Machining.Blog® is a weekly blog focused on manufacturing career development. It features blog articles on the fundamentals of manufacturing for aspiring machinists. Our goal is to create an interest in manufacturing in the USA. Our writer Matthew Schowalter has worked in manufacturing for 24 years, and he covers the topics that matter to someone starting their career in manufacturing.
“The soft skills the machinist uses are the unseen tools in their box and can directly impact the success or failure of a dreamed after machining career.”
A few years ago, I learned about the Cardinal Manufacturing business in Eleva-Strum High School in Wisconsin. I was invited to attend their workshop on how they built their program in their technical education department. It was such an inspiration to hear how engaged the students were and how they were learning solid employability skills.
A cobot can add a lot of value to the manufacturing process in a machine shop. It can increase the productivity of the CNC machine, while also contributing to process accuracy and consistency. Cobots can be easy to program and are safe to use.
There are many terms to know and understand in the machining industry. If you are just getting started in the industry, we have designed this list to better prepare you for the job.
Over the last 5 years, I have been observing the manufacturing industry worker shortage. The drastic change that I have seen over my 24-year career is alarming. While most industries change over time, I believe the changes that are happening to manufacturing are more than that. We are in a worker shortage crisis.
So, you have finished your education, either in high school or post-secondary trade school or both, and you are ready to find that machine shop meant for you. Many people do not take compatibility into consideration when completing their job search, but they should.
During my time operating the Machining Blog business, I have visited a few schools. I noticed one thing that was the same about their programs, and that was their 3D printers were just used to produce trinkets and not mechanical parts. I decided to create a project that could create many learning opportunities from it, and that project was to design and build a mechanical clock. The clock that I designed was based on a mechanical watch design, but I scaled the part size up by six times their actual size. I started the project by reading books on watch design and by taking apart watch movements. I learned along the way and then started designing watch movement parts in Solidworks CAD software. I then purchased a small 3D printer and started printing the parts. Once the gears started to mesh properly, I built a few prototypes along the way. With all my time that I invested in the project, it probably amounted to a couple thousand hours. The result was a clock that is pretty accurate for being printed, not machined.
There are fifteen parameters to be considered when analyzing a new part to be made in a CNC lathe. While this may seem like a lot of considerations, if you examine a part properly you will be successful in its implementation. Here are the parameters to consider and the questions to ask:
Communication and collaboration are important in the manufacturing industry. If we want to grow the industry, we need to keep up on the communication and collaboration. We must Communicate, Collaborate, and Connect and do it on a Consistent basis.
When you ask what machining means to me, I could go on for hours with stories about how I made complex parts on machines that are even more complicated than the parts themselves. Machining is by far more interesting than what most people know. From the challenges of implementing new complex equipment in the shop, to CNC programming, or even making complex parts in one setup. It is a career choice that most do not know how advanced it can be, especially the machining of today. Now, we can make parts in one setup that were once made in many setups on multiple pieces of equipment over a long-time frame. My career is a success story in manufacturing technology as I have embraced the technology of today and here is how I made it happen with six simple steps in career success.
Companies constantly seek ways to optimize production processes, improve efficiency, and maximize equipment investments. Dassault Systèmes, a 3D software pioneer, transforms this through DELMIA’s Factory Automation tools.
When planning a CNC machining process there are many considerations and options to choose. From cutting tool selection to cutting parameters, the choices have a major effect on the end results. Here is what it might take to define a CNC toolpath:
The use of 3D printing for making robotic end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) is a significant advancement in manufacturing. These components are crucial for industrial automation as they help robots boost factory production.
When people hear the term "paperless," they typically associate the elimination of this office resource as an act that helps the environment. And while this is true, adopting a paperless manufacturing solution can do so much more. In addition to promoting a more sustainable business, going paperless can decrease operating costs, enhance productivity and help a shop floor work smarter (and not necessarily harder).
The code to program a G3 counter-clockwise arc on a lathe is: G3X______ Z_______ R_______
I was provided with a few opportunities to talk about my STEM project and my career in several schools. It can be a very rewarding experience to a part of. I never saw myself as a speaker or presenter but with my deep knowledge in the subject, I developed a passion for sharing my experiences in manufacturing.
