• The Jig Is Up: CNC Engineers New Guitar Heroes
• Designing The Hydrogen Future With DFMA
• Medical: Large Flows Measured With Small Sensors
• Rare Earth Gets Even More Attractive
• Wheels: Car Heating Gets Sucked Into The Vortex
• 5-Star Product: Custom Membrane Switches
• Engineer's Toolbox: Handheld Laser Distance Meters
• Products: Electrical/Electronic, Mechanical, Motion
• Special: Software Products

Feature Articles

The jig is up: CNC engineers new guitar heroes
With recent software and engineering innovations, CNC machining is finally coming out of the factories and into home workshops. For the complex craft of guitar building, Seattle-area Luthier Tool Company has found many contemporary ways to engineer the instruments that make instruments. Owner Chris Klumper made the leap from hand-working to a personal CNC machine from Tormach.
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Designing the future with DFMA How do you create and cost a detailed, realistic design using components and processes that don't exist yet? That was the challenge facing Directed Technologies of Arlington, VA, when the Department of Energy contracted with them to design automotive hydrogen fuel cell systems — as they might be built in 2006, 2010, and 2015. To create the three systems, the engineers at DTI employed Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) software from Boothroyd Dewhurst. Read the full article KECO Coatings: Enhancing Technology KECO has vast experience in working with product development teams to identify applications that will benefit OEMs in the aftermarket and add value to existing product lines, or enhance new products under development. Design attributes include nonstick, low friction, enhanced chemical and corrosion protection, thermal management, and enhanced wear resistance — all designed for sustainability. KECO is a licensed applicator of DuPont Industrial Teflon®. Visit KECO Coatings for more information. Medical: Large flows measured with small sensors Today physicians are requiring electronic measurement to monitor gas flow, which provides increased accuracy and reliability, as well as allowing for the capture of an accurate log of the progress of specific treatments. By utilizing MEMS (microelectrical mechanical systems), highly accurate and stable mass flow measurements are delivered. Many MEMS mass flow sensors offer easier integration and cost savings when compared to other flow measurement products. Read the full article

Rare earth: Magnet alloy stays strong — even at 200°C Ask Iver Anderson at the U.S. Department of Energy's Ames Laboratory about consumer interest in, and desire for, "ultragreen" electric-drive vehicles, and he'll reply without a moment's hesitation that the trend is unstoppable and growing fast. Anderson and his colleagues have designed a high-performance permanent magnet alloy that operates with good magnetic strength at 200°C to help make electric-drive motors more efficient and cost effective. Read the full article STAUFF LIGHTWEIGHT CLAMPS WON'T WEIGH YOU DOWN. Stauff Corporation introduces the LBBU series of compact clamps for secure fastening of Pipe, Tube, Hose, and Cable. The LBBU clamps are manufactured from a resilient thermoplastic elastomer for reduction of noise and vibration and offer quick, easy installation for applications in which space is limited and noise must be kept to a minimum. Both single and double line clamp styles are available with sizes ranging from 6mm to 18mm diameter. Visit Stauff Corporation for more information.

5-Star Product: Custom membrane switches with icon, key ring lighting
Just how cool can a control display be? Custom membrane switches that feature precise graphic icon and key ring lighting in an ultra-thin package for a wide range of OEM applications, where capacitive and mechanical switches would be too thick, are now available from EASTPRINT.
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Engineer's Toolbox: New handheld laser distance meters
More accurate than ultrasonic devices and much more convenient than a tape measure, Series A Handheld Laser Distance Meters are offered in a number of model choices: The Handy One, The Robust One, The Versatile One, and The Data Transfer One.
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Guides

Literature, guides, catalogs, and other great free stuff: Always more than 50 new resources

• 40+ ideas for T-slotted aluminum framing —
80/20
• Home appliance sealants and lubricants —
Dow Corning
• Electronic components for automotive applications —
EPCOS

View guides …

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