b'Training for Tomorrow with a $1 shim after engineers spentfabled activity that only very expe-a week looking at the machine. riencedthat is, oldtoolmak-We risk losing our ever-shrinkingers and machinists have completed.finishes and bad part geometrieseconomic advantage to the compe- We quickly are losing our skilled are early warning signs that conven- tition as well. Travel to Europe andmachinists and toolmakers to retire-tional machinists have learned to re- Asia, and you will find apprentice- ment, yet we have not effectively spect after countless hours in frontships where students learn the craftpassed their skills to the next gener-of conventional machines. in traditional ways. I recently visitedation. Our schools are too focused Skills learned on conventionala machine tool builder in Germany.on building manufacturing technol-machines also have direct applica- Inside the shop was a classroomogy centers with computer-based tion to more obscure processes.with about 20 students learning toequipment and babbling about For instance, broaching is a com- be machinists. They were squaringthe Internet of Things because it is mon method for producing radialblocks of steel armed merely withthe latest fad. Our student machin-blade slots in large gas turbinefiles. In the United States, this is aists and engineers need to stand discs. Everything about these ma- in front of conventional machines chines and their parts is expensive,and make chips. Students must be and broaching is usually the lastchallenged by difficult geometries major machining operation on discabout the authorand deprived of computer-based forgings that can cost hundreds ofChristopher Tateproblem-solving before being in-thousands of dollars. So problemsis manufacturingtroduced to computer-based man-with broaching can be super-ex- engineering man- ufacturing. Sure, we can survive pensive. Just like the example ofager at Unifiedwith only CNC machines. But cre-the rotary table, I watched an expe- Brands Inc. inative, elegant, simple solutions to rienced conventional machinist fix aVicksburg, Mis- machining problems will begin to sissippi. Contact serious problem on a $250,000 dischim at [email protected]. disappear.CTEMersen_HiTechAd_HalfPgCTE2_20.qxp_Layout 11/13/208:43 AMPage 1Trust DS4 Ultra-FineEDM Graphite forYour Toughest Jobs The intricate EDM electrodes required to produce our audiospeaker grills take 7+ days of machining and 30+ hours of EDM burning. We needed a graphite we can trust to withstandthis demanding application. We switched to MersensDS4 ultra-fine EDM graphite a few years ago and its beenthe best performing graphite weve used. With the DS4 materialwe have also seen significant savings per electrode. Eric JacobsenHi-Tech Mold & EngineeringDS4 Delivers: Excellent surface finish Exceptionally strongIntricate detail Saves significant money Easy to machineAsk your EDM distributor for DS4!edm.mersen.com Made in U.S.A. Shaping the future of EDMctemag.com/cteguide.com49Training.indd 49 8/15/23 2:35 PM'