Users of Autodesk Inventor and HSM Works will find themselves in a familiar environment.  Solidworks users will too find the interface intuitive but a different set of terminology is the biggest curve to overcome.  On the topic of Solidworks, Fusion 360 comparatively doesn’t have the full depth of tool set of it’s French competitor, but it does boast five working environments (model, render, animation, simulation, 3D cam) at a fraction of the price.  Fortunately, any features the software lacks are quickly addressed by the Autodesk team – Expect significant upgrades at a nearly monthly basis.  In the few months that we evaluated the software, keyboard shortcuts, cam support for cnc turning and FEA simulation were just a few of the major upgrades to the software.

In our review we were able to sprint over the learning curve and designed parts within a day.  An active and enthusiastic user base along with dozens of tutorials on YouTube makes learning a personal experience.

Here’s the best part:  Fusion 360 is free for students, enthusiasts, hobbyists, and startups.  Fusion 360 is as low as $25 per month on an annual subscription, or $40 month to month for companies grossing over $100,000.  Start a free 30-day trial here and try it out on your Mac or PC. With in-product tutorials, you’ll be up and running in no time.

1. Be engaged in certain types of business, also known as a “qualified person.”
2. Purchase “qualified property.”
3. Use that qualified property for the uses allowed by this law.

A common scenario to easily meet these three conditions are when:

1. A shop owner or purchasing agent
2. Buys any tooling or equipment
3. To be used in the process of producing products

There is no need to apply to the California BOE for the exemption. When you make qualifying purchases or leases, you must simply provide the seller with a “partial exemption certificate” to obtain the reduced tax rate.  Once this partial exemption certificate is on file with your supplier, all your qualified purchases are taxed at a rate of 3.3125% until July 1, 2022.

For more details visit the CA Board of Equalization page at http://www.boe.ca.gov/sutax/manufacturing_exemptions.htm.

Enough fluff.. Lets highlight a few machined projects currently on Kickstarter.
The Spin Case – A Refined Raspberry Pi Case

Precision Machined Spinning Tops

Metal Comb Works: Machine Age inspired metal pocket combs

Helado: a cool, sweet topping for the Raspberry Pi!

New Sleeper Designs Billet iPhone Wallets and Cases

In our consumer/entertainment driven society our brains are slowly being trained to see things and well, not think about it. Take Jersey Shore for example – once it became a national obsession we knew a shift had occurred that told us we were taking everything in without outputting any useful action – with the exception of those of us who learned to weld from watching American Chopper.

So, watch this video and please do the opposite of society… THINK about your safety and the safety of others around you. Get everyone together and have a chat.  Thinking about safety never made anything more dangerous.

Primary Cutter, LLC introduced the SUPERMILL TOMCAT 5 flute carbide endmill line designed to run at high RPM and high feed rates providing rapid stock removal. Utilizing unique tool geometry design, TOMCATS are capable of feed rates of 200 IPM on Steels, Alloy Steels and Stainless Steels. We contacted them and they were kind enough to send us tool for testing.  The results are in… and we’re impressed.

Our test shop pulled up a program for a repeat job with an established program and baseline for our tests.  The old part program called for machining 1018 carbon steel using a 4 flute, 1/2″ coated carbide cutter at 3800 RPM, 30 IPM, .25″ Axial DoC and .25″ Radial DoC.  The operators were quite comfortable with these numbers and cycle times kept the front office happy.  When we began to tell them the suggested feeds and speeds for the SUPERMILL TOMCAT, we didn’t even get beyond mentioning 6000 RPM without hearing scoffs and chuckles.  The looks of doubt continued as we told them to start at 150 IPM, .500″ Axial and .050″ Radial.  These truly were feed and speeds reserved for cutting aluminum.

220 IPM finish on Top. 175 IPM finish on bottom. Click to Zoom.

With the new feeds and speeds plugged into the program, everyone took a step back and squinted their eyes as the operator hit start for the first time.  “BUTTER!!!” was the first comment that came 30 seconds into the program.  Yes, smooth as butter indeed.  The mill hummed with the sound of faster cycle times and greater profits.  “Bump it up”, came from someone in the group.  The operator glanced at the foreman, watching for a head nod to give him the green light.  Everyone squinted and leaned back each time the operator pressed the +10% feed override button, but the churning of the butter continued. We comfortably reached 220 IPM before the Haas MiniMill started nearing max HP.

