When a Stamped Spacer Is Just Not Good Enough Once upon a time — more than 20 years ago — a large automobile manufacturing company came up with a great idea for their fuel injection system: They invented a flap that opened and closed like a heart valve, to alternately meter fuel out and seal to keep

There’s No Such Thing as Too Much Information You’ve probably experienced Hardware Superstore Anxiety. It’s what happens the moment you cross the threshold on a Saturday afternoon, broken widget in hand, knowing that if you get an employee’s attention, you’ve got to make the most of the opportun

In our previous post we discussed how a fully complete RFQ tells a story about the buyer, the company, and the end product and its use. Filling out an RFQ is like doing an internet search: The more criteria you put in, the more refined and accurate the results. In Part 2 of our “Decoding the

Controlling Feature Variation in Two vs. Three Dimensions We often get asked about the GD&T features that are called out on engineering drawings — and in this blog, we look at two such features: the profile of a line, the profile of a surface, and how they compare.

Why Non-Standard Size Is Rarely a Cost Saver In the process of sourcing raw materials for small metal parts, customers sometimes ask if they can use a non-standard material size for their parts. The question may come up for any number of reasons. For example: An engineer has specified a non-s

Another Point to Consider When Designing Your Parts In the past, we’ve blogged about some common sourcing problems and how to avoid designing those problems into a part in the first place. It often comes down to tolerances and understanding the impact they have on processes and ultimately, your

How Tungsten Is Unique, from Its Name to Its Melting Point With Metal Cutting’s long history of supplying pure tungsten and manufacturing metal parts from this remarkable material, we’ve developed a special appreciation for the element, its properties, and what it can do. So just for fun, we th

Why High Recrystallization Temperatures Matter in Tungsten, Molybdenum, and Other Wires At Metal Cutting, we often get asked questions about tungsten wire and dopants. Specifically, people ask why tungsten wire is still doped for applications other than incandescent lighting. After all, why get a

Using Copper Tungsten in Die Sinker Electrodes for EDM Dimensionally a far cry from tungsten wire with a diameter of 0.0010” (0.025 mm) is the use of tungsten for die sinker electrodes. Taking the reverse shape, die sinker electrodes need to be dimensionally robust but also machinable with very

Tungsten and Gold-Plated Tungsten Wire as Alternatives to Precious Metals According to research by Evaluate Ltd., annual R&D spending by the global medical technology industry is projected to reach $39 billion by 2024. Innovations in “medtech” can mean anything from creation of new disp

When you think EDM electrode materials, you probably think graphite. Beginning in the early 1950s, when the material first flooded the electrode market, and continuing into today, graphite has been the material of choice for 90% of US-based EDM electrode applications. But what about that other 10%?

Choosing the Best Electrode Material for EDM of Carbides Electrical discharge machining (EDM) of carbides can, quite literally, be a rough business. Determining the right set of parameters for job success can require time, attention, and careful fine tuning. And unless you have an excellent wor

Benefits of Copper Tungsten Properties & Compositions Much of the value of copper tungsten for electrical discharge machining (EDM) electrodes is the result of the unique mechanical and physical properties of the materials. For instance, copper’s high electrical conductivity and the wear resi

Why Use Copper Tungsten for Machining Electrodes? While each machine shop will have its own set of best practices, copper tungsten generally has the machining and grinding characteristics of hard gray cast iron. However, the machining characteristics will vary depending on the composition of the

Industry Trend No. 1: Exporting & Global Trade According to HBCS in 2012, the gap between global and domestic companies has been widening, with global companies earning 13% more revenue on average over the previous five years. In a survey by McGladrey Manufacturing and Distribution Monitor, 60%

Industry Trend No. 2: Manufacturing Globalization & Regionalization With the development of logistic networks that can efficiently deliver raw materials and finished products to many parts of the world, manufacturing has become increasingly global. Being less constrained by borders, manufacturin

Industry Trend No. 3: Rising Labor Costs Overseas It was not too long ago that companies began to embrace the outsourcing of manufacturing operations, all in the name of labor cost competitiveness, carried along by the then-current trends in operations strategy. But times (and business cycles) chang

Will 3D Printing Change “Machining”? How is the fastest growing technological innovation changing machining and the face of contract manufacturing everywhere? Additive manufacturing (AM) is the process of making three-dimensional, solid objects from a digital model. Sometimes referred to

Welding is one of those skills emblematic of the changing manufacturing landscape. That is a polite way of saying it is commonly described as a technique that fewer and fewer Americans have mastered or have any interest in mastering. And while indispensable and crucial when making repairs, or for cu

When welding is done by hand, there are many subtle adjustments that a skilled welder can make to compensate for any variations in the stick electrode. (Kudos to those of you who immediately recognized this image from Flashdance. And kudos to the 80s for encouraging the dual skill set of welding and