From tomorrow, Lausanne will live the 9th issue of EPHJ and 4th issue of EPMT. These shows have been growing year after year and EPMT is nowadays amongst the most influential ones in term of micro-technology. EPHJ is without any doubt THE trade show dedicated to watch and jewellery industries. The reorganization of the space available at Beaulieu Lausanne as well as the migration of the two sectors in a single hall, under a common roof, are accompanied by a puff of air on the watchmaking (…)

Faced with a somewhat unusual growth in interest at this period of the year, the EPHJ/EPMT exhibition will open its doors tomorrow with an increased number of exhibitors: around 550 players from the professional fields devoted to watchmaking, jewellery and the microtech sector, with 20% coming from abroad. Four intense, enjoyable days dedicated entirely to innovation and technology transfer. Amongst the 550 exhibitors, we can discover how Springmann SA provides tailored solutions for (…)

The organizers brought together all the latest in manufacturing technologies just for visitors. Be it metalcutting, metalforming or associated technologies, services and equipment, MACH2010 has it all in NEC – Birmingham (UK) from June 7 to 11. . The Manufacturing Technologies Association is pleased to announce that a very special guest, HRH Duke of York, will be officially opening MACH2010 at 3.30pm on Monday 7 June. HRH will open MACH at a time when the UK’s manufacturing sector is (…)

OrthoTec® is Europe’s showcase of design and technology for the implant and instrument business. Taking place in Zürich, the middle of Europe’s key ‘Implant’ zone, OrthoTec® will provide a showcase for the technology that drives innovation in the products and processes associated with device design and manufacture. . Featuring a focused trade exhibition of materials, design and manufacturing technology including machine tools, packaging and identification, design and manufacturing (…)

Reflective surfaces made on micro-structures in record time. GF AgieCharmilles is setting a new milestone in Swiss machine building with the model series MIKRON HSM 400, 400U, 500 LP Precision. . GF AgieCharmilles is the only European machine majnufacturer to offer a solution for process-reliable tool measurement on the machine tool. The potential for this functionality was recognized quite early on and thus there began evaluation of intelligent alternatives some years ago. The result is (…)

Who has never dreamed of finding the perfect solution for replacing cam-type machines? Regularly, machine manufacturers release turning machines that more or less meet this aspiration. We met up with the Swiss bar-turning company Laubscher in Täuffelen. Manfred Laubscher, the technical director, has found the machine that is destined to replace whole collections of cam-type machines. The project was only slowed by the global credit crisis. Founded in 1846, Laubscher Précision SA is a (…)

I went to the Motorex press conference today and that was very well done. We received a lot of information, results of tests and proofs about the new Motorex Swisscool Tresor PMC©. This new water-based lubricant is completely free of the usual aggressive chemical additives and uses the oligodynamiceffect of precious metal (silver in this case). In machining, illness due to water-based coolant is not to be neglected. With its new Swisscool Tresor PMC©, Motorex works for user’s skin. There (…)

With the launch of its new coolant called Tresor, Motorex met with Michael Rocker, chemist, Berufsgenossenschaft Metall Nord Süd (BGM), Mainz and talked about skin disorders associated with the use of coolants. You can see the wholeinterview here. Skin disorders caused by coolants – contact eczemas, as they are known – are generally multifactorial in nature. Depending on the damaging factors in each case, we refer to allergic, toxic, irritant or degenerative changes in the skin, and mixed (…)

Recent developments now make it possible to have laser sources which combine performance with compactness – several hundred Watts in less than 20 cm high. These equipments produce a beam of such high quality that they are capable of welding spots just a few tens of microns in diameter. The same laser can operate in either pulse or continuous mode, making it possible to cover an extremely broad range of applications and to work on a large spectrum of conventional and precious metals. . (…)

The problem of swarf management is a familiar one and in the case of precious metals the constraints are even greater than for standard materials. With the value of gold at more than 42,000 CHF per kilo and maximum waste tolerance at no more than 2 per cent, producers are having to find ever more sophisticated solutions to recover as much of the material as possible to avoid paying for “waste”. While swarf management is by no