HIGH PRECISION MACHINING CENTRES
MACHINING
I was reminded of this recently when I was in a dialogue with a prospective client who wanted a particular micro machined end product. Over the course of a couple of weeks, this person divulged (drip-fed) certain bits of information and it became slowly evident that what was required was extremely challenging, to the say the least, if not downright unachievable. Then, finally, I was shown a picture of a desired result which, I was told, had been directly produced using a laser. This is where my feeling from Gravity surfaced again: ‘how did they do that’ indeed. I was very impressed with the result while at the same time being slightly sceptical that such a stupendous part could be produced as claimed. When I said as much to the enquirer and told them that I didn’t think that we could match that result, it came out that the part had not actually been machined just with a laser but had also been post-treated in a variety of processes after laser machining. This cast a completely different light on our discussion and I was then able to guide the dialogue along a far more practical — and realistically achievable — line.
This episode highlighted something which is worthwhile to remember, especially in our fast- moving fields of high-tech manufacturing: understanding the basics of a technology, even appreciating a tiny amount of it, can be highly rewarding, not simply for its own sake but for getting the best out of any interaction. A little knowledge is said to be a dangerous thing and this might be true if you want to take up brain surgery. However, when discussing manufacturing issues, appreciation of a process or knowing its limitations can pay great dividends if it helps in spotting something which is not quite right. Sandra Bullock’s spacesuit may not be the only thing which is not real.
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15 | commercial micro manufacturing international Vol 7 No.2
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