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meviy cuts CNC milling lead times to just 4 days

meviy, the on-demand custom parts manufacturing service developed by MISUMI Group, has upgraded its Expedite+ service with improved lead times for CNC Milled parts. Customers can now have their parts shipped in as few as four days through meviy's fastest delivery option. The enhanced service helps manufacturers and engineers stay on schedule when projects are behind or production is interrupted. Supported materials include steels and aluminums. Check out their instant quoting too.
Learn more.

Turn-to-lock latches: New concepts from JW Winco

JW Winco has expanded its portfolio of latches, adding stainless steel versions and new functional concepts, such as the GN 115.8 series of hook-type latches that use a hook to engage with a mating catch by moving radially to the axis of rotation instead of a latch arm that moves behind a frame. When operated with a socket key, the latches can be used even in extremely wet environments. Also available are classic cam latches and rotary clamping latches.
Learn about latching options from JW Winco.

New Air Cradle for quick and efficient air gun storage

EXAIR now offers the new Air Cradle Safety Air Gun Mount, a simple but innovative accessory designed to keep safety air guns and similarly sized tools within easy reach at workstations and machine centers. With its strong magnetic loop design, the Air Cradle provides a convenient, highly accessible hang point for safety air guns, helping improve workflow, minimize tool misplacement, and promote a more organized, efficient work environment across manufacturing, assembly, shipping, and other general shop applications.
Learn more.

Top Tech Tip: How do you 3D print STL files?

Learn the basics of 3D printing STL files -- the files that serve as the digital foundation for 3D printing -- and a whole lot more from the experts at Xometry. These files have advantages, of course, but did you know they have disadvantages too? Also learn about STL tools and programs, and how to reduce file size or even repair a file you are having trouble with.
Read the Xometry article.

Top Tech Tip: 5 reasons to consider using jaw couplings

Jaw couplings are components commonly used in servo-driven systems where precise motion control is required. Chris Gumas, Director of Customer Experience with Ruland Manufacturing, gives five reasons when you should consider using jaw couplings in your design.
Read the full article.

Southco launches EC Damping Hinge

The EC Damping Hinge's strength brings the same features found in high-end kitchen cabinet hinges to environments where the stakes are much higher than a slamming door making a loud noise. Repeated use and heavy loads mean greater risk for injury when technicians are operating machinery, and the EC Damping Hinge can mitigate this. This hinge provides a higher quality operating and working experience, because end users benefit from smoothly opening and closing panels.
Learn more.

Damping elements, stoppers, and rubber buffers

JW Winco provides a wealth of variants to serve every application when it comes to vibration damping elements for alternating tensile and compressive loads. JW Winco has 40 standard parts covering several hundred article numbers in its selection -- from simple rubber buffers like GN 353 to more complex designs such as GN 148.3 that can take up to 17,600 newtons of compression. These elements have a core of natural rubber, because this still offers the best damping values, unmatched by synthetic elastomers or silicone materials.
See the full line that JW Winco offers.

Stratasys moves beyond polymers: Metal 3D printing

Stratasys, the global leader in polymer additive manufacturing, is getting into metals by investing in industrial metal 3D-printing company Tritone Technologies. The agreement brings cutting-edge, production-grade metal and ceramic technology to Stratasys' service portfolio. At the core of Tritone's offering is its MoldJet^® technology, the only powder-free AM technology that enables the high-throughput production of metal and ceramic parts at industrial scale and speed that overcomes previous challenges.
Learn more about this exciting development.

TS0501: Pushing the limits of aerospace machining

Seco has launched TS0501, a Duratomic^® finishing grade engineered for exceptional performance in turning modern high-hardness superalloys as well as traditional materials such as Inconel 718. Designed for lights-out machining, TS0501 delivers unmatched tool life, surface finish, and reliability in demanding aerospace and energy applications. The insert's wear resistance and thermal stability make it ideal for industries where component integrity is critical.
Read the Seco article.

Most powerful heatsink: Extreme CPU cooling

Learn how 3D Systems played a crucial part in developing "the world's most powerful AI-designed and metal 3D-printed liquid nitrogen (LN2) heatsink for extreme CPU cooling." The heatsink was created using 3D Systems' Direct Metal Printing tech utilizing certified oxygen-free copper for superior thermal conductivity. An eccentric application that pushes the boundaries of thermal management.
Read the 3D Systems blog.

