Regardless of whether you are using a CNC milling machine in which the spindle rotates the cutting tool or a CNC lathe in which the spindle rotates the workpiece, larger CNC machines have multiple spindle ranges. The lower spindle range provides more power, and the higher range provides more s

Siemens and Ingersoll Machine Tools are expanding their decade-long partnership to create digital twins of Ingersoll’s products and expand into new markets. Siemens’ cutting-edge technologies in hardware complement Ingersoll Machine Tools’ successful jo

Three years ago, Vericut software developer CGTech spoke to programmers Don Lahr and Mike Triplett from aerospace and medical job shop Ultra Machining Company (UMC) about their use of Vericut’s OptiPath knowledge-based machining module. The men had recently installed an

ANCA CNC Machines’ annual Tool of the Year competition gives cutting tool manufacturers a chance to build brand recognition and showcase the beauty of performance expected from ANCA machines. The main winner receives $10,000 AUD worth of ANCA parts, accessories or software a

FANUC America and CNC Software, developer of the Mastercam CAM software, have released a new postprocessor designed to optimize five-axis capabilities in FANUC CNC machines. The new postprocessor allows advanced machine tool operators to reduce their cycle times while boosting par

Founded in 1956 in the Detroit metro area, Lincoln Park Boring Co. has a rich history in the automotive, machine tool, transportation and energy industries industries. In recent years, the family owned and operated business has begun been replacing older machines with new ones that can handle

Every CNC operator recognizes the need to get CNC programs into and out of a controller. For a job’s setup to be completed, its program must be in the CNC and ready to run. Once the job is completed, it is equally important to save it to an external device before deleting it, especially

As more and more manufacturers are seeking high-quality contour surface milling capabilities, Tarus Products Inc., a large U.S. machine tool builder based in Detroit, is rising to the challenge. Recently, it has made significant technology investments, spearheaded by its in

Heidenhain Corp. has announced the opening of its new West Coast headquarters in California’s Bay Area. This includes the expansion of its executive, sales and technical support offices, as well as demo facilities in San Jose, California. “We completed this project as part

CNCs execute commands sequentially. When the cycle start button is pressed, the control will execute the program from start to finish, block by block. Most controllers allow the operator to determine the point from which a CNC will begin executing the program. If the program cursor is place

Custom macros provide access to many CNC-related functions through what FANUC calls system variables. This data includes, among others: Input/output signals (communicate with external devices) Offsets (read and write to offset registers) Alarm and message display (generate CNC alarms when

Soft NA from Omron Automation Americas is designed to offer seamless and efficient control and visualization for OEMs and end users seeking better control and visibility of their equipment. The launch is a combination of the Omron IPC and Soft NA. The company says the

I once heard a colleague say, “Safety, ease of use, efficiency: pick two.” It can be difficult to strike a balance among these three productivity-affecting qualities. Anything done to improve one can potentially degrade the others. Efforts to improve efficiency, for example, might

Sandvik has signed an agreement to acquire CGTech, the developers of the CAM-, machine tool manufacturer- and cutting tool-neutral VERICUT machining simulation and optimization software. CGTech will join Sandvik Coromant, a division within Sandvik Machining Solutions. "This is i

There are three ways to create programs that run on CNC machines: manually write them, use a shopfloor-programmed conversational control or use a CAM system. The last is the most popular method of creating programs because almost every company that has CNC machine tools has a CAM sys

Matt Danford, Modern Machine Shop senior editor and writer of our “Data Matters” column, spoke with me about a possible role for artificial intelligence (AI) in machine shops. He sees a path from machine monitoring to machine learning. Today, machining facilities are gathering d

  The Work Cell Operations (WCO) domain for Fastems’ Manufacturing Management Software (MMS) includes manual production tasks, work cells, and standalone machines in the IT-supported planning, control and monitoring of production. The software can be used either separately for m

The Gen 3 version of Heidenhain’s TNC 640 machine control is designed for three- to five-axis milling, turning and grinding operations with up to 24 axes. The CNC’s Gen 3 drives are said to provide higher spindle and axis dynamics while requiring less space in the electrical cabinet,

Sorry, but this is not a normal “CNC Tech Talk” column. I have never felt such a loss for words in over 30 years of contributing to Modern Machine Shop. Ideas have always come easily to me, commonly stemming from some CNC problem I encounter. A question asked and answered often tra

The Acu-Rite 300-series digital readout (DRO), available from Heidenhain, now enables users to control sinker EDM machines in addition to manual milling, turning and grinding machines. The DRO300 can control an EDM by way of Acu-Rite’s EDM software when coupled with an IOB 610 interfa