Article
May 8, 2007
Arc Welding 101 - Paint tank troubles
I am building a 400-gallon paint tank and I'm having trouble with leaks when using gas metal arc welding (GMAW). I'm using a welding machine running on 440. My best results come when running hot 19.5 on the heat and about 21/2 on wire speed. I am using a trimix gas and 0.035-inch 308 wire.... Read more...
Article
May 8, 2007
Arc Welding 101
I am building a 400-gallon paint tank and I'm having trouble with leaks when using gas metal arc welding (GMAW). I'm using a welding machine running on 440. My best results come when running hot 19.5 on the heat and about 21/2 on wire speed. I am using a trimix gas and 0.035-inch 308 wire.... Read more...
Article
May 4, 2004
Article
March 11, 2004
Article
March 11, 2004
Flying high with orbital welding
The first machines developed were large, upright, stationary systems that could be used only for workshop applications. These systems also had to make several rotations to complete a joint because only single-level power supplies were available. To make consistent welds, they had to make... Read more...
Article
February 26, 2004
Three optional techniques for beveling
All of these methods generate no dust or fumes and produce paintable edges without distortion or a heat-affected zone (HAZ). Finished edges have consistent angles along the bevel's entire length. Punch and Nibble Method Punch and nibble-style bevelers are portable power tools... Read more...
Article
February 12, 2004
Cutting through five myths about modern lasers
The following five myths about modern laser cutting machines can help the experienced user stay on top of the game and give the prospective laser user a few things to keep in mind. Myth 1: Automated laser cutting systems are too complicated, expensive, and big for small and medium-sized... Read more...
Article
January 29, 2004
Choosing the right robotic weld cell for your operation
If a company does much hand welding, it may have loose tolerances on the prints. However, a robot cannot work with these kinds of tolerances. A robot can maintain a good weld only if the parts are held to a tolerance of ± half the weld wire diameter. If this is not determined at... Read more...
Article
January 13, 2004
Producing side-impact profiles
Euro-NCAP, which stands for European New Car Assessment Program, was introduced in 1997 by five European governments, together with the European Commission. The results of this program are followed closely by the general public, so much so that hardly any automobile producer would risk... Read more...
Article
January 13, 2004
Appliancemaker reduces downtime with stamping press feed system
Most of the parts are stamped out of light-gauge metals. "On the majority of our machines, we're feeding 0.0040 inch and less," said Dan Partin, senior process engineer at Whirlpool. Partin reported that the company had noticed excessive downtime on some of its key presses that were running for... Read more...
Article
December 11, 2003
Getting the best results in gas-shielded FCAW
The demand for flux cored arc welding (FCAW) has grown significantly over the past 10 years. Manufacturers who weld carbon, stainless, low-alloy, and high-alloy steel are turning to this process primarily because: It has a high deposition rate. It can be used to weld in all positions... Read more...
Article
November 20, 2003
High-tech presses
Figure 1 Complex drive system Stampers are looking to achieve higher productivity, better component quality, longer die life, and increased flexibility. While these capabilities are essential to maintaining an edge in today's competitive environment, they come at a price. New... Read more...
Article
November 20, 2003
Handling appliance steel
As appliance manufacturers strive to reduce costs and streamline production processes, additional pressure is placed on coil processing to produce high-quality, surface-sensitive materials. These materials include pre-painted steel products and decorative metals such as stainless steel,... Read more...
Article
October 23, 2003
The importance of storage planning
In its most basic form, a fabricator's storage area must be a secure, dry place of sufficient size to house required items. Location and ambient conditions are the critical factors. Considering the Criteria In today's fast-paced material handling world, fabricators must... Read more...
Article
August 14, 2003
Virtual tryout
In this era of global warp speed and virtual reality, calculating the deep draws of progressive dies or the springback of metal is performed by simulation software instead of the earlier trial-and-error method. These software programs essentially replace the artistic methods of diemaking... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Using inverter technology
Those familiar with inverters usually know they offer size, weight, and portability advantages. They also can improve reliability by overcoming primary power fluctuations, also known as dirty power. Question: Does the weight of the plasma cutter matter? Answer: Yes, because labor... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Taking the heat, keeping the current
A DaimlerChrysler powertrain control module cover/heat sink assembly needed to be thermally conductive yet electrically isolated. The populated circuit board—one with all components in place—had to be bonded to the heat sink and postcured in a vacuum laminating press. The... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
Maximizing a coil fed press
Modern Coil-fed Presses Stamping processes revolve around two basic styles of tooling, transfer and progressive dies. They both require feed-to-length systems but differ in many key areas. Blanking processes could be added but are progressive in nature. Transfer tooling requires material to be... Read more...