When metals can't survive: Machined ceramics as an alternative

Technical Ceramics are so hard and wear resistant that they cannot be machined with conventional tools -- but they can outlast and outperform other materials in demanding or harsh applications. INSACO's proprietary diamond grinding process and specialized techniques developed over many decades allow the company to produce and document parts to exacting specifications consistently. Learn all about the alternatives you have when metals just can't take it.
Read the INSACO article.

Build-to-order knobs and hand hardware

Rogan Corp.'s innovative use of two-shot plastic injection and insert molding has been providing customers with high-quality plastic clamping knobs, levers, and control knobs for more than 90 years. Rogan offers concurrent engineering, product design, and assistance in material selection to ensure customer satisfaction for standard or customized parts, with a focus on cost optimization and on-time delivery. Custom colors, markings, decorative inlays, or engineered materials to meet special requirements, such as adding extra strength or utilizing a flame-retardant material, are all offered.
Learn more.

Why switch from weld fasteners to clinch fasteners?

According to the experts at Penn-Engineering, engineers usually make the switch from weld fasteners to self-clinching fasteners due to two key motivators: environmental impact and cosmetic appeal. Additional benefits often materialize, though, that have positive effects on time, costs, and end-product quality. Find out how.
Read this PennEngineering PEM blog with real-world examples.

Tech Tip: How to create high-quality STL files for 3D prints

Have you ever 3D printed a part that had flat spots or faceted surfaces where smooth curves were supposed to be? You are not alone, and it's not your 3D printer's fault. According to Markforged, the culprit is likely a lack of resolution in the STL file used to create the part.
Read this detailed and informative Markforged blog.

Metal 3D printing: Right at your desktop

From prototyping to tooling or batch production of end-use parts, the Studio System 2 from Desktop Metal brings metal 3D printing to any office, studio, or lab setting. This powder- and laser-free system consists of an easy-to-adopt two-step process: print using pre-bound metal rod feedstock and then sinter. It requires minimal training and operator intervention. Combined with next-gen Separable Supports and a software-controlled workflow, the Studio System makes metal 3D printing simpler than ever. This platform offers more materials than any other metal extrusion 3D-printing system on the market. They include Inconel 625, titanium (Ti64), copper, tool steels, and stainless steels.
View the video and learn more.

Tiny gold 'supraballs' could improve solar energy harvesting big time

Sunbeams contain a lot of energy, but current technology for harvesting solar power doesn't capture as much as it could. Now, in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, researchers report that gold nanospheres, named supraballs, can absorb nearly all wavelengths in sunlight -- including some that traditional photovoltaic materials miss. Applying a layer of supraballs onto a commercially available electricity converter demonstrated that the technology nearly doubled solar energy absorption compared to traditional materials.

This supraball (top) is 2,100 nanometers in diameter and is made from hundreds of tiny gold nanoparticles (bottom) engineered to boost solar energy absorption. [Credit: Adapted from ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 2026, DOI: 10.1021/acsami.5c23149]

Scientists are exploring materials that absorb light across the solar spectrum to improve solar energy harvesting. Gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs) have been suggested as a solution, because they're easy and cost effective to make, but current NPs' light absorption is confined to visible wavelengths -- a fraction of the full solar spectrum. To capture additional wavelengths, including near-infrared light, Jaewon Lee, Seungwoo Lee, and Kyung Hun Rho propose using self-assembling gold supraballs. These structures consist of gold NPs that clump together and form tiny spheres. The diameter of the supraballs was adjusted to maximize the absorption of wavelengths present in sunlight.

The researchers first used computer simulations to optimize the design of individual supraballs and to predict the performance of supraball films. Results from the simulations showed that the supraballs should absorb more than 90% of wavelengths from sunlight.

Next, they created a film of gold supraballs by drying a liquid solution containing the structures on the surface of a commercially available thermoelectric generator (TEG), a device that converts light energy into electricity. The films were created in ambient room conditions -- no clean rooms or extreme temperatures required.

In demonstrations with an LED solar simulator, the supraball-coated TEG had an average solar absorption of about 89%, nearly twice that of a TEG with a conventional film made from single gold NPs (45%).

"Our plasmonic supraballs offer a simple route to harvesting the full solar spectrum," says Seungwoo Lee. "Ultimately, this coating technology could significantly lower the barrier for high-efficiency solar-thermal and photothermal systems in real-world energy applications."

The authors acknowledge funding from the National Research Foundation of Korea, the Korea Institute of Science and Technology Institutional Program, the Korea-US Collaborative Research Fund, and a Korea University grant.

Source: The American Chemical Society (ACS)

Published February 2026

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