.

By using ePS Network Services, customers will have detailed information much faster for the localization of machine faults, thus allowing for a faster analysis without needing direct access to the machine or influencing the production process. Service personnel can be notified by e-mail or text message, should a fault occur. A direct connection to the Internet with a web browser will allow data to be analyzed via the servers and even allow remote machine control.

Unplanned downtimes and maintenance costs are reduced when ePS is used for preventative maintenance. Standardized testing procedures can help machine operators and maintenance technicians to quickly determine a machine's condition. Continuous evaluation of the machine tool also makes it possible to identify trends and plan measures in advance.

Data security is guaranteed by restricting data to the servers that ePS provides and, in turn, are protected by firewall and virus scanners. Communication is only established from the machine and/or the PC server to the ePS servers and is protected from unauthorized access by 128-bit SSL encoding.

Korea Shows Its Machine Tool Muscle

Spurred chiefly by its growing auto industry, Korea is now on its way to becoming a major manufacturer of machine tools. Currently, that country ranks seventh among the world's producers. According to a report from the US Chamber of Commerce, the auto industry, combined with new interest in electronics and constructions, has ignited rapid growth in much of Korea's economy. The report further notes that: "Korea's market demand has changed from standard, cost-effective or general products to high-precision, high-speed, and high-powered machine tools. In line with this trend, market demand for computerized numerically controlled (CNC) machine tools has rapidly increased.

"The Korean machine tool industry has gradually upgraded levels of technology, and Korean-made products are considered compatible in the world market in terms of functional technologies such as machining and assembly processes," the report continues.

"There are currently 128 machine tool manufacturers in Korea, most of which are medium and small-sized companies. In particular, Korea's production of numerically controlled (NC) machine tools grew constantly at a 2% annual rate. The Korean machine tool industry aims at increasing the NC production ratio to 70%," the US Commerce report concludes.

The best of Korea's machine tool production will be shown at the Seoul International Machine Tool Show (SIMTOS2006) April 12-17, which promises to be the largest machine tool show ever held in Korea. Held at the Korea International Exhibition Center, SIMTOS2006 will be three times larger than the previous SIMTOS2004.

Sponsored by MOCIE (Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Energy) and organized by KOMMA (Korea Machine Tool Manufacturers' Association), the show will include more than 3300 booths representing over 400 machine tool companies from 30 countries including Japan, Italy, UK, Switzerland, Spain, Turkey, USA, and Russia. They predict at least 60,000 trade professionals will attend.

Exhibition categories will include metalcutting machines (CNC lathes, multipurpose machining centers, grinding machines, and EDM). Metalforming machines (hydraulic presses, servocontrolled presses, CNC shearing machines, bending machines, lasercutting machines, and robots). The exhibition halls will be divided into five sections: Metalcutting Machines, Metalforming Machines, Industrial Robots and Automation, Cutting Tools/Measuring Equipment, and Machine Tool Parts.

American factories continue to increase equipment investment: competitors in Asia also increased their consumption of machine tools in 2005

Last year, metalworking factories in the United States consumed $5.8 billion in new machine tools. That represents a 14 percent increase over American consumption of $5.1 billion in 2004, which in turn was a whopping 30 percent improvement over the spending level in 2003.

Clearly, there has been a turnaround in the worrisome slump in American capital spending, which saw double-digit negative percentage changes in the opening years of the new millennium. In a ranking of countries by their machine tool consumption, the United States moves ahead of Germany into third place.

That's the good news. The not-so-great news is that competitive goods-producing economies--particularly those in Asia--also increased their investment in machine tools.

China, the world's largest consuming country for the last 4 years, saw a 15 percent boost in 2005. Japan, number two in the world, broadened its investment by nearly 30 percent. Among other Asian consumers, South Korea increased consumption by 20 percent. Taiwan, which had posted an unsustainable near-doubling of consumption a year ago, declined in consumption by 19 percent but nevertheless managed to hold on to the number-seven position. Suddenly booming India showed a 73 percent increase in machine tool installations compared to 2004.

The international statistics come from the 41st World Machine Tool Output & Consumption Survey, conducted annually by Gardner Publications, Inc., publisher of this magazine. The study measures output, trade and consumption from major industrialized nations.

Of the 28 countries in this year's survey, three-quarters showed an increase in consumption. The term "consumption" is a derived statistic. It's what economists call "apparent consumption," and it's calculated by taking a country's production, adding in the value of its imports, then subtracting its exports. The figure of $5.8 billion in machine tools consumed by the United States comes from taking $3.2 billion in American output, adding $3.8 billion in imports and reducing the sum by the value of American exports, $1.2 billion.

