GD&T in Mechanical Design: The Language of Fit
GD&T in Mechanical Design: The Language of Fit A drawing without tolerances is a wish. The part is machined, the holes are drilled, the surfaces are cut, and the assembler discovers that the parts do…
Rapid Prototyping for Mechanical Design Teams
Rapid Prototyping for Mechanical Design Teams The prototype used to be the expensive proof at the end of the project. Now it is the cheap question at the beginning. The machine builder who prints, machines,…
Custom Machine Design from Specification to Handover
Custom Machine Design from Specification to Handover A custom machine starts with a vague sentence and ends with a running machine in a customer plant. Between those two points, most projects lose time not on…
Standard Parts and Design Reuse: The Quiet Productivity Lever
Standard Parts and Design Reuse: The Quiet Productivity Lever Every machine shop has a drawer full of special parts that could have been standard parts. The special bracket, the custom plate, the one-off hinge each…
Assembly Modeling That Survives the First Prototype
Assembly Modeling That Survives the First Prototype A 3D assembly that looks perfect on the screen falls apart in two ways. The first way is mechanical: the parts do not fit when they arrive. The…
Finite Element Analysis for Machine Builders: When It Helps and When It Lies
Finite Element Analysis for Machine Builders: When It Helps and When It Lies Finite element analysis looks impressive on a screen, but a mesh is not the truth and a color plot is not a…
CAD Data Exchange That Does Not Destroy Your Geometry
CAD Data Exchange That Does Not Destroy Your Geometry CAD Data Exchange That Does Not Destroy Your Geometry CAD data exchange is the silent tax on every multi-vendor machine project. The STEP file looks fine…
Motor Sizing for Machine Builders: Torque, Inertia, and the Duty Cycle
Motor Sizing for Machine Builders: Torque, Inertia, and the Duty Cycle Motor Sizing for Machine Builders: Torque, Inertia, and the Duty Cycle Motor sizing looks like a catalog exercise, and that is exactly why so…
Tolerancing Strategy for Machines That Must Fit Together
Tolerancing Strategy for Machines That Must Fit Together Tolerancing Strategy for Machines That Must Fit Together Tolerance is where mechanical design stops being art and becomes accounting. The drawing says 0.05 mm, and the shop…
Design Reviews That Actually Find Problems
Design Reviews That Actually Find Problems Design Reviews That Actually Find Problems Every engineering department runs design reviews, and most of them are ceremonial. The drawings get flipped through, the schedule gets discussed, and the…
Fastener Selection for Machines That Vibrate
Fastener Selection for Machines That Vibrate Fastener Selection for Machines That Vibrate Machine fasteners have one job, and it is not to hold parts together. It is to hold them together under vibration, thermal cycling,…
Linear Guides and Ball Screws: Sizing Them Like a Machine Builder
Linear Guides and Ball Screws: Sizing Them Like a Machine Builder Linear Guides and Ball Screws: Sizing Them Like a Machine Builder Linear motion components are sold like commodities, and they are sized like commodities,…
Sheet Metal Enclosures That Survive the Factory Floor
Sheet Metal Enclosures That Survive the Factory Floor Sheet Metal Enclosures That Survive the Factory Floor Sheet metal fabrication looks easy on paper, and that is exactly why so many enclosures come back from the…
Pneumatic Cylinder Sizing That Survives Real Shop Air
Pneumatic Cylinder Sizing That Survives Real Shop Air Pneumatic Cylinder Sizing That Survives Real Shop Air Every design office has a favorite pneumatic cylinder catalog and a default bore size. The default is usually too…
Welded Frames That Stay Straight: Design Rules for Fabricated Machine Structures
Welded Frames That Stay Straight: Design Rules for Fabricated Machine Structures Welded Frames That Stay Straight: Design Rules for Fabricated Machine Structures Every shop has a story about a welded frame that looked perfect on…
