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The Cutting Edge™ - September 2004

IWF 2004 Recap

WMMA Congratulates Four Challengers Award Winners

Seven companies were recognized for technological innovation in the Challengers Distinguished Achievement Awards presented during a ceremony held Thursday, August 26^th, and four of them were WMMA® members.

The seven companies' products were selected from a group of 20 finalists. A total of 118 products were entered in the biennial competition.

Congratulations to the WMMA® members who were winners:

Accu-Systems Inc's MMTJ, a single-sided CNC machine for doing miter, mortise and tenon work. The combination machine's V-shaped tabletop allows machining of two parts at once.
All referencing is done off one edge for accurate joints. A computer controls the X, Y and Z axes, as well as the size of the mortise and tenon. Programs are stored and recalled as needed.

Binks DeVillbiss/ITW Industrial Finishing's VTX spray gun. It employs Jet Impingement Automation to supply NGR wood finishing stains and improve pattern coating uniformity and color consistency while reducing mottling and haloing. The VTX accommodates a three-stage process that hydraulically pre-atomizes the stain, creating a vortex, forms a hollow fluid bulb and finely atomizes the stain with an air cap and baffle combination.

Mereen-Johnson Machine Co.'s CamLock system. It utilizes the natural occurrence of centrifugal force generated by the rotation of the ripsaw arbor to lock the saw blades into their desired position. Mereen-Johnson says the new system makes saw changeover as easy as stopping the saw arbor, moving the saw blade to the new desired position and restarting the arbor. The CamLock system also features individually spring-tensioned position locking cams, which will hold each blade in position until the arbor is started and centrifugal force takes over.

Vortex Tool's Diamondback tool design. It features a polycrystalline-fused cutting edge on a solid-carbide blank. Because the Diamondback has true helical tool geometry, it can combine the performance of solid carbide with the extended life of polycrystalline, the company says. Initial testing indicates tool life in excess of 10 times that of traditional carbide solid carbide bits, Vortex adds.

Table of Contents
Making Sense of it All
October is Manufacturing Month
Conference - Manufacturing Competitiveness of the Forest Products Industry:
Competing in Today's Global Manufacturing and Consumer Marketplace
WMMA® Member Earns Federal Government Matching Funds Grant through an Article read in The Cutting Edge
Wood Bedroom Furniture Tariffs Reduced
Wood Furniture Import Trends
Congratulations to WMMA's® Challengers Award Winners!
IWF 2004 a Success
Tools to Help Manage the Hispanic Workforce
Innovative Energy, Efficient Industrial Ventilation - Provided by Ecogate