Article
July 24, 2003
The business of lasers
From the laser manufacturers' standpoint, the U.S. market for lasers has simply gotten smaller. This is a function of multiple market forces. The slumping manufacturing sector is a major influence, but so is the increased productivity of today's laser systems. At its peak during 1994 and... Read more...
Article
July 10, 2003
Six dangerous misconceptions about crane safety
Nearly every product today has a warning label. In fact, many products have multiple warning labels, lights, and bells. We even have warnings telling us our coffee is hot! It's little wonder, then, that many of us suffer from warning overload and just ignore the warnings. Unfortunately,... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Dealing with internal pressure in free hydraulic bulging
Finite element analysis (FEA) is a numerical process that treats a single item, such as a metal tube, as a large number of small, individual components, or finite elements. It performs calculations on each of the elements and uses the result to predict the deformation behavior... Read more...
Article
June 12, 2003
Looking to the future
The decision to produce cut-to-length steel and blanks at the new plant arose from regional stampers' and other manufacturers' need for these products. Designing a Custom Facility Once committed to building a new plant in the Southeast, Thompson's management began planning the... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Job shop reduces costs, improves laser's output
The Laser Station regulator can be mounted to a secured surface to eliminate movement and potential leakage at the tubing connection.
Such multilevel capabilities enable a customer to reduce the number of vendors it needs, thereby lowering handling and administration... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Spinning your wheels?
Grinding wheels, rocks, stones—what's the difference? Grinding wheels used in welding and fabrication are strong, tough tools, but many in the industry have called them "rocks" or "stones," implying that they're unbreakable. This myth, or misconception, has led people to become... Read more...
Article
May 29, 2003
Article
April 24, 2003
Cutting exotic alloys
But sometimes this common process can be puzzling, especially when the fabricator is cutting titanium or other alloys. Tubing may be cut successfully in one production application, but the next time the result is galling and extremely short blade life. If an operator understands why this... Read more...
Article
February 19, 2002
High-speed feeding techniques
The maximum operating speed of a stamping operation should be limited, in theory, only by the maximum number of strokes per minute (SPM) that the press can achieve. In reality, production speed is limited by other factors as well. For instance:
1. The uncoiler may not unwind... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2001
Keeping pace with today's punching requirements
Figure 1 The punch, die, and stripper's function still is to punch holes that are a specific size and shape into sheet metal in a specific location. The quest for accurately punched holes, top-quality piece parts, and long tool life can be a positive experience when you consider your... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2001
Bending tube with an all-electric machine
In the tube bending industry, all-electric, CNC benders are a fairly new development but are gaining ground. They have been commercially available in Europe since 1995 and in the U.S. since 1998. Most manufacturers now either offer all-electric bending machines or are developing them. On... Read more...
Article
December 13, 2001
The basics of uncoiling
Choosing proper coil handling and processing equipment can improve material handling and jump-start your shop's overall productivity improvement effort. However, before purchasing any one component, you should consider four factors: • Material to be processed • Line speed... Read more...
Article
November 29, 2001
Using existing tooling for new product applications
Figure 1: This design is typical for the last fin pass for low-carbon steel using high-frequency welding. "In turbulent times, one must be innovative or be rendered defenseless." Peter Drucker said these words when addressing the Steel Service Center Institute several years ago, and... Read more...
Article
November 29, 2001
Making the most of the daily grind
The design and production of abrasives have kept pace with other advances in the welding industry, making grinding and finishing products more effective than ever in helping fabricators to lower costs and improve productivity. Grinding equipment and accessories for this industry are available... Read more...
Article
November 29, 2001
Gettin' down with downtime
The pressures of increased competition and the need for stampers to stay competitive affect every aspect of their operations. One of the key ways stampers can create an efficient and cost-effective operation is to reduce downtime on the shop floor. One of the principal causes of downtime... Read more...
Article
November 15, 2001
Article
November 15, 2001
Contract stamper increases die life and draw die productivity
Object Jancox Stampings has remained competitive by investing in link drive mechanical presses from PTC, offering value-added assembly services, and encouraging employee initiatives. The article discusses how the presses work and how reduced speed reduces springback (which allows the company... Read more...
Article
October 25, 2001
Achieving straight-side capabilities in a gap-frame press
Gap, or C-frame, mechanical stamping presses have undergone relatively few fundamental design changes since they were first introduced in the mid-1800s. The basic principle behind their operation, simply stated, is this: Inertial energy stored in a rotating flywheel is converted to a... Read more...
Article
October 25, 2001
Article
October 25, 2001
Article
October 25, 2001
Comparing single-cut and dimple-free tube mill cutoffs
This article covers the application of single-cut and dimple-free cutoff shear technologies as they are applied to contemporary high-speed tube mills. A single-cut die set is a unit composed of an upper shoe and a lower shoe in which a single severing blade and tube supporting jaws are... Read more...