We could have easily continued to run at 220 IPM but we started to see a little too much of the machining marks.  We brought it back down to 175 IPM and were satisfied with the finish.  Keep in mind that we also broke a machining rule and used the same tool to rough and finish the part… One less tool change to worry about.

Should have stayed with the suggested parameters

Our only hiccup came when we ran the tool using the old program that was meant for the older tooling.  We ended up with a few wear marks in a couple flutes.  We knew this came after seeing no wear with the test program.  That’s our fault and just goes to show that following directions leads to optimal results.

The results:

• RPM increased from 3800 to 6000
• Feedrate increased from 30 IPM to 175 IPM
• Axial Depth of Cut doubled from .250″ to .500″
• Radial Depth of Cut was cut down by 20% from .250″ to .050″ but…
• The overall cycle time was CUT IN HALF!!!!

Needless to say, our test shop was extremely pleased with the results.  The most difficult part of the test was getting the tool back from the shop for photos!  Buy one to see for yourself in a 3/4 LoC or 1-1/4 LoC or see more sizes here.

The chuck sizes come in discounted starter packages ranging in price from $995, $1195 and $1495. For more information contact Pierson Workholding at www.piersonworkholding.com.

So often, shops have no company website. Moreover, their email address is from any number of generic sources; machineshopperson@att.net, anothershop@yahoo.com, i-need-a-website@hotmail.com. There’s really nothing wrong with having such an address, but using an email that includes your company’s name is much more professional.

In today’s information age, the necessity of having a company website cannot be ignored. The first step in getting a website is buying a domain name that tells the world where your website can be found. As the popularity of the internet grows exponentially, it’s important to get your company’s domain name registered as soon as possible, even if the thought of a company website is a distant idea. We’re not the only ones that think so. In fact, all three- and four-letter combinations of letters have already been purchased as website domain names by people known as cyber squatters. A cyber squatter’s sole purpose is to purchase domain names with the hopes of companies becoming desperate enough to buy the name for thousands of times more than what it originally cost. If cyber squatters have bought up every combination of names from aaaa.com to zzz.com then stressing the importance of simply owning a domain name for future use goes without saying.

Getting Practical

For now, let’s start simple and take the first step in acquiring your piece of internet real estate. Let’s cover some basic principles. Every pioneer looks for land first before they ever build. Don’t assume that you need to buy a domain name and have a company website up in the next week. There’s nothing wrong with buying a name and waiting until the right time to put a site on it. Even free or low cost basic websites with your contact info is acceptable while you plan for something more extensive.

Now it’s time to think about what your company’s domain name should be. Many of you will luck out and be able to register the exact name of your company with no problems. Others will have to be a little more creative since the domain name might be taken. Let’s start with a few guidelines on how to choose a name:

• Try and keep your name as short as possible. There’s a reason Haas Automation uses www.haascnc.com as opposed to their full company name.
• Try and avoid dashes (-) and underscores (_) in your name. If these characters are not communicated properly, you risk pointing a customer to the wrong company.
• Always try and get the .com version and never the .org. A website ending in .org identifies you as a non-profit organization. Also, try and stay away from less popular website suffixes (technically known as a TLD) like .tv, .mobi, .us, .info, .biz. A .com suffix provides the strongest branding.
• Be descriptive. If your company name is simply “Smith”, try for smithmfg.com or smithmachining.com. Your domain name will be more memorable and will help people find you more easily through a web search.
• If you’re debating between two different names, buy both of them! You can always forward one name to another.

Now, once you’ve brainstormed and have a few domain name possibilities, see if they’re available. The fastest source for this is www.instantdomainsearch.com. As you type in domain names, you’ll instantly see if the .com, .net and .org names are available. From there you can visit any company that registers domain names (try www.1and1.com or www.godaddy.com) to purchase your name for less than $10 annually. Look for the terms “Search Domains” or “Register Domains” and they’ll walk you through the process.

