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.

Chalk up another casualty to the decline in the US economy and another hit towards manufacturing in this country. The December 2009 edition of American Machinist Magazine was its last printed edition. Although it wasn’t a big surprise since we reported Modern Applications News Magazine’s demise back in June ’09, we never expected we could fly cut the thickness of AM’s last issue with a 1/16 endmill.

Before we go spraying doom and gloom because another trade magazine is gone, consider that AM is owned by a larger publishing company, Penton Media. Penton currently offers over 150 publications ranging from agriculture to electronics. When one publication isn’t bringing in their fair share of revenue, cuts are soon to follow. Consider it more of a corporate business move rather than a statement on the health of US manufacturing. It is a sentimental shame however that AM has turned its last page after 132 years of history.

Attention American Machinist advertisers: CNCReport.com is alive and well! (Shameless plug… absolutely tasteless)

The new DT-1 from Haas Automation, Inc., is a compact, high-speed drill and tap machine with full milling capabilities. The machine features a generouse 20″ x 16″ x 15.5″ work cube and 26″ x 15″ T-slot table, while maintaining a very small footprint. A powerful BT-30 taper spindle spins to 15,000 rpm, and allows tapping at speeds to 5000 rpm. The spindle is coupled directly to the motor for smooth, quiet operation and extreme thermal stability. A 15-hp vector drive system provides 46 ft-lb of continuous torque for milling and boring operations.

The DT-1 is equipped with a frighteningly fast high-speed, 20-pocket, servo-driven tool changer that swaps tools in 0.8 seconds. High-speed 2400 ipm rapids combine with 1G acceleration rates to shorten cycle times and reduce non-cutting time. The maximum cutting feedrate is 1200 ipm.

For efficient chip removal, the DT-1 features steeply sloped internal sheet metal. Optional twin chip augers transport chips to the rear of the machine for discharge. A 48-gallon flood coolant system is standard, with options for a programmable coolant nozzle and high-pressure through-tool coolant systems.