September 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #36
Continuous improvement is of necessity in the very DNA of our shops.
Author: Joe Jackson
August 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #35
An improperly defined gage repeatability and reproducibility (R&R) program can drain a company of resources and reduce the effectiveness of the shop. ISO/TS16949:2009 states that variation studies, “shall apply to measurement systems referenced in the control plan.” The purpose of analyzing your measurement system is to understand the sources of variation that can influence the results produced by the system. Here is a suggested approach to applying logic to this requirement.
July 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #34
Everyone will agree that open lines of communication with your customers is key to running a successful business, and nowhere is that more evident than
in setting expectations before a job even begins.
June 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #33
Everything old is new again. Once a staple of the shop, leaded steel was out of fashion as new technologies and applications called for different materials. However, with definite savings in machinability, cutting speed and uptime, it should still be a part of your shop.
May 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #32
The manganese and sulfur content shown on the cert determine the volume fraction of manganese sulfides in the steel.
April 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #31
Unleaded brasses are not necessarily harder to run than leaded brass. They are just different. By recognizing and accommodating for their lack of lead, and the resultant different thermal conductivity, differences in chip forming and the need to up-tool for heavier feeds rather than higher speeds, your shop can be successful at making parts from these newer, more challenging grades.
March 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #30
The ability of a material to deform plastically without fracturing is called ductility. In the materials usually machined in our shops, ductility is measured by determining the percent of elongation and the percent reduction of area on a specimen during a tensile test
January 2015 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #29
The machinability of steel bars is determined by three primary factors. Those factors are:
1. Cold Work
2. Thermal Treatment
3. Chemical Composition
December 2014 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #28
Here are some reasons why you should not even need gloves when working on grinders and grinding machines.
November 2014 | Craftsman’s Cribsheet #27
Providing lockout/tagout devices and ensuring that equipment is capable of being locked out/tagged out are key management responsibilities. Here is a look at the requirement for periodic inspection of your company’s Hazardous Energy Control Program (Lockout/Tagout).