• FREE 2-Day Shipping on orders over $49
• Special pricing on business products
• Tax-exempt purchasing
• Purchasing system integration
• Shared payment methods
• Order approval workflows
• Enhanced order reporting

To sign up, visit www.amazon.com/business and signup for a free account.

The DM-1 shares nearly identical specs as it’s predecessor with the much welcomed use of 40 taper tool holders.  It has a 20″ x 16″ x 15.5″ work cube and a 26″ x 15″ T-slot table, a direct-drive15,000 rpm spindle, high-speed rigid tapping and 46 ft-lb (peak) of cutting torque for milling and boring operations.

The DM-1 provides cutting feedrates to 1200 ipm for high-speed milling and the machine’s 18+1 side-mount tool changer swaps tools in a scary fast 1.8 seconds, chip to chip. High-speed 2400 ipm rapids combine with high acceleration rates to shorten cycle times and increase throughput… again, anchoring to the slab is a must.

With a starting price of $64,995 USD, the speed of these machines are built for quick ROI’s.

Visit haascnc.com for more details.

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.

The Student Store can be found at store.gibbscam.com

All Haas VF-1 through VF-12 40-taper VMCs are now equipped with a beefy 8100-rpm inline direct-drive spindle that is driven by a 30-horsepower vector drive system. The Haas inline system couples the spindle directly to the motor to reduce heat, increase power transmission, and provide excellent surface finishes. An optional 10,000-rpm inline direct-drive spindle is available for shops wanting higher spindle speeds. Both spindles yield 90 ft-lb of cutting torque.

For shops needing additional low-speed torque and wanting the flexibility of a gearbox, two optional gear-drive spindles are also available for standard Haas 40-taper VMCs. The optional spindles provide either 8100-rpm or 10,000-rpm, and feature a Haas-built, high-precision two-speed gearbox. Both geared spindles yield 250 ft-lb of torque.

Amazon.com boasts annual sales of $15 billion primarily through books and consumer items. So, why not open an industrial supply division for the rest of us? Well, they have. Amazon.com’s Industrial & Scientific site sells everything from abrasives and endmills to fasteners and raw materials. Amazon’s Free Super Saver Shipping also applies to orders over $25 on products sold from stock.

With a familiar Amazon interface and over 80,000 products, it might just be a resource to watch. Check it out for yourself at www.amazon.com/industrial.

Image courtesy of Nelson Publishing, Inc.

Torchmate’s Colombia-based South American office is growing rapidly to accommodate the increasing demand for CNC machinery across Latin America. The South American division has already posted its best sales year ever, and is setting its sights on completing 10 percent of the sales of the entire company this year, said Andres Rodriguez, South American sales manager for Torchmate.

That growth is only the beginning of what Torchmate sees as a market that should expand exponentially over the next several years.

“Right now the South American economy is growing up. Booming industrial, petroleum and manufacturing industries have opened up a lot of opportunities for Torchmate from Mexico to Chile,” said Rodriguez.

Rodriguez heads a Latin American division of seven staffers who provide expert sales service, technical support and machine and table set-up services throughout Mexico and Central and South America.

Torchmate has won loyal support throughout Latin America for several services that set them apart from the competition. Torchmate sells customers affordable kits for table construction, allowing Torchmate machine buyers to save on shipping fees by only paying to import the actual robotic cutting machine. The company’s highly trained, Spanish-speaking staff back each purchase with a lifetime of free technical support, and also frequently train new purchasers on the full functions of the machine. And Torchmate’s CNC cutting machines also cost exactly the same price in South America as they would if you purchased them up at the company’s main offices in Reno, Nev.

Across Latin America, there is a wealth of industries that demand CNC cutting technology. The large, heavy industries like petroleum production, shipping, mining and manufacturing are healthy, and often growing, segments of economies across the continent. Each of those industries require the fabrication capabilities of large CNC, plasma-cutting machines that Torchmate manufactures to build and repair oil platforms, mining machinery or to build ships. South America’s growing demand for infrastructure improvements to accommodate a booming middle class, is also another source of CNC machine demand.

Finally, the rise of a consumer class with disposable income is fueling a new crop of Latin American entrepreneurs and small businesses. For many of those entrepreneurs, Torchmate machines are the central piece of a new business — an auto repair shop or small manufacturing business.

Rodriguez knows about the growing Latin American entrepreneurial spirit well. He bought a Torchmate machine as a customer, using it to help in his family’s company that set up industrial kitchens. In his off time, Rodriguez used his Torchmate machine to do contract work — repair machinery, cut signs or even build metal sculptures.

As he realized the unlimited potential of the machine and its uses, Rodriguez knew he had struck upon a great business that he not only wanted to do business with, but also wanted to work for. Soon Rodriguez was helping with translations, technical support and machine builds for Torchmate. And not long afterward, he began assembling a team, starting with his brother Camilo, to run a South American office for the company.

Working closely with Torchmate Sales Director Josh Schohn, Rodriguez modeled his Colombian office to include the same sales and customer service ethics that have set Torchmate apart from its competition in North America.

The hard work has paid off. The South American offices of Torchmate surpassed their sales volume from 2010 by July of this year. And the future is looking even brighter.

“In South America we are just on the starting block,” said Rodriguez of Torchmate sales. “We are bringing efficiencies to industries across the continent, making the purchase of a Torchmate machine a revenue-producing decision for many companies.”

Of the 18 manufacturing industries, 17 are reporting growth in April. Several of the fastest growing industries related to machining are:

• #2 – Plastics & Rubber Products
• #3 – Primary Metals
• #5 – Fabricated Metal Products
• #9 – Machinery
• #15 – Miscellaneous Manufacturing

The report was issued today by Norbert J. Ore, CPSM, C.P.M., chair of the Institute for Supply Management™ Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. “The recent trend of rapid growth in the manufacturing sector continued in April as the PMI registered above 60 percent for the fourth consecutive month. The New Orders and Production Indexes continue to drive the PMI, as they have both exceeded 60 percent for five consecutive months. Manufacturing employment appears to have developed significant momentum, as the Employment Index readings for the first four months of 2011 are the highest readings in the last 38 years. Inventory growth also took place in April after two months of destocking; however, the inventory restocking would appear to be necessitated by the strong performance in new orders. While the manufacturing sector is definitely performing above most expectations so far in 2011, manufacturers are experiencing significant cost pressures from commodities and other inputs.”