As noted, the $5.8 billion in American consumption represents a 14 percent increase over the $5.1 billion figure a year ago. (However, the figure is still well below the all-time high of $8.7 billion in 1998.)

Spain continues to focus abroad: this year's BIEMH show proved that Spain's machine tool builders, as well as its tooling and accessory manufacturers,

My second time attending Spain's biennial BIEMH machine tool show reinforced the notion that this E.U. country is drawing greater attention from the global metalworking marketplace. The 2006 show was the second edition held at the Bilbao Exhibition Center (BEC), which co-organizes the event along with AFM, Spain's association of machine tool manufacturers. The rain that fell in Spain during the 24th edition of this event didn't seem to dampen the spirit or interest of international attendees. While overall attendance and exhibitor numbers were down slightly compared to 2004 (although still much higher than previous shows that were not held at BEC), the numbers of international visitors and represented countries were both higher. This seems to indicate that there is a growing interest in Spanish machine tool technology abroad.

According to Gardner Publications' 2005 World Machine Tool Output and Consumption study, Spain ranks ninth in the world in machine tool production and tenth in machine tool consumption. AFM representatives note that the automotive and die/mold industries remain big targets for its member companies, but many would like a greater share of the burgeoning aerospace market. Some companies do have a healthy aerospace presence, such as Danobat (one of seven companies within the Danobat Group) with its line of turbine blade grinders
The U.S. market is one that AMT, Spain's association for machine tool accessories, components and cutting tools, would like to see its member companies penetrate. Most of the AMT companies are small to mid-sized manufacturers that export approximately 40 percent of their sales. Carlos Pulana, president of AMT and director of the Izar cutting tool company, believes that the key to success in the U.S. market hinges on identifying niche applications that the Spanish manufacturers can fill. In order to gain exposure in the United States, ten AMT member companies plan to attend IMTS 2006 in Chicago, Illinois. Mr. Pulana notes that their largest U.S. distributor is American Quality Tools, located in Riverside, California.

Live Center is suited for American machine tool industry

Available in 5 models and sizes 1-6 Morse taper, Perfetta(TM) is designed for turning on CNC lathe or for use on CNC grinding machine. Product, manufactured from Chromium-molybdenum alloy, heat-treated to 62 RC surface hardness, and precisely ground, features double-row of angular contact ball bearings and precision thrust bearing that optimize speed and concentricity while minimizing friction. Other components include precision taper roller bearing and needle bearing.

The evolution never ends,

Dorian Tool International introduces the Perfetta(TM) Live Center. These live centers, which have already been recognized throughout the rest of the industrial world as the most precise live centers ever built, are now available to the American machine tool industry. Designed for turning on a CNC lathe or for use on a CNC grinding machine, the Perfetta(TM) live center has over 50 years of proven workmanship. Where speed, precision and dependability are the requirements, these tools guarantee quality and performance.

The Perfetta(TM) Live Center is manufactured from a Chromium-molybdenum alloy which has been heat-treated to 62 RC surface hardness and precisely ground to yield high strength and a long working life. The precise double-row of angular contact ball bearings and precision thrust bearing maximize speed, concentricity and minimize friction. A precision taper roller bearing is used for the heavy-duty Perfetta(TM) Live centers to support a heavy workload and radial thrust. A precision needle bearing located on the rear of the center shaft minimizes any spindle deflection and maximizes weight support and neutralizes any turning vibrations.

To protect and extend the life of the Perfetta(TM) Live Center, the bearings are permanently lubricated with a special light weight oil, and hermetically sealed with a press fit brass shield and a neoprene seal.

The Perfetta(TM) Live Center has been engineered with the most precise workmanship and passed through a very strict quality control process and is continuously improving to meet the more ever demanding needs of today's industry standards.

The Perfetta(TM) Live Center is available in five models and in sizes 1 to 6 Morse taper.

1) General-purpose

2) Heavy-duty

3) CNC

4) High Speed

5) Bull Nose

Enduring EMO - machine tool trade show

All of the Americans who took part in EMO 2001, the huge machine tool fair in Hanover, Germany, will remember it as the show that took place right after the terrorist attacks on September 11. Although the terrible events in the United States did not disrupt the show, they left a mark.

Many would-be attendees from the United States had to cancel their visits because of disruptions in flight schedules. (This year 1,300 U.S. metalworking professionals attended compared to 4,000 in 1997, the most recent year the show was held in Hanover.) Those Americans who had already arrived had to deal with the stress and apprehension that comes from being far away from home when terror and tragedy strike in one's own land.

