Machine Tools

The Old Timer Part 17: Penniless Project Recycles Rejected Components

Mon, 01 Apr 2013 13:23:00 +0000

The Old Timer of Royal Oak, Mich., was a regular contributor to H&P years before we ever even heard of the internet. But most of his advice is just as useful — and interesting — today.

So rather than leave his wisdom printed on pages archived in our storage room, I pulled out issues from the late 1980s and early 1990s and have been reproducing relevant entries in this blog. Here is my 17th entry, which was originally published in the May 1989 issue:

The Hitch Post

German machine tool production headed back to record levels

Thu, 21 Feb 2013 21:32:00 +0000

Good news came out of Germany yesterday, with the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders Association) saying that it expects a modest increase in production output of 1% during 2013. This follows two years of substantial growth, says Martin Kapp, Chairman of the VDW. “This means the sector will be back to its previous high from 2008,” Kapp said in a press conference.

Fluid Power Talk

The Old Timer of Royal Oak, Mich., Part 1

Fri, 07 Dec 2012 19:01:00 +0000

When I began my career with H&P more than 25 years ago, a regular contributor to the magazine was The Old Timer from Royal Oak. This gentleman submitted regular contributions for about five years.

The Old Timer always wanted to be kept anonymous because he wrote about situations his employer might've had problems with. I still don't know who the Old Timer was because his contributions were edited by then-editor Dick Schneider, who doesn't remember.

The Hitch Post

Presentations from the Motion, Drives and Automation Conference at IMTS

Tue, 09 Oct 2012 19:45:00 +0000

The first annual Motion, Drives and Automation Conference — Hydraulics in Automation — at IMTS 2012 was held September 10 and 11, 2012, sponsored by Hydraulics & Pneumatics, as part of Penton Media's Design Engineering Group and the National Fluid Power Association.

The following presentations are available for reading from the event:

Topics will include machine efficiency, noise and vibration, predictive maintenance, closed-loop control, and software and simulation tools for effective system design.

An easier fit for clevis pins

Thu, 09 Aug 2012 13:54:00 +0000

It's a given that when you need to transmit tremendous forces for excavators and other types of heavy equipment, hydraulics is the only way to go. And although transmitting cylinder force to the machine's structure may not be a "hydraulics" problem a practical solution must be found to avoid premature bearing failure and other problems.

DECCO® Celebrates 100 Years of Quality and Service

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Detroit Coil Company (DECCO^®), which recently joined the ROSS family, is proudly celebrating its 100 year anniversary in 2012.

Telescopic handler is showcase of valves

Wed, 11 Jul 2012 15:32:00 +0000

Depending on the attachment mounted to the end of its boom, the telescopic handler (telehandler) is used as an all-terrain forklift, crane, aerial work platform, or even an excavator. Its strength and agility have made it essential for most large construction projects. More recently, it has gained a foothold in materials handling. A pair of pallet forks is the most common attachment for a telehandler, and the most common application is moving loads to and from places inaccessible to a conventional forklift.

Clean and quiet with air amplifiers

Fri, 08 Jun 2012 16:58:00 +0000

When air, vapors, or light materials must be moved easily and inexpensively, air amplifiers provide a simple solution. These devices use the Coanda effect — the tendency of a fluid stream to be attracted to a nearby surface — to create air motion in their surroundings. Using a small amount of compressed air as their power source, air amplifiers pull in large volumes of surrounding air to produce high-volume, high-velocity outlet flows up to 25 times their consumption rate.

Machine builder goes nuts with hydraulics

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:53:00 +0000

Hydraulic nuts hold forging press together

When you have to tighten a nut on a stud that's more than 2 ft in diameter, you don't use a wrench, you use hydraulics.

Cylinder packs a punch for energy savings

Tue, 13 Dec 2011 05:00:00 +0000

Aa new, ready-to-install punching cylinder axis promises maximum performance while lowering energy consumption. When pursuing development work targeted on high-efficiency punching cylinder axes, Bosch Rexroth specialists first analyzed the ...