I graduated; now I am an engineer!?!
In my previous columns, I tried to connect real-world experiences with concepts of gearing in order to entertain and educate you, the reader. In...
Q&A with James Richards
What’s a typical day like for you at James Engineering?
I usually get up and get in here a couple of hours ahead of everyone,...
Back to basics: Austempering and its advantages
In the previous articles, we discussed the processes of quench and temp, and martempering. In quench and tempering, the part is heated to the...
Back to basics: Martempering to reduce distortion
In the previous article, we discussed the principle of quench and temper, which is arguably the most common type of steel heat-treating. In this...
Q&A with Don Ortmann
What’s a typical day like for you at Iosso?
I oversee the production of different departments. We have two departments: One is a production department...
Achieving zero-backlash worm-gear pairs
Life is full of opposing views. If you are heading to the beach, then you want to have the “perfect” beach body. This requires...
Back to basics: Quenching, tempering as heat treatments
This article describes the most common type of heat treatment of steel. This includes austenitizing, quenching, and tempering. In this process, the part is...
Q&A with David Jones
How long have you been involved with Emuge precision workholding products?
I have worked at Emuge Corp. in the precision workholding group since 1997 and...
Standards in terminology for gearing
LOL, BRB, and LMAO are some of the terms that you might text to your teenager if you want to seem cool with their...
Q&A with Matthias Reimann
What are your duties at SONA BLW?
I have been with SONA BLW and its predecessor for more than 15 years in various functions. I...
Parallelism, perpendicularity, and misalignment
Sometime around your 12th birthday, the trip to the dentist resulted in a discussion about the misalignment of your teeth and the need to...
Magnetic particle testing and evaluation of AMS AQ test samples
Aircraft quality (AQ) testing of steels per AMS 2300, 2301, 2303, and 2304 requires specialized sampling and specimen preparation prior to final evaluation using...
Getting back to basics with tempering
Once a part has been quenched, it must be tempered. This accomplishes two things: First, it relieves the thermal and transformational stresses from quenching....
Understanding the different types of heat treating
In the last article, we discussed many different types of annealing, and the reduction of distortion by application of stress relief annealing. In this...
Q&A with Mike Finn
What are your responsibilities with Mazak?
I work in applications engineering. We work with customers to basically size a machine or select a machine appropriate...
Clever sampling techniques highlight AMS aircraft quality testing
In this edition of Materials Matter, we review the sampling and test piece production required for the AMS aircraft quality (AQ) testing methods specified...
Heat-treating gears improves surface durability
A common question asked of gear manufacturers by their potential customer is, “Is this gear strong enough for my application?” Without qualifiers, this question...
Q&A with Mary Ellen Doran
Your position is fairly new. What happened in the industry to move the creation of that position forward?
It was a board directive as part...
When someone gives you the shaft
Did you ever have someone “give you the shaft”? This insult is defined as ignoring or putting someone down. In gearing, giving you the...
AQ (aircraft quality) testing requirements
Much has been written about the critical nature of steel cleanliness as it relates to the performance of highly stressed, cyclically loaded gear components....