Article
October 11, 2001
Inspecting for and correcting coil reel damage
Object Q. What is the most common type of failure encountered with payoff or take-up reels? A. The most common failure is overload failure, which occurs when the reel is loaded with coils that exceed the OEM's weight rating. Often, this failure is not evident with a catastrophic event... Read more...
Article
September 4, 2001
Exploring complementary cutting methods
Diversification is the linchpin of running a successful business. The key to producing quality work and investing in equipment wisely is knowing which cutting method—laser, plasma, electrical discharge machining, waterjet, or another—to use for a particular application. While... Read more...
Article
September 4, 2001
Robotic arc welding gets smart in real time
Though robots probably are best-known for their ability to accomplish repetitive manufacturing tasks, it's no secret that, by themselves, they are unintelligent and must be told what to do. They are silent, unable to talk over problems with their controller, power sources, the robot in... Read more...
Article
September 4, 2001
Skiving strip edges for tube and pipe producing
Edge treatment of coil strip before it enters a tube and pipe mill, called skiving, is a rapidly advancing technology. Improving the coil edge before it is welded helps increase the quality of the seam join and helps prevent rejected tube or pipe. Traditional Skiving Equipment Edge skiving to... Read more...
Article
September 4, 2001
Standardizing finger tooling
Figure 1: Tooling is mounted to transfer rails by receivers, which provide mechanical, electrical, and pneumatic connections. Improvements in transfer press automation and the availability of used large-bed presses for retrofitting have accelerated the use of transfer presses with... Read more...
Article
August 16, 2001
Article
August 16, 2001
Solving problems on the tube mill
Tube mill operators face a variety of challenges every day in their effort to produce high-quality tubing in a cost-effective and productive way. This article examines some of the typical problems producers encounter, some common causes of these problems, and some ideas for how to solve these... Read more...
Article
July 26, 2001
Article
July 26, 2001
Achieving faster, more efficient tube mill changeovers
A changeover on a tube mill does not mean just changing the tooling. It means changing from running good tube of one size to running good tube of another size. Many machine configurations can speed up a changeover, such as rafted sections, quick-change fasteners, etc. However, fast changeover... Read more...
Article
July 26, 2001
Article
July 26, 2001
Article
July 12, 2001
Not your father's abrasive jet
Figure 1 Object Fifteen or 20 years ago abrasive jet was the technology of last resort for severing difficult materials that could be cut no other way. These units were crude, noisy, and dirty. A nozzle was hung on an X-Y burning table and the resulting tolerances and surface finish were... Read more...
Article
July 12, 2001
Examining the GTAW environment
Possibly the greatest development of the last decade was increased awareness of environmental and health concerns, which in the welding industry has prompted improvements in air quality, ergonomic workstations, and decreased exposure to materials deemed harmful to health. It is important... Read more...
Article
July 12, 2001
The growing use of orbital tube welding
This trend is due partly to orbital welding's capability to make an entrapment-free, permanent connection that is highly resistant to vibration. This makes it a good choice for joints that are not intended to be disassembled in the future. However, the appeal of orbital welding also is due to... Read more...
Article
July 12, 2001
Article
July 12, 2001
Article
June 15, 2001
Article
May 30, 2001
Using a hand-held plasma cutter
Fabricators, contractors, maintenance personnel, artists, and do-it-yourselfers who experience a hand-held air plasma arc cutting machine rarely want to return to oxyacetylene cutting or mechanical cutting processes such as saws, cutoff wheels, shears, and snips. Plasma cutting can improve... Read more...
Article
May 30, 2001
Article
May 30, 2001
Protecting dies against press system faults
Mechanical switches and grounding switches were among the first devices to be used for automated die protection. Early sensing systems based on mechanical switches simply opened the top stop circuit of a press when a fault was detected. These systems, however, offered no protection from faulty... Read more...
Article
May 15, 2001
Article
April 24, 2001
Exploring upgrades in stamping presses
Model Ts are an example of a once-modern mode of transportation that have become a collector's possession and museum lore. Industrialist Henry Ford gave the world access to mobility and freedom to travel; however, vehicles today have improvements that make the formerly innovative Model T an... Read more...
Article
April 10, 2001
8 ways to keep your shear in top shape
Shears are common pieces of fabricating equipment that can be found in many metal forming plants. From tube mills to small fabricators, the shear is one of the most critical and diverse tools used in metal fabricating. Varying in size from small hand-held metal shears and foot-operated trim... Read more...
Article
February 19, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
Designing for successful robotic arc welding automation
This dual robot system uses a large "Ferris Wheel" positioner to give the robots access to the underside of the parts to be welded. Automated robotic arc welding systems are used in all types of manufacturing. They can provide several benefits in certain welding applications. The... Read more...
Article
February 19, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
Article
February 19, 2001
