Machining services have helped to improve and advance society for hundreds of years. In fact, the bow lathe is recognized as the first machine tool ever created, believed to be made by the Ancient Egyptians. Basically, these tools are used to shape, create, and fix metals and other hard materials. If you’re in need of professional help you’ll want to find machine shop services that have the following qualities, or risk a shoddy job. Keep in mind machine tool repair is much cheaper than the cost of rebuilding tools altogether.
Quantity:
- One of the things any shop offering machining services should have is a variety of different capabilities. Machine tools can do a lot of different things including threading, boring, turning, and facing. Unless you are only in need of a very specialized service make sure the shop you’re doing business with has experience in virtually every aspect. Most machining shops offer welding as this is a similar function in the industry.
Maintenance:
- The next two go hand in hand and are of equal importance. Machine tools require a lot of maintenance to operate properly. Parts that consistently rub together need to be lubricated regularly or risk damage. Different parts of the equipment need to be cleaned in different ways. For example, you shouldn’t use high pressure air to clean the chip/gram of a lathe, as it could get into the crevices of the machine and cause damage.
Condition:
- If equipment is properly cared for and maintained, overall condition should be excellent. Although it will take a trained eye to identify particular problems, a lot can be determined through common sense. If you look around the shop and see a lot of old, dirty, beat up machine tools you probably want to take your business elsewhere. Strange, or unusual noises coming from operating machine tools should be a big warning sign that there’s something wrong with the equipment being used.
