by Phil Kerner | Jun 19, 2014 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Molds and Dies, Real Manufacturing Experiences, Shop Math
As you all know, every Wednesday night I head over to Deeter's Tool here in Erie to record some more video lessons. While I enjoy it immensely, I have to admit that it can be a long day for me after already working for eight hours plus lugging my video equipment and...
by Phil Kerner | Jun 19, 2014 | Inspection, Members Only: The Tool Room, Real Manufacturing Experiences
A few days ago, I had to machine a part that was pretty hard to check the "old-fashioned" way with gauge blocks and a dial indicator. Yes, it COULD be done that way, but in the end it would take longer to check the part than to actually machine it. That's a big...
by Phil Kerner | May 5, 2014 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Real Manufacturing Experiences, Set-Ups, The Basics - Workholding
Well, now. The folks at work seem to have a recurring theme the last few months: let's give Phil stuff that is twice as big as his machine! You probably already saw my lesson on those giant 42" x 42" frames I machined a few weeks ago. Well, at least these parts were...
by Phil Kerner | Mar 10, 2014 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Real Manufacturing Experiences, Set-Ups
Every single day, I always look at my work and see if there's something I'm doing that I think my members could learn from. Just the other day, I was handed nine of these parts that were turned in a lathe - with NPT threads on each end - and had to turn them into...
by Phil Kerner | Mar 17, 2013 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Real Manufacturing Experiences, The Basics - Measuring, Locating, and Checking Your Work
These days, I find myself using an edge finder a lot more often due to the work I do now. Most of the stuff that comes my way these days is dimensioned from an edge. Back in my moldmaking days, almost everything was dimensioned from the center of my work. Yes, you can...
by Phil Kerner | Mar 10, 2013 | Members Only: The Tool Room, Real Manufacturing Experiences
In this lesson, I'm going to take a small step into helping you to drop your "precision" hat and to help you put on your "production" hat. By now, most of you know that my days are spent between building precision fixtures and running small production runs. Usually, I...