Congratulations, you’ve now staked a claim in cyber space for your company’s future. You’re just a few simple steps away from setting up personalized email addresses and a basic info page. When the time comes to build a more detailed website, you’ll already have your perfect lakefront property to build on.

The ST-10Y provides a maximum cutting capacity of 9″ x 14″, with a swing of 16.25″ over the cross slide. It is equipped with a 6.5″ hydraulic 3-jaw chuck and a 12-station VDI turret. The ST-10Y’s A2-5 spindle nose has a 2.31″ spindle bore and a bar capacity of 1.75″. The machine’s 15 hp vector dual-drive spindle turns to 6000 rpm, and provides 75 ft-lb of torque at 1300 rpm. On-the-fly wye-delta switching yields a wide constant-horsepower band for constant surface feed cuts, and rapids are 1200 ipm on the X and Z axes to reduce cycle times.

Standard equipment on the ST-10Y includes high-torque live tooling with C axis, rigid tapping, spindle orientation, a 15″ color LCD monitor, and a USB port. Available high-productivity options include a belt-type chip conveyor, a manual tailstock with hydraulic quill, an automatic tool probe, an automatic parts catcher, high-pressure coolant systems, and much more.

A short while back we introduced the cold air nozzle from Silvent.  This technology involves converting compressed air into a stream of cold air 40 degrees colder than what entered using no moving parts.  Intrigued?  Absolutely!  But the real question remained… How would this fascinating technology help us solve real world problems.

We first found the perfect application; Machining Class 30 cast iron dry with a compressed air stream from a simple nozzle using coated inserts which are designed to be run dry.  In previous runs the inserts would last 5 parts for a total run time of 75 minutes before the edge became so worn that the spindle load was getting too high and part finish diminished.  The worn edge was also generating cutting friction that would heat parts enough to cause dimensional changes due to part expansion.  In a nutshell, one problem was leading to another. We turned to the F1 Cold Air Nozzle from Silvent. The company carries a line of magnetic mounting bases and flexible hoses, however we opted to install and position the nozzle in our machining center using existing modular hoses and connected it to our filtered and dried air source. The installation was simple and took less than a minute.

Initially, the nozzle’s separate controls for air flow (volume) and temperature seemed unnecessary as long as it produced a cold stream of air.  However, we quickly realized the benefits of having the ability to precisely control both air flow and temperature.  Out of the box, the nozzle is factory set to the optimum balance of cooling temperature and air consumption efficiency.  On the first run we found we needed to increase air flow in order to clear chips.  A turn of the “Flow” knob allowed us to greatly increase the output CFM for a more powerful stream. At this point we ran a few parts and took measurements to check our thermal expansion as well as our tool and part temperature. Expansion was within tolerance and parts were still slightly warm to the touch.  We wanted to bring our numbers down to a more centered tolerance range and the only way to do this was to decrease the temperature of the air exiting the nozzle.  Using the included temperature chart as a guide we gave the “Temperature” knob about 5 turns until we reached a cooling temperature of nearly 30 degrees Fahrenheit cooler than what was entering the nozzle.  With this combination of airflow and cooling, parts were finishing consistently within tolerance.

Though part measurements were our biggest concern, we did find that we were able to extend tool life from 5 parts to 8 before changing inserts.  At first we couldn’t quite explain why this unexpected result was occurring however our tooling supplier reminded us that heat is one of the main enemies of tool life. Any decrease in temperature, whether it be the part or the cutter, can show positive gains in tool performance.

The F1 Cold Air Nozzle from Silvent turned out to be the perfect solution for this machining application.  Overall, our experience was extremely positive since the product is simple, effective and easy to install and adjust. We anticipate shops will benefit from other uses such as cooling heat shrink tool holders for faster tool setups and cooling welding beads to reduce the size of the heat affected zone (HAZ).

The F1 Cold Air Nozzle sells for $447 US and can be purchased directly from Silvent.  For more information on the F1 visit the product page at http://www.silvent.com/www/live/product/productview.aspx?treeid=48&groupId=1617&productId=2540.

Here is Lynn Tilton, CEO of Patriarch Partners, a private equity firm dedicated to strengthening manufacturers, explaining why the President’s plan is more of a sound bite than a sound plan.