Turning Tool helps locate micro-boring bars in holder

Genevieve Swiss Industries, Inc, national distributor and marketer of UTILIS® Swiss Type turning tools has introduced Multidec MICRO-BORE system that makes locating micro boring bars in the holder simple and easy for quicker micro-boring bar changes. The uniquely designed boring bar incorporates an angled back that locates the bar less than .0004" against a positive location pin in the bar holder. By simply hand tightening a fine pitch threaded knurled nut applies the force needed against boring bar snap ring.

No wrenches are needed, significantly limiting micro-boring bar breakage from slipping wrenches in tight tooling areas. The boring bar necks feature a multi-faceted surface for reduced harmonics, resulting in improved surface finishes and contributing to longer insert life. Ideal for small parts precision machining, especially medical applications, the MICRO-BORE system provides high quality internal machining operations including chamfering, spotting, threading, I.D. grooving and internal profiling. The solid carbide MICRO-BORE bars range in size from 1mm to 8mm. In addition, every boring bar and holder has thru-coolant capability. Different coatings are available to suit application requirements.

Plasma Cutting Machine

The new EdgeMax takes up less space while retaining the well-known quality of its larger cousin the MetalMaster Plus. This unitized plasma based machine enhances MG's Edge series which includes the gantry style EdgeMate and EdgeMaster plasma and oxyfuel cutting systems. The EdgeMax is suited to various fabrication markets for HVAC, general fabrication and precision plasma cutting with three basic models, the H, G and P.

The H is designed for the HVAC, blowpipe, and OEM shops. While the G is for general fabrication shops and the P is for precision plasma only. Each EdgeMax model sports a rugged unitized steel table/frame, full capture bearing assemblies and a low-mass aluminum beam driven by dual brushless AC motors. This provides fast acceleration, precise motion and very stable cutting. With all of these models, plus options, the EdgeMax can be tailored to a shop's specific needs.

The best part of the EdgeMax's unitized design is installation. It's easy and quick. The exhaust table, frame, and Global S control arrive on a truck ready to go. Move it into place, level it, hook it up to gases and start cutting.

With the Global S CNC control, novice operators will become experts. The user-friendly controls with the familiar Windows® operating system will make anyone a master of the machine. The Global S control is specifically engineered by MG to maximize the machine's performance.

MG Systems also provides excellent service, training and preventative maintenance programs with all of its machines. With the push of a button on the Global Control display, MG's Virtual Service team can assist new operators via the Internet. It will pay for itself in the first few weeks by quickly providing guidance. Virtual Service also offers troubleshooting and software upgrades. The Global Control, with Virtual Service, will grow with regular upgrades to meet the changing demands of the cutting industry. MG also has trained professional service people should the need arise.

The new EdgeMax will be a welcome addition for its ease of operation and the dramatic improvement to a shop's productivity. It's a very rugged machine at an affordable price.

Gleason Introduces Opti-Cut Gear Cutting Tools

Gleason Corporation today announced the introduction of Opti-CutTM, a new family of cutting tools for gashing, shaping, and hobbing of gears. Employing the latest in replaceable, indexable insert technology, the new line is targeted for larger gears, particularly for the wind energy, truck, tractor, and power generation markets. Opti-Cut is being offered through a cooperative venture with Ingersoll Cutting Tools Company, one of the world's leading suppliers of metal removal tooling and a pioneer in the development of indexable carbide cutting tools.

The entire line of Opti-Cut tools is designed to operate on customers' existing equipment and is available for internal or external Rough or Finish Gashing, as well as Shaping and Hobbing. The replaceable indexable inserts offer a number of distinct advantages in production, including more efficient cutting action with higher feeds and speeds, lower cost per work piece, and optimized machine power consumption. In addition, tool life, surface finish, and part accuracy are more consistent. The time and expense of resharpening solid tools is eliminated, and cutting tool inventory is dramatically reduced.

Robert Phillips, Senior Vice President of Gleason's Tooling Products Group, "Gleason is the world leader in the production and sale of hobbing and shaping machines for larger module gears. Our new line of OptiCut cutting tools perfectly complement our technologically advanced machine products by extending our capabilities to provide a complete solution to our customers' gear processing needs in this industry segment."

Opti-Cut tools will be exhibited at EMO in Hannover, Germany, September 17-22, and at AGMA's Gear Expo in Detroit, USA, October 7-10

Automation Software offers distributed control functions

Latest Version of Opto 22's Automation Software Suite Offers New Distributed Control Functions and Support for Newly Released SNAP PACs, Brains, and I/O

Opto 22, a developer and manufacturer of hardware and software for industrial automation, remote monitoring, and data acquisition projects, has announced the release of PAC Project(TM) version 8.1, the company's flagship automation software suite that includes control programming, HMI development, OPC connectivity, and enterprise database integration. This latest version features new distributed control functions and support for several new hardware offerings.

The new PAC Project 8.1-part of Opto 22's SNAP PAC System-is unique among PAC-based control systems because it offers an architecture where control functions like analog scaling, digital counting, and PID loop control are distributed to local I/O processors. This architecture simplifies programming, increases control system performance, and reduces single points of failure, while helping control system designers address the needs of modern automation applications. The new functions add to the already extensive list of distributed I/O commands within PAC Control(TM)-the control programming component of PAC Project-in an architecture that offers the features and functionality of a traditional Distributed Control System (DCS) at a fraction of the cost and complexity.

