Latest Posts
Drilling vs Boring vs Reaming: What’s the Difference?
- July 23, 2019
Drilling, boring and reaming and three common processes performed by manufacturing companies. All three processes involve, to some degree, creating a new hole or modifying an existing hole in a workpiece. While most people are familiar with drilling, though, many are unfamiliar with boring and reaming. In this post, we’re going to break down the
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What Is a Milling Cutter?
- July 20, 2019
A milling cutter is an essential component of a milling machine. As the name suggests, it’s the cutting tool that’s responsible for scraping material out of a workpiece. All milling machines have a cutter. During a typical milling operation, the cutter moves perpendicular to its axis, allowing it to remove material from the workpiece on
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The 4 Steps of High-Pressure Die Casting
- July 19, 2019
Also known as traditional die casting, high-pressure die casting is a metal casting process that involves injecting molten metal — steel, zinc, copper, aluminum, lead, magnesium, etc. — into a three-dimensional mold. The base metal is heated until it achieves a liquid, molten state. It’s then forced into the mold’s cavity, allowing it to take
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5 Fast Facts About Hex Keys
- July 18, 2019
Not all fasteners require the use of a traditional Phillips head screwdriver. Some require other tools to tighten or loosen the fastener. Hex screws, for example, are characterized by a unique hexagonal shape that requires the use of a hex key. Using a hex key, you can easily tighten or loosen a hex screw. Today,
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An Overview of Cryogenic Hardening for Metal
- July 16, 2019
Metals like steel, iron, copper and aluminum are often heat treated to improve their physical properties. When metal is exposed to heat, it undergoes a chemical reaction in which its atoms expand. Normally, heat treatment is performed in conjunction with cooling. After the metal has been heated, it’s rapidly cooled to achieve more desirable properties
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What Is Water Jet Cutting?
- July 12, 2019
There are other ways to cut metal besides using a shear blade. Water jets cutting, for example, refers to the use of a specialized tool that blasts metal — or other hard materials — with a stream of high-pressurized water. Whether it’s aluminum, copper or steel, most metals can be cut using this method. Origins
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