Nowdays, we can talk to our computers…

According to MAKE magazine the science seems to have caught up with the fiction.

ALON’s Transparent Aluminum Stops Bullets…

Original Transparent Aluminum Video

If you ever find yourself in front of a high speed projectile with an inch of ALON’s Transparent Aluminum separating you and the projectile it just might help you-

Buy the T-Shirt!

Buy the T-shirt.

http://blog.makezine.com/2012/01/17/transparent-aluminum/

Slivers are loose or torn segments of steel that have been rolled into the surface of the bar.

Slivers may be caused by bar shearing against a guide or collar, incorrect entry into a closed pass, or a tear due to other mechanical causes. Slivers may also be the result of a billet defect that carries through the hot rolling process.

This is my lab notebook sketch for slivers ‘back in the day…’

Slivers often originate from short rolled out point defects or defects which were not removed by conditioning.

Billet conditioning that results in fins or deep ridges have also been found to cause slivers and should be avoided. Feathering of of deep conditioning edges can help to alleviate their occurrence.

Slivers often appeared on mills operating at higher rolling speeds.

When the frequency and severity of sliver occurrence varies between heats,  grades, or orders, that is a clue that the slivers probably did not originate in the mill.

This is how Slivers present under the microscope. Note decarburization (white appearance.)

Slivers are often mistaken for shearing, scabs, and laps.  We will post about these other defects in the future.

He thought machining would be an interesting job.

Looks like he’s enjoying his work as a CNC machinist.

The point of Right Skills Now was to find a way to match math qualified people with training to get them prepared for entry level CNC operator positions in our industry. After 16 weeks of classroom and hands on machining, Right Skills Now participants get real experience with sponsoring employers.

Brandon shows his coach Shawn Olson that his part is in spec.

Right Skills Now made it possible for Brandon to try his hand at becoming a machinist.

His coach at Permac, Shawn Olson says “Right Skills Now made sure that Brandon had the basics mastered.”

Right Skills Now doesn’t claim to turn people into journeymen machinists overnight.

But in 16 weeks, folks like Brandon are mastering the basics of safe CNC operation and are already helping to produce precision machined products for a wide range of industries.

Unemployed? Underemployed?  Consider getting the RIGHT SKILLS NOW  South Central, Dunwoody.

Employers- do you need people with the RIGHT SKILLS NOW? (Program info pdf)

Right Skills Now can means  Right People Now for your shop.

Ask Brandon. Or Shawn.

Here is my lab notebook entry for a lap back in 1985…

In plain language, a lap is a ‘rolled over condition in a bar where a sharp over fill or fin has been formed and subsequently rolled back into the bar’s surface.’

Photo of a lap from AISI Surface Defects Manual.

An etch of the full section shows what is going on in the mill. Laps were often related to poor section quality on incoming billets, although overfill scratches, conditioning gouges from “chipping” have also been shown to cause laps.

Cross section of steel bar exhibiting laps (white angular linear indications). When two laps are present 180 degrees apart, the depth to which they are folded over can indicate where in the rolling the initial over fill ocurred. White indicates decarburization, which confirms my interpretation that this lapping occurred early in the rolling.

Laps are often confused with slivers, and mill shearing which we shall describe and post soon.

The term ‘lap seam’  is sometimes used, but it is careless usage; it implies the lap is caused by a seam – it is not; a seam is a longitudinally oriented imperfection, and so is used in this mongrel term as a shorthand way of saying ‘longitudinal.’

Modern speakers sometimes try to use the word ‘lamination’ to describe laps but as we will see, not all lamination type imperfections are laps…

The real unemployment problem- an increase of  17.9 million Americans no longer in the workforce since 2000; According to the U.S.Census 49% of Americans live in a home that receives direct monetary benefits from the U.S.Government.

Not the kind of “Change” I like to see.

Looking back at the recessions in the 1960′s, ’70′s, and ’80′s, we see a sharp recovery in employment. No such luck with the last recession.

I have a colleague who sends me crap fallacies like Paul Krugman’s latest unemployment ”it isn’t structural” polemic. My colleague hates  government austerity, loves higher taxes, and loves deficit spending (uhh- he calls it necessary stimulus.)

Mr. Krugman sets up a straw man argument about the ratio of government employment to U.S. population remaining flat to show there is no structural problem. (Conveniently ignoring the fact that government employment growth is at it’s highest level since 1968)

Strawman argument from a Nobel prize winner. Isn’t that something?

That’s what happens- I guess- when you look at U-3 instead of U-6 Unemployment figures.

Let’s look at some less obscure points. How about the ratio of Americans not in the workforce  between 2000-2011 versus the increase in population over the same period?

Population increased over 30 million; folks not in the workforce increased to 17.9 million in the same period.

60%!

That is probably too weak a signal for an economist of Mr. Krugman’s pay grade to acknowledge.

Look at the chart above.

Here are some of the facts  behind that chart:

1. There are 242 million working age Americans
2. Only 142 million of them have jobs
3. Those who aren’t working are depending on the government for their spending
4. There seems to be no employment recovery. (That ‘jobless recovery’ thing.)

Bottom line, added to every other dependency and entitlement program, the unemployment that is “not structural’ according to Mr. Krugman actually brings the number of Americans dependent upon the federal government up to 91 million.

I think that folks would rather have a job.

Our shops have openings for skilled machinists. Our schools have programs to teach machining. Yet there are no applicants.

Dear Mr. Krugman, we do have a  ‘structural’ unemployment, problem, and it isn’t at all what you think.

It is going to be a busy summer for all of our shops making components for automotive applications.

Plenty of parts, plenty of machine adjustments, maybe time at the beach or fishing not so plentiful.

The  summer production boost is consistent with Ford’s plan to increase annual production capacity by 400,000- though the additional week is likely to only increase  vehicle production by 40,000.

Why is this important to your shop?

• If you were planning on taking a shutdown to do major maintenance, you may not be able to schedule the time.
• While Ford has made the announcement, you may not see the demand jump on your latest forecast.
• Now might be a good time to review your barstock inventory, order book, and adjust accordingly.

They can’t make cars without parts… the parts you make!

Cleantechnica photo of technican at Helios inc.

Our sympathies to the family that lost dear old Snappy Nappy…

We are unconvinced that the tortoise has boroughed (or burrowed!) into the soil. We think that he has made his slow but certain escape, carrying along his former owner’s investment with him.

This poster found on a local phone pole raises a different question for us in the precision machining business.

How many “tortoises” are we letting walk out of our shop each day?

Here are a couple of Snappy Tortoises of Cash that might just be slowly making their way (with your money attached!) out the door at your precision machining shop:

Running machines too slow. That’s a tortoise if there ever was one.  Modern materials and coatings are made for higher speeds. You need higher speeds to be successful. In fact, my colleague Bob Drab at Schmolz and Bickenbach gives this advice when running his company’s Ugima brand machinability treated steels: “Faster! Harder! Deeper!” That doesn’t sound like tortoise logic to me…

Compressed air. Compressed air as a tortoise? You bet. Leaks are money slowly walking out the door, every hour that you run your compressor. Speaking about that compressor, just how efficient is it compared to the latest technology?As the prices of utilities continue to escalate, a cost study on your air compressor may wrangle all those compressed air tortoises back into the corral.

Lighting. Utilities are a large expense to our machining businesses. How old is your lighting technology? How far are the lights from where your employees need the illumination? What technology are you using? Your local utility may have grants or rebates to assist you in upgrading your shops’ lighting to more efficient technology.

Tooling. I never met a purchasing agent that didn’t like a bargain. Why buy expensive drills when these cheap jobber drills will do? So thinks the PA’s I had to work with. It’s not the cost of the tool that matters, it is the cost to make each part and how many can be made per shift. Cheap drills do not mean cheaper cost per hole if they fail sooner, require more downtime for adjustment, resharpening, or slower cycle times.

Chasing raw material prices. As long as we are discussing the role of the purchasing agent- increasing the number of suppliers  of raw material increases the variability of the machinability that your shop has to face. Chasing prices to save a buck on raw material makes no sense if you lose hundreds of dollars a day in missed production while your crew struggles to get the job running because the material doesn’t perform the same. Standardizing material supply is the best way to keep machines running consistently.

What tortoise have we missed?

We’ve identified a handful of tortoises who are slowly taking your cash with them on their way out. Can you help us find a few more tortoises? Let’s put them in a box or a basket before they excape again…

If the product never arrives, it’s not a good deal.

According to the Linked In post, they fell victim to a scheme like the one described by Galvamet.

“Swindlers have appeared on the metal market of China.

“The process begins when the swindlers offer their customers at an affordable price. Money is then required to be transferred in advance at the rate of 30% as a prepayment. There is a 70% discount on loading the goods on board the ship and a variety of different tricks to make sure the work is only done when there is prepayment.”

The company identified by the poster was Tianjin Jianghailong Steel Co. Ltd.

If you are a victim of Tianjin Jianghailong Steel Co., Ltd., you should contact the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission Republic of China.

Photo

As Masters of Metals- ahem, machinists- many of us feel that there is no need to buy the expensive store bought items that we can easily cobble together from a few common on hand materials.

Personally the use of the galvanized garbage can doesn’t bother me nearly as much as the possibility of galvanized wire cages being used for grates for fire or grills for food contact.

I’ll pass along the University of Maryland’s  word of caution to avoid zinc  for food contact and high temperature (fire) applications.

While the temperatures involved in smoking foods are far lower than those encountered in welding and metal flame cuttting, the minimal risk of zinc is unneccessary.

The use of galvanized (zinc containing) steel grates – from old refrigerators or chicken cages or galvanized fencing should be avoided for applications actually touching food.

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So if you are determined to make your own Rube Goldberg  food preparation equipment what  metal should you use?

Stainless steel baby! Use Stainless!

National Sanitation Foundation (NSF) recommends stainless steel:

NSF 51 Sect 7.1 Stainless steel

7.1.1 Stainless steel used in food equipment shall be of a type in the AISI 200 series, AISI 300 series, or AISI 400 series.

7.1.2 When used in a food zone, stainless steel shall have a minimum chromium content of 16%.

Stainless steel with a chromium content of less than 16% may be used for cutlery, blades, and similar applications requiring a sharp edge, provided the alloy has been hardened or tempered by an appropriate post-weld heat treatment process.

We don’t know why NSF thinks that the heat treat needed is a post weld heat treatment, (who is welding blades?) The blades may be quench and tempered to develop microstructure and toughness… but we’ll still trust their opinion about the safety aspects.

Now who has a great recipe for a dry rub…

NSF 51 pdf

Garbage can smoker

The phrase "get in on the ground floor" comes to mind...

I found this chart on Global Macro Monitor Blog on WordPress.  They look at it for their purposes. Lets look at it for ours.

I started my manufacturing career in September 1973, near the bottom of the “Nixon Decline.” It wasn’t easy- I had plenty of layoffs- but there was plenty of upside and I went from laborer in a sintering plant through a series of jobs to become, senior plant metallurgist, quality director, plant manager, division director for quality and technology.

Being in the right place at the right time (manufacturing) from 1973 to 1977  allowed me to take advantage of the upside in manufacturing that  gave me the momentum to grow my career.

Looking at the chart above, 2012 looks like the exact same opportunity, only better.

Global Macro Monitor lists some of the factors which influenced the chart above:

1. Strengthening of the dollar during the 1980′s;
2. Globalization;
3. Entry of China and India into the global labor force;
4. The internet;
5. Improved productivity; 
6. Technological innovation; 
7. Demographics and worker preferences;
8. All of the above.

I speak and meet with precision machining company managers and owners daily.

All are looking for people with skills and talent.

All are investing in training for their proven performers.

Our National Technical Conference last week  had over 102 first time attendees.

Twice as many companies offerred internships as there were  students in our first Right Skills Now class.

A comment I received yesterday on Linked In: “I teach Precision Machining and our students are all getting jobs now and the starting pay is getting better… ”

These are some very strong indicators that now is a great time to start a career in manufacturing.

 If you can do the math and solve problems based on your experiences, we’d love to have you in our precision machining industry.

P.S. And even though I characterized it as the “Nixon Decline,” I am not at all holding any president responsible for these.

There are far more important factors at play in this chart than whether or not there is a Donkey or an Elephant in the oval office.

Chart