Vertical Machining Centers: Two Important Options to Look For When Buying Walk into almost any machine shop and you’re sure to see a line of vertical machining centers (VMCs). You'll probably find that all of them have similar travels, similar controls, and similar features, regardless of the machine logo or paint color. Does that mean, then, [...]
5 Years and Millions of Parts with the KVR Machining Center Millions of parts later, the management team at this manufacturing company remain quite happy with their machine tool decision Being a Tier III supplier to automotive and appliance OEMs is high-volume, extremely competitive work, where success depends in large part on fast, accurate, and [...]
A Productive Journey Wisconsin job shop expands its small part capabilities with a new CNC machining center from Kent USA Every shop faces the same situation at one point or another. The machine tools are either too large and slow to be competitive on smaller parts, or too small and underpowered for the larger ones. [...]
Traveling Column Machines: Three Ways Additional Travel Improves Productivity I’ve always been intrigued by traveling column machines. That's because a vertical machining center able to mill both ends of a sleeper sofa or carry parts that weigh more than the recently-resurrected Ford Ranger (there’s a yellow 2003 in my driveway) raises a lot of possibilities. This [...]
Four Things Job Shops Should Know When Searching for the Best Vertical Machining Center VMCs are the workhorses of any job shop. They’re able to machine a huge variety of parts. The tooling is widely available, as are machine operators. VMCs are also less expensive than a comparably-sized horizontal or five-axis machining center. Finding the best [...]
Quick-Change Tooling: Four Off-the-Shelf Solutions to Cut Downtime on CNC Machine Tools Spending a few hours or even an entire shift setting up a CNC machine tool was once considered no big deal. Not anymore. With job quantities dropping and shops under increased pressure to reduce costs, setup time is critical. Of all the continuous improvement [...]
High-Speed Machining: Four Ways to Increase Productivity and Cut Costs Hogging with a high-speed steel corncob cutter was once considered the best way to remove lots of material quickly. No longer. The techniques that work well on a manual knee mill have no place on CNC machining centers. Instead, machinists should apply lighter radial depths of [...]
Machining Center Selection: Three Things to Know Let's face it: if you're shopping for a CNC machining center, there are a number of good choices out there. And just like picking out your next car or a vacation home, there’s a lot to consider before buying one. Kent CNC recognizes this. We encourage our customers to [...]
Keep Cool: 5 Things You Should Know About High-Pressure Coolant Systems If you’ve purchased a new end mill or slotting cutter lately, chances are good that it’s riddled with coolant holes. There’s an excellent reason for this. Unless you’re machining gray cast iron, high-carbon or hardened steels, or using ceramic cutting tools—cutting dry, in other words—you’ll [...]
Five Tips for Keeping Cutting Fluids in Tip-Top Shape Nobody likes a stinky machine tool. When cutting fluids are poorly maintained, anaerobic bacteria blossoms, feeding on the way lube and other unavoidable contaminants that collect within any machine sump. This is why Kent CNC’s KVR-series vertical machining centers are equipped with automatic coolant tank skimmers and [...]
