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Article: Facilitating fast, barely audible cutting.(Better Production: Shops Using Technology)
- Article from:
- Modern Machine Shop
- Article date:
- January 1, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 Gardner Publications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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While attending a recent trade show, Bruce Thomas, production manager at the Chatsworth, California-based Rotating Precision Mechanisms Inc. (RPM), stopped in the CAM vendors' section. He didn't expect to find anything new, certainly nothing that would speak to his affinity for 2-l/2-axis milling. However, a demonstration at Surfware Inc.'s (Westlake, California) booth sparked his curiosity. Mr. Thomas noticed that the cutter on a machining center was moving quickly through a piece of aluminum, but that it was barely audible.
"I waited for the cutter to chirp or break when it slammed into a deep pocket corner, but it was virtually silent," says Mr. Thomas. "It ...