September 2007 Edition

FROM THE SHOP FLOOR

Stocking the Digital Toolbox

While "anything can be a hammer," digital tools such as cameras and other devices, are finding their way onto the shop floor

Open any drawer in a machinist's tool box and find a variety of tools. The tools may be as basic as a hammer or as advanced as a set of digital calipers. Between those are a range of items, some low tech, some high tech. Some do the dirty work and others the precision work. A few unconventional tools make their way around the shop.

Digital cameras have come a long way in the last few years. They're smaller, less expensive, and have higher resolution. An inexpensive digital camera is useful around the shop. They are a tool for documenting setups since, and as the saying goes, "a picture is worth 10,000 words."

A quick picture of a piece in a fixture on a mill, or a tool in a turret on a lathe can say more than any note. On a routine setup of a repeat milling job, a digital picture helps the machinist place his fixture components exactly where they were on the last job, eliminating starting over again with trial and error.

A quick picture of a problem piece, or shipment, can communicate the problem better than a phone call or an e-mail. Recently, in a batch of forgings there was one that was badly warped. As we approached the finish size, we were certain the forging was not going to clean up completely. Two quick pictures communicated this to our customer. He said our clean-up would be acceptable for the application. Without the photo it's unlikely the customer could have made his decision based on a written description.

Picture Protection

Digital imagery protects us against reckless shipping companies. A few pictures of prepared skids before they are loaded on a truck provide the answers to "mysteries" of where the blame lay in damage during shipping. A photo proves to the shipping company that the parts or boxes were properly secured on a quality pallet when they left our warehouse, shortening the process of receiving payment for damages.

Another tool in my digital toolbox is a Personal Digital Assistant — PDA. Functions such as organizing contact information and managing to-do lists, keep me organized. Our lathe foreman uses his to track ongoing tasks. The pocketable PDA is handier than a clipboard and more convenient than bouncing between the shop floor and office to check a PC. PDA software assists with programming and other common tasks around the shop. Programs on a PDA can calculate surface footages, arc centers, and other common tasks without hitting the books to look up formulas.

But, if you have to look something up, Machinery's Handbook is the bible. It's so common among machinists that there is a special drawer for it in toolboxes. But, it too, has come into the digital domain. Along with the classic print edition, the publisher, Industrial Press, also offers the handbook on CD.

The CD contains all the information in the book, but it offers advantages over the on-paper version. To fit the handbook in the drawer, the typeface of the print version is small and the pages are delicately thin.

Many of the more, well, let's call them "experienced" machinists in our shop have a hard time with the handbook's small type. Readers using the digital version can zoom in to enlarge the type as much as they need. There's no worry about someone tearing out the page about buttress threads for "reference." Also, searchability in the digital version is easier, compared to the original handbook's indented chapter marks and tables of contents. A built-in search engine zeroes in to a reference in a fraction of the time spent checking the table of contents, indices, and turning pages.

Better Than Handwriting

There are two alternatives once information is found in the print version: copy the information by hand, or use the copy machine. The former is hindered by penmanship, and the latter by maneuvering the handbook on the copier glass. With the digital version, printing a page is a matter of a few mouse clicks. And, the pages don't go missing when someone removes them for "reference."

Some things in a shop will never change. Machinists will always need hammers, wrenches, and all sorts of measuring tools. Digital tools are finding use, without the need to break the bank. But, like any other tool in the toolbox, if it's not kept secure, it may grow legs and walk away.

Dave is responsible for programming, tool selection, and fixture design for Ansco Machine's 20 CNC machines in Peninsula, OH. He's been working in a machine shop since age 12, starting by drilling holes on a turret lathe and making simple parts on a Bridgeport.

What do you think?
Will the information in this article increase efficiency or save time, money, or effort? Let us know by e-mail from our website at www.ModernApplicationsNews.com or e-mail the editor at pnofel@nelsonpub.com.