The day of the attack found the team from MODERN MACHINE SHOP scattered in different parts of Europe. Senior Editor Chris Koepfer was en route to Germany from the Czech Republic. Publisher Dan Luciano and company president Rick Kline were in Germany. I was in Switzerland. All of us had the same experience, however. Wherever we were, our overseas hosts shared our shock and pain over the incidents. Their expressions of sympathy and support were heartfelt and genuine.

We all managed to convene for the show in Hanover as planned. There we found a growing sense of solidarity and resolve directed toward America and its citizens. This was evident both in many private comments from individuals and in public expressions such as the minute of silence observed on the second day of the show in memory of the victims. By then, it was clear that the events on September 11 would have repercussions around the world, although the nature and scope of the effects could only be surmised.

There was never a question that the show should proceed as normally as possible. And so it did. Total attendance ultimately hit the 200,000 range as expected. More important, the new products on display showed that metalworking technology is advancing around the world, including in Europe and in Germany in particular. (A broad summary of our observations from the show begins on page 162, but selected highlights will be featured throughout our upcoming issues.)

For the short term, business conditions will be rocky in many parts of the world. For the long term, a spirit of optimism and good will must prevail. There can be no retreat from the commitment to improving quality, boosting efficiency and reducing costs. In this, nothing has hanged.

America's appetite for equipment falters - The World Machine Tool Output & Consumption Survey - Germany surpasses United States as world's largest mac

For the first time since 1993, the United States falls from the top rank among the world's machine tool consumers, slipping behind Germany. Fall-off in the domestic market clobber American builders, whose already-depressed output falls another 17 percent in 2001.

America's metalworking shops and factories acquired only $5.36 billion worth of machine tools during 2001 .That's 21 percent behind the $6.77 billion consumed during 2000, which was 5 percent below the 1999 level, which in turn was 18 percent below that of 1998.

And while Congress plays politics with needed economic-stimulus packages, other countries expand their investment in productive equipment.

Last year Germany boosted its purchases of lathes, presses, machining centers, and so on around 8 percent to $5.58 billion, putting it into the top slot among the world's machine tool consumers. (See Top Consumers table.) The last time that the United States was not the world's leading consumer was in 1993, when China's rapid industrialization made it surge ahead for a year before falling back to its third-place position.

This time, too, China made a substantial gain, as did Italy and France. Even Japan, which has been troubled with three recessions over the past decade, managed to boost its investment 9 percent in 2001, following a 6 percent gain the year before. Among the large consumers, South Korea and Taiwan showed significant declines last year.

The international statistics come from the World Machine Tool Output & Consumption Survey (WMTO&CS), conducted annually by Gardner Publications, Inc., publisher of this magazine. The study measures output, trade and consumption from major industrialized nations.

For all its slipping consumption, the United States isn't going to see a quick rebound. New orders, which predate consumption deliveries by anywhere from a week to many months, keep slipping, too. Orders for new machines, tracked by a separate series of monthly reports from the two machine-tool trade groups, fared very poorly last year. The latest US. Machine Tool Consumption (USMTC) survey of participating member companies shows December orders down 46 percent compared to December 2000. That put the total orders for the year 2001 at 34 percent below the previous year. Or, as Ralph J. Nappi, president of the American Machine Tool Distributors' Association, puts it, "December orders were indicative ofa year that the industry is happy to close."

Rethinking machine tool spindles - Rapid Traverse - protect spindles from contamination

Over the long term, spindles bear the brunt of punishment meted out by day-to-day machining forces. For metalworking professionals, spindle failures are among the most costly and disruptive events that occur in the course of daily operations. The proliferation of enclosed and guarded machines that incorporate high pressure coolant delivery systems exacerbates the difficult conditions to which spindles have traditionally been exposed.

The conventional means of protecting precision spindle bearings from contamination is to continuously purge pressurized air through labyrinth-type bearing seals during operation. In the past, it has been assumed that, simply by maintaining sufficient air-pressure through the spindle, this contamination would be prevented. The laws of physics, however, dictate some shortcomings to this approach that can lead to nagging failures, particularly under extremely demanding machining conditions.