New functions for PAC Project 8.1's PAC Control include:
- Frequency measurement-for determining the frequency of digital states and often used to read the speed of rotating machinery, velocity encoders, etc.
- Period measurement- for determining how long a digital point remains on or off, which is useful for measuring the period of a slow shaft rotation, for example.
- Analog totalization-for sampling and totaling analog input readings at predetermined intervals; frequently used to record flow totals in pipelines.
- Digital totalization-for determining the total on-time or off-time of a digital input; commonly used to record machinery on-time for maintenance purposes.

These functions augment existing SNAP PAC System distributed I/O functions such as digital counting, latching, analog clamping, alarming, event reactions, pulse and waveform generation, and analog ramping. Moreover, all of these commands execute at the I/O brain level-off-loading these time-sensitive tasks from the programmable automation controller (PAC) and significantly reducing I/O network traffic.

All control functions are defined, configured, and implemented using intuitive, form-based dialog boxes within PAC Control's integrated development environment (IDE), and then distributed to corresponding I/O brains automatically during program download.

PAC Project 8.1 also offers significant upgrades to the included HMI development and runtime portion-PAC Display.
- A new security feature provides user login and logout for capturing operator actions during runtime (an important consideration for companies that must comply with U.S. FDA 21 CFR Part 11 guidelines).
- New runtime features reveal the origins of controller and I/O data, improving development and commissioning of new HMI screens.
- New multimedia alarming capabilities associate and play unique sound files with individual alarm notifications and acknowledgements.
- Support for 64-bit integer tables allows the exchange of large data arrays with the PAC controller.

PAC Project 8.1 also supports Opto 22's latest control hardware: new SNAP PAC Serial I/O brains (the SNAP-PAC-SB1 and SNAP-PAC-SB2); a new standalone programmable automation controller (SNAP-PAC-S2); and new 8-channel analog input modules (SNAP-AIV-8, SNAP-AIMA-8, and SNAP-AICTD-8). Details of these recent hardware releases are covered separately.

Also new is support for concurrent serial and Ethernet I/O networking. All PAC Project commands and functions apply equally to SNAP PAC Serial and SNAP PAC Ethernet I/O brains, reducing system design and development time. For example, a single motor control routine or HMI screen can be developed using either serial- or Ethernet-based I/O, eliminating the need to choose a network before application development begins.

PAC Project 8.1's affordability and multitude of features make the software suite a powerful, easy to use, and economical choice for customers looking to design control, monitoring, data acquisition, and other industrial applications that require discrete control, sequential control, batch and continuous control, motion control, third-party device communications, PID loop control, and more.

PAC Project Basic is free for download or with purchase of any SNAP PAC controller. It includes control programming, configuration, and human-machine interface (HMI) development tools, backed by free training and free product support. PAC Project 8.1 Professional is available at a list price of $999 USD and adds features and functionality for Opto 22 legacy hardware, plus an OPC server and the ability to exchange data with enterprise databases.

The individual PAC Project Professional software components, PAC Control Professional, PAC Display Professional, OptoOPCServer, and OptoDataLink, are also available separately at a list price of $399 USD each.

About PAC Project
The full roster of PAC Project components:
- PAC Control-an intuitive flowchart and scripting control programming software for developing control strategies that run on SNAP PAC controllers, and ideal for sequential control, batch and process control, motion control, complex math, conditional branching, string handling, subroutines, PID loop control, and more.
- PAC Display-a Microsoft® Windows®-based human-machine interface (HMI) development application used to create graphical interfaces that mimic a process. Support for alarm management, recipe handling, operator logging, real-time and historical trending, multimedia, and unlimited tags puts PAC Display on par with competing HMI development applications costing thousands of dollars more per seat.
- PAC Manager-a configuration and maintenance tool used to inspect and view control strategy variables and I/O data in real time.
- OptoOPCServer(TM) (included with PAC Project Professional or available separately)-an OLE for Process Control (OPC) 2.0-compliant server used to consolidate and publish SNAP PAC System data to OPC-aware clients, including third-party HMIs such as Wonderware's InTouch®, Intellution's iFix®, and Iconic's Genesis®.
- OptoDataLink(TM) (included with PAC Project Professional or available separately)-connectivity software used to enable bidirectional data transfer between the SNAP PAC System and enterprise databases-such as Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, and MySQL-without brokering the data through an HMI.

Welding Alloys deliver crevice corrosion resistance

Arcos Industries, LLC has introduced the bare wire and covered electrode versions of Arcos C-22, which are primarily used to weld nickel-chromium-molybdenum to itself, to steel, to other nickel-base alloys and for cladding steel with NiCrMo weld metal.

Arcos C-22 (ERNiCrMo-10) bare wire and Arcos C-22 (ENiCrMo-10) covered electrode offer good pitting and crevice corrosion resistance and are excellent dissimilar welding alloys.

Both Arcos C-22 alloys are designed for welding a broad range of industrial applications such as petroleum, chemical and power generation plants as well as offshore and marine facilities.