October 17, 2019
Family-owned and established in 1995, Sharpe Engineering operates from four facilities located in Queensland – in Roma, Chinchilla, Virginia and Zillmere. Sharpe Engineering boasts upwards of 50 pieces of plant, including CNC machines, milling machines, drilling machines and manual lathes, as well as Australia’s largest threading capacity. All of Sharpe Engineering’s equipment is procured from world-class suppliers, and the company’s state-of-the-art machine inventory guarantees the precision and the accuracy of its products. Sharpe Engineering’s equipment is a key part in allowing the business to produce quality, cost-effective products. It owns two Mazak 21-inch hollow-spindle Power Master Chuckers, and a 7-inch hollow spindle Power Master Universal. Sharpe relies on its world-class equipment line-up to remain at the sharp end of manufacturing for the oil and gas drilling industry. The latest addition, recently purchased by Sharpe, is a Mazak Slant Turn 550 turning centre, supplied by John Hart, which is used in the manufacture of drilling tools and thread repairs on drill…
October 17, 2019
Insufficient grip that causes slipping parts, pushback in chuck jaws and collets wearing out prematurely are issues well known to CNC turning machine tool operators. The resultant production downtime, operator idle time, and expense of new or re-worked jaws is a significant problem. Dimac has recently launched a new service designed to eliminate such issues, using a new form of carbide application equipment called Rocklinizer from the USA. The application process improves clamping force by as much as 50% - thereby providing significant extra grip on workholding equipment such as jaws and collets, while wear is accordingly reduced. The new service uses the proven spark deposition process called Rocklinizing to easily and quickly boost the grip coefficient of workholding jaws and collets. The unit electronically applies a hard and wear-resistant surface of Tungsten Carbide, Titanium Carbide or Rockhard electrode material to workholding tools. Material is impregnated both underneath and on top of the workpiece surface. Unlike welding or metal spraying, no appreciable heat is…
October 17, 2019
A hand-held device to predict heart failure based on saliva could help millions of potential victims take preventative steps to avoid their fate. Nano-sensors on the tip of the diagnostic stick measure heart disease biomarkers from saliva to accurately predict the risk of heart disease, failure or heart attack, then warn users via a simple app. Now a multi-partner deal has just been signed to bring the life-saving technology to market by 2021. The collaboration is being led by an Australian start-up based in Melbourne called ESN Cleer, with RMIT University and the IMCRC now researching and developing the device for pilot manufacture. ESN Cleer CEO Leopoldt de Bruin says the collaboration represents some of the best minds in medical device innovation, design and manufacture. “We’re really pleased to be able to bring these strands together in addressing such a major global health challenge,” De Bruin said. “Of the 400 million people who suffer from…
October 17, 2019
I often remark to my children or anyone who will listen at trade events that there are only two kinds of people in the world: cutting tool people and everyone else. In the case of my kids (and our Marketing Manager, for that matter), they issue a despairing groan and roll their eyes. This is not a trivial proposition – and it goes deeper! Even amongst the broader Cutting Tool Community, it’s my long-held opinion that it’s us Tap People who are the crème de la crème. On further investigation, the logic behind this highly reasonable position is both obvious and compelling (to me, at least). Once upon a time… My love affair with taps began in my schooldays, while working at the Sutton Tools factory during the summer holidays. That passion continues to this day, based on the philosophical concept of “value add”. I am a confirmed Tap Person. To the…
October 10, 2019
In the last few years, the concept and implementation of cooling solutions for cutting tools has enjoyed such a surge in popularity and enthusiasm it is almost as if it had never existed before. CNC machine manufacturers throughout the world have invested time and resources to develop solutions that can supply coolant at high pressures, and all new machine tools today are supplied with a high-pressure coolant option. Manufacturers from industries such as aerospace, automotive and large part production appreciate the immense advantage of supplying coolant directly to the cutting edge and are only ordering machines for milling centres or turning centres with high-pressure coolant capabilities – offering a minimum of 70 bar and up to as much as 300 bar. Mass production manufacturers are also benefiting from the integration of Iscar’s JetCut tools into their processes. Keeping temperature at bay One of the most serious enemies of carbide inserts is the high temperature of the materials that results from…
October 3, 2019
The high temperature resistance of nickel-based alloys often presents process managers with challenges during machining, not least because there is still relatively little experience to draw on compared to other materials. If heat-resistant super alloys are milled with carbide indexable inserts, the cutting speed is only around 45 metres/min. Milling cutters with ceramic cutting tool materials achieve cutting values that are approximately 20 times higher during roughing: with cutting speeds of up to 1,000 metres/min, they achieve a much higher metal removal rate. The higher feed rate easily compensates for the depth of cut, which is generally lower for ceramic cutting edges than for carbide edges: In specific applications, the metal removal rate of Inconel 718 with ceramic cutting edges…
October 3, 2019
The phrase “all is number”, attributed to Pythagoras, is more pertinent now than ever before. Numbers enable us to capture and process physical magnitudes, be they positions, temperatures, flow rates, field strengths and many other quantities. A vast inventory of ingenious methods exists for measuring – or describing – the physical world using numbers. The age of computing has added a new, highly versatile tool: simulation. Simulation permits the inference of data that is not directly available for measurement. It is possible, for example, to gauge the temperature deep inside an object from measurements of the surface temperature combined with physical understanding of what is happening inside the object. The inaccessibility of a measurement point must not be strictly spatial. The data of interest can also be in the future, or even in a system that has not physically been built. Compared to physical testing, simulation can deliver huge savings in time and costs, as well as avoiding waste and potentially…
October 3, 2019
Industry 4.0 refers to advanced manufacturing technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT) and artificial intelligence (AI). It also facilitates new ways to apply old concepts such as automation and robotics, both of which have long been used in manufacturing (with outstanding results). Embracing emerging, intelligent technology is essential for Australian manufacturers to compete effectively in a tough globalised environment. While the manufacturing industry in Australia has recently returned to growth, strong competition from overseas manufacturers remains a concern for local firms. Manufacturers in this country tend to have higher costs in terms of energy, labour, materials and logistics, compared with overseas competitors. One of the ways to potentially overcome this disadvantage is to embrace smarter technology, such as IoT or AI. For example, one manufacturer has used cloud-based analytics and IoT to reduce equipment inspection times by 100%. This helped the company avoid a potential cost of $361 per second for downtime caused by manual inspections. This illustrates the enormity of savings that could be delivered…
October 3, 2019
Mapal already offers a wide range of innovative machining solutions for manufacturing individual parts and components in electric vehicles. However, the challenge is an ongoing one that Mapal is continuing to meet. High precision for large diameters using ultralight tools One of the core challenges in electrified automotive powertrains is the high-precision machining of the main bore in the stator housing. Presenting a challenge for the tool and machine, all other steps in the production of the stator housing can be carried out on machines with a HSK A63 spindle configuration. However, in most instances the main stator bore requires machining with HSK A100 spindle. This is down to two factors: firstly, the high cutting torque requirements of up to 500Nm; and secondly, the maximum permissible tool weight and tilting moment. Cost-effective manufacturing with short cycle-times calls for a solution whereby complete machining can be carried out on a single machine with small spindle connections. This is because these machines are characterised by their high spindle speeds, lower investment and operating…
September 25, 2019
If you’re hearing the term ISO 9001 for the first time, the short explanation is it’s a set of procedures dictating all of the processes in an accredited manufacturing business – everything from the design and prototyping to the manufacturing itself, right through to the delivery of goods and invoicing. As Paul Hughes, Managing Director of Integra Systems, explains, “It’s a set of procedures that pretty much govern the way you do business. “I’ll build a quote in our system. If the job gets converted to a sales order then it gets converted to a work order. Once a work order is raised, all your materials can be purchased from it. In effect, it creates a ‘traveller’ that goes around the factory, through the process, tracks your materials then, finally, it gets invoiced out. So that’s ISO 9001’s underlying framework to the business.” Having the official accreditation has not always been an essential component to doing business at Integra. However, the company’s growth…
September 25, 2019
Transporting a part inside a shop-floor, mounting and clamping it in a machine tool, and machine set-up are major challenges. Workholding massive and large parts is no easy task, and often requires non-standard solutions. Machining large parts involves removing a lot of material that may cause significant deformations due to unrelieved stresses. Another factor, which leads to dimensional problems, is thermal expansion caused by heat generation during cutting: the large sizes make it much more sensitive compared with more standard-sized workpieces. The necessity to remove a significant material stock requires appropriate chip evacuation to prevent the chip re-cutting, which negatively affects the applied cutting tools. The key for overcoming the difficulties lies in technology, based on effective process planning and utilising the most suitable machine tools, optimal workholding, and minimal part relocation. Single set-up machining represents an absolute ideal for machining a…
September 25, 2019
As experts in thermal spray technology, QSP Engineering specialises in the reclamation, repair and resizing of worn components, with the company servicing clients come from a wide and diverse range of industries including the mining, construction, earth-moving, marine and industrial sectors. QSP’s large workshop in Bethania, Queensland, allows the team to repair small items such as respraying household irons to repair and reclamation of very large parts worn and corroded through excessive and heavy usage – for example, pivot shafts. Over 40 years of successful operations, the company has built a range of services to meet the needs of its clients, resulting in a highly trained team with expertise in spraying techniques. QSP offers high-velocity oxy fuel spraying (HVOF), arc spraying, ceramic and plasma spraying. The latest laser technology has now been added to this mix, with a Laserline system that allows QSP to offer reliable finished workpieces. With a…
September 25, 2019
Graphene, a material that is just a one atom thick, has exceptional physical properties. The European Commission launched the Graphene Flagship in 2013 to facilitate the transition of graphene and related materials from academic laboratories to applications. With a budget of €1bn for an initial period of 10 years, the Graphene Flagship is one of Europe’s biggest research initiatives, aiming not only to continue developing graphene in academic laboratories, but spearheading efforts for the commercialisation of graphene, preparing for its widespread adoption in industry. Halfway through the 10-year project, the Graphene Flagship has successfully developed more than 25 commercial products, using the impressive conductivity, strength and flexibility of graphene to improve on the properties of previously used materials. However, bringing a new material to market is not without its challenges. Historically, it takes…