• Surface Coatings for Draw Steels—You May Not Need Them, by Peter Ulintz

“Before applying a surface coating to your next problematic tool, verify that you have the appropriate punch-to-die clearance for the amount of material thickening that is occurring. Properly heattreat and polish the die components as though a surface coating will be applied. Then return the prepared die section to service without a surface coating and document the results. You may be surprised.”

• Job Tracking and Quoting Systems—A Deeper Look, by Bob Quinn

“There is no off-the-shelf tracking system that can accurately quote, project or estimate costs, or develop schedules to match your shop without some level of tweaking. But neither the quoting system nor the tracking/scheduling system will be accurate unless the shop provides it with data from its real-world applications, tuning the system to its unique circumstances. Every operation you track should have a matching line item in the quoting system.”

• Part Measurement on the Fly, by Drew Stevens

“Using a digital sensor to error-proof a feature is easy enough—if the feature falls within the sensing range, it’s within the print tolerance. Using an analog signal is a bit different. The idea is to determine how far the form deviates from a perfect right-angle bend, and if that deviation is acceptable.”

• Here’s How We Got Here. Spread the Message!, by Joe Brown

“America, I love you dearly. But I’m tired of you cheating on me time and time again. And now you’re giving out your phone number? You allow your foreign partners to levy heavy tariffs on American imports while you have become a red-light district of the manufacturing industry. Consider this: While Korea restricts the import of American automobiles with an eight percent tariff, we levy a paltry two percent tariff on Korean imports. This is in addition to several nontariff barriers used to restrict U.S. access to foreign markets.”

Technologies: Tooling

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