North America's largest independent spindle builder, SETCO (Cincinnati, Ohio), made a decision in 1996 to address the problems of contamination and early failure. Through extensive research involving more than 4,000 individual tests, SETCO determined that unequal air pressure-caused by the location of ports around the circumference of a spindle's seals--creates adjacent zones of high and low pressure inside the seal. As a result, coolant--the primary cause of bearing failure--is driven from high-pressure to low-pressure zones. In effect, this phenomenon causes coolant to be sucked into the bearings. This can occur during machining or when the bearings cool down between machining operations. Under these conditions, increasing the air pressure cannot solve the problem. In fact, higher air pressure only makes the problem worse.

As a solution to this dilemma, SETCO developed the AirShield line of spindles. These products incorporate a proprietary, tangential air-purge system that equalizes pressure around the seal but does not inhibit bearing lubrication. Performance maps generated during the manufacturer's testing illustrate this pressure equalization. Tests revealed that internal pressures of the AirShield products varied within a maximum range of only 10 percent of the total pressure, compared to a typical 40-percent variation when standard labyrinth seals were tested.

Future tool: created at the University of Michigan with funding from the National Science Foundation, the Reconfigurable Machine Tool was designed for

"In the 1990s," says Dr. Zbigniew Pasek, operations manager and assistant research scientist at the Engineering Research Center for Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems, College of Engineering, University of Michigan, "the important issue was making machine tool investments effective in a changing landscape. In short, accommodating fast product changes given a set initial investment in machinery." Pasek and his colleagues recognized that there was a wild divergence between machine tool lifecycles and product lifecycles: the machines are in use much longer than the products they were developed to make are in production. This led to a National Science Foundation (NSF) grant to help fund the establishment of the Engineering Research Center ... and eventually brought about the development of what is called the "Reconfigurable Machine Tool" (RMT).

The RMT would offer functionality that would place it somewhere between general-purpose and dedicated machines. It would have flexibility within applications. "The main premise is that if you can define the part family--generally, an application area that requires a second set of functions--then we offer something that is matched in value to the need," says Pasek.

Cylinder heads, to name one example, may have major differences based on the included valve angle, number of cylinders, etc., while the basic configuration of each is quite similar. Designing an RMT to perform the machining operations on all members of that part family--even those cylinder heads that have yet to be designed--with equal quality requires modifying the structure in such a way that repeatability is not lost. "The idea is to, within a certain work footprint, change the angular values without having to use a different set of machine tools," says Pasek. So U of M's prototype RMT has the spindle on an arcing mount that covers an area from -15[degrees] to +45[degrees], with hard stops every 15[degrees] of travel. "The hard stops assure accuracy," he says, "though we can place the spindle anywhere within that angular range. If you know where you are with the spindle--and that is defined very accurately at the hard stops--this value goes into the control system to provide the quality and repeatability required." (An associated fast calibration project is underway to increase accuracy between the hard stops.)

Motor type vs. machine design: to control vibration, this machine tool builder says the choice of linear motors versus ballscrews is not as important

Do linear motors make a machining center better? Or, more specifically, do they improve dynamic stiffness? A study conducted by machine tool builder Mori Seiki suggests that the answer is yes, but with an important caveat. Applying linear motors alone is not necessarily the most effective way to improve stability. When it comes to dynamic stiffness, changing the machine design may offer more potential for improvement.

Mori Seiki managing director Kazuyuki Hiramoto supplied the data for the graph on the following page. The numbers represent the test results for trials run on a test machine with and without linear motors, and with and without a machine-tool design concept called "Driven at the Center of Gravity," or DCG. What the numbers specifically measure is the amount of vibration that resulted after the machine was moved and stopped. The point of the comparison is that some vibration can be attributed to how the axis motors work, but potentially more of the vibration results from where the force of those motors is directed.

Axis motors on machining centers tend not to apply their force through the center of gravity of the moving elements, but instead they tend to apply it to one side or the other. Dr. Hiramoto says this runs contrary to a principle we all intuitively know. That is, when moving a heavy weight, we try to push at the center. The problem with not driving through the center of gravity on a machining center is that machine tools are--in a sense--squishy. Even a push by hand might deform a machine by 10 microns. The slight twisting of machine elements that comes from linear axis forces pushing off-center can cause vibration that may ultimately affect the surface quality of the part and the life of the tool. Machining center users sometimes deal with this vibration by making gradual starts and stops.

The company's DCG machines do try to push through the center of gravity. The machines use ballscrews, and the very challenge in realizing the DCG concept is that the lines through the center of a machining center may not leave room for a ballscrew. The spindle occupies a central location on a machine, and so might a rotary table. In these cases where some other basic component of the machine interferes at the center, the DCG machine uses two ballscrews instead, one ballscrew on either side, so that the resultant force still does drive through the center.