Technical articles
Here we collect the questions we meet most often on the shop floor, and practical notes that help when you are preparing a part. All of it comes from experience on our own machines.
How to create a CMM measurement program
From loading the CAD to saving the session: alignment, best-fit, paths and tolerances.
How to make a 3-2-1 alignment on a CMM
Three points for a plane, two for a line, one for the origin — what happens at the machine, and the mistake that catches people out.
Why tolerances do not hold in CNC
Temperature, tool wear, deflection, residual stress, workholding and measurement — six causes, with numbers.
STEP or IGES? How to send your part file
Which format to send, why IGES carries risk, why a part cannot be machined from STL, and why a 2D drawing is still needed.
Datums on a drawing: what they are and how to choose them
Datum versus datum feature, the 3-2-1 rule, and why A|B|C and A|C|B give different measured results.
Surface roughness Ra: which value belongs on your drawing?
Ra versus Rz, the N grades, which Ra each process can hold, and why the measurement depends on the cut-off length.
ISO 2768 general tolerances: which class belongs on your drawing?
Verified ISO 2768-1 and ISO 2768-2 tables, and how tolerance changes both the inspection method and the price.
How to read a CMM inspection report
What the nominal, actual and deviation columns tell you, what GD&T symbols mean, and when to ask for a report.
How to get a CNC machining quote and what drives the price
What a quote needs, what really drives the number, and which design decisions raise cost for no benefit.
What is Swiss-type turning and how does it differ from conventional turning?
When to choose a sliding headstock lathe and when not to: a practical guide based on diameter, length-to-diameter ratio and quantity.
Send us your technical drawing and quantity; we will prepare your quote with a manufacturability review.
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