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With most other 5 axis table stops we’ve seen most suffer from instability from flex due to poor engineering or manufacturing.  The Pro-Stop is a solid table stop that made setups quick and easy. The body is made from 6061-T6 and pivot components are made from stainless steel to prevent rusting and to insure rigidity. The manufacturer claims the friction o-rings provide smooth, precise adjustments, but out of the box they seemed a bit sticky.  We easily open the body by loosening two screws and lubricated them with an o-ring compatible grease.  Now that’s smooth!  The spring loaded Tee-nuts definitely helped the unit slide around during positioning.  The 1/4″ stop rod can be modified, replaced or extended with longer piece of bar stock, but we opted to turn one end into a sharp point to pick up small part edges.

• Locking lever can be positioned 360º to avoid interference.
• T-nuts fit 5/8″ table studs. Unit is anodized red with a black cast aluminum handle.
• Made in the U.S.A.

Overall, a solid, well-built product.

Contact Rovi Products at (800) 423-5145 or visit them online at www.roviproducts.com for more info.

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.

Back in March we announced a new product from Pierson Workholding – the Speed Hammer. The Speed Hammer is a combination speed handle and hammer/mallet. Most of us are familiar with their proven Pallet Retention System, but we greeted their new arrival with some skepticism. As we reported, the Speed Hammer is primarily constructed from 6061 Aluminum with UHMW faces (also known as unbreakable plastic). Was this tool a brilliant design or a design dud? We received the product and immediately put it to the test.

With any new product that the industry has never seen, widespread acceptance takes years to gain. For example, it took Haas Automation over a decade of producing vertical machining centers until they gained the unanimous stamp of approval by the manufacturing industry. They were often badmouthed by others swearing by older, slower and less advanced machines. Haas has since had the last laugh by becoming the largest domestic machine tool manufacturer.

But let’s get back to the review…

One of our first concerns that the industry might balk at was the choice of using aluminum as a vise handle. Would it endure the wear and tear of torquing down a vise? This was quickly dispelled because all speed handles are made out of aluminum and none of us think twice about that. Plus the handle is short enough where you couldn’t put enough stress on the handle to break or bend it. The beefy design allowed us to put extra “two-handed” torque on the vise when needed… something the thin spokes of a traditional speed handle couldn’t tolerate.

Pierson also reminded us that the Speed Hammer isn’t designed to replace a cast iron vise handle for all applications… just 90% of them. That’s because 90% of most parts manufactured today are small enough to fit in a 6″ vise – sometimes two parts per vise. This is where the Speed Hammer shines. The Speed Hammer is best on aluminum, plastic, brass and other small parts. It is the perfect weight and balance for tapping down this genre of parts. The entire handle has a shotpeen textured grip for a secure hold even when wet with coolant. We had no problems with the UHMW faces in any way. After a few good whacks on some sharp corners we did manage to get the faces to dent. But honestly we can’t think of any soft material that wouldn’t have a few dings after our punishing blows.

Another concern was the fact that the Speed Handle is not a dead-blow mallet. Dead-blow hammers contain lead, sand or other weighted materials to dampen the rebound from a strike and transfer the striking energy completely to the object being struck. Yes the Speed Hammer will bounce on hard strikes, but again that is not what it is designed for. Smaller parts do not require strikes that would crush the skull of idiotic drivers on L.A. freeways. Instead, to properly seat small parts only requires a few taps with finesse. If your idea of tapping down parts brings up images of Bubba the Neanderthal clubbing his dinner to death, just stick to your regular tools.

Overall performance was superb. The broached hex properly sized and is “easy-on, easy-off” with all makes of 6 and 8 inch vises. The faces are durable and soft enough to not blemish parts. It’s design is comfortable and balanced in the hand. The Speed Hammer is a product that we are not sending back to Pierson. This one stays in the shop. Using a vise just wouldn’t be the same without it… believe us, we’ve tried. Whenever we switched to machines without a Speed Hammer we caught ourselves nearly starting to tap down parts with the old cast iron handle that came with the vise!

The Speed Hammer should be in every machinist’s tool tray. As mentioned at the beginning, this product has overwhelmingly proven it’s worth to us. But as we’ve seen with other brilliant products, we predict that the industry may not embrace it as fast as it should. Shame on all those sheep-like followers in the industry! How many years will people waste monkeying around with clunky vise handles and heavy mallets? Do yourself a favor… be an industry leader and buy a couple TODAY! Plus, as of this review it is currently on sale for $39.95 directly through the Pierson Workholding website.

Accidents happen. Things break. Repairs are needed. It’s just a normal part of shop life. But before you throw something away, you might just save time and money with Dura Fix.

Dura Fix is an Aluminum based welding rod designed to weld brass, copper, aluminum and zinc based metals without any special tools or a dedicated welding machine. All that is needed is a propane torch (typically used by plumbers for soldering pipe) and a steady hand. This product truly shines not only because of it’s ease of use, but the fact that it can easily weld dissimilar metals without any problems. Dura Fix is easily machined and is actually stronger than the parent metal. Its use is limited to the previously mentioned materials and will not adhere to stainless or ferrous materials with the exception of galvanized steel.

In our review, we found the welding process to be easily learned. It is a two step process of first cleaning and prepping the surface with the included stainless steel wire brush and then heating the surface to a minimum of 732 degrees F. We learned with a few practice parts that the trick to welding aluminum was to first heat the parent material enough to melt the rod when touched to it, but not too hot where you would melt the material you’re welding. The rod has a melting point of 732 degrees and aluminum’s melting point ranges from around 1000 deg to 1200 deg depending on the alloy. That temperature separation gives plenty of headroom to melt the rod and not the material you’re working on. The welding process is very much like soldering where you heat the working pieces then touch the solder to the pieces and flow it into place. If you apply direct heat to the rod it will simply crumble from the thermal shock.

Video from the Dura Fix Website:

Off the top or our heads we couldn’t think of a lot of common uses for Dura Fix in a machine shop environment, however after playing with it we found ourselves fixing tables, shop chairs, patching coolant tanks, sealing pipe and airline fittings, restoring old tools and even reinforcing machining fixtures. This last application is where Dura Fix really shines. Often, fixture creation goes from a simple idea to a complicated exercise in mechanical design (aligning boltholes, fabricating multiple parts, testing and reworking). With Dura Fix we were able to quickly weld up machine fixtures and immediately put them into use.

Once we quickly mastered the technique we found ourselves just looking for anything to weld. The product’s ease-of-use became addicting. For some reason our product tester’s favorite practice was welding two beer cans end to end, empty of course.

When was the last time you had the chance to sit down with an executive of a Fortune 500 company and pick their brain? When was the last time you asked a successful entrepreneur how she built her company into a $500 million cash machine? Well, here at CNCReport.com, we do it all the time… and so can you!

As shop owners and managers, very rarely do we find ourselves with business mentors or advisers that can help us take our business and management skills to the next level. Most of us started our business in garages equipped only with our trade skills and very few actual business management skills. Cwerty.com can help us pick up business know-how that rivals the teaching at any major university… all at an affordable cost.

Cwerty.com is a collection of video interviews of today’s most accomplished business leaders—from individual entrepreneurs to large multinational CEOs. Each video averages between 4 to 6 minutes and only costs $0.99 each. Look at it this way: We download $0.99 MP3’s for pure entertainment. When you realize that you have direct access to the decades of wisdom for the same $0.99, these wisdom-filled videos are next to free. Cwerty also allows you to not only view videos, but also to create personalized video collections for reference and share videos with up to 10 of your friends and colleagues. This means that same $0.99 can go to 10 of your employees as well.

There are very few products that we put our stamp of approval on here at CNCReport.com. We’re so convinced that Cwerty is an essential tool for small business that we’re creating a link to the site on our page’s sidebar. Our readers should always have access to this valuable tool.

With our economy being pummeled by high oil prices, higher material prices and manufacturing jobs being lost overseas, it’s a nice relief when an American made product comes along that is both affordable and works well. The metal finishing and prep industry has seen the market flooded with sandblaster booths that are imported, poorly built and cheap. At $299 the Barrel Blaster by Lake Buchanan Industries breaks all the rules.

This patented booth design is uniquely crafted from a 55 gallon drum and outfitted with a pre-installed blasting gun and gloves, internal worklight, 12″ by 16″ viewing window, easy access drain for media changes and an innovative shop vac connection for dust collection. The gun operates on 12 cfm of air at 80 psi. Some abrasives require less air and some performed better with more. Shipping for the Barrel Blaster won’t kill the deal either. All parts including the stand come packaged in the barrel and ship inexpensively via DHL.

During our testing, the assembly was easy right out of the box. All parts were labeled and required no special tools. We found the viewing area to be perfectly adequate and the 50 lb media capacity was more than enough for all the grit we dumped into it. The most pleasant surprise was the shop vac port that was perfectly sized to our Ridgid brand vac. During testing we did opt to shorten the air and media lines leading to the gun. Since we didn’t need to maneuver the nozzle over the entire work envelope, the shorter lines gave us a bit more comfort. The 23″ dia by 33″ wide work area offered plenty of capacity for the larger parts that we worked with (part size of 10″ x 16″).

Overall, the Barrel Blaster is a well built, American made blasting cabinet with excellent value. We find it perfectly suited for the shop who needs to blast parts on a daily basis as well as the hobbyist or gearhead at home. This and other models are available at www.barrelblaster.com.

Starting a business is not for everyone. It takes the right balance of courage and skill… or ignorance and luck depending on the way you look at it. This movie showcases entrepreneurs in different industries and walks of life.

“A merchant banker. A failing dairy farmer. A refugee from Communist China. One risked his savings. One risked his farm. One risked his life. Why do their stories matter? Because how we view entrepreneurs—as greedy or altruistic, as virtuous or vicious—shapes the destinies of individuals and nations.”

The video is produced by the Acton Media. You can view the trailer by clicking the top link. You can also learn more about it by clicking on their website: http://www.calloftheentrepreneur.com. Once there you can order the video through their online store.

For anyone thinking about or has recently started a shop, this video is a must see. Even if you’ve owned your business for 20 years, you’ll appreciate seeing the common roots of other entrepreneurs turning risk into success.

We replaced our coolant in a few of our test machines with the BC 230 coolant and ran them in normal shop conditions. Having swapped out the well performing Blasocut 2000 Universal for this new blend, we at least wanted to see equal or better performance to give the product a thumbs-up. What we found is a coolant that out performs anything we’ve ever used.

Despite the extremely hard water in our test area, the normal mixture provided very effective lubrication for cutting and grinding, but buried deep within the company’s product description is an easily overlooked benefit and, in our opinion, the best reason to use this product… “BC 230’s unmatchable rinse behaviors will leave parts and machines clean”. A modest claim for the number one reason to switch to this coolant. We found our parts to be easily blown off and cleaned and the irritating film of tramp oil that so easily collects on the insides of the machine are just not building up like other mixtures. Another claim we confirmed is that the coolant stays in solution longer than the 2000 Universal blend. A clean rinsing coolant that doesn’t require much maintenance or labor to clean up after it will easily save time and money.

Good lubrication, excellent stability, low maintenance requirements and universal application… This product will definitely have owners and operators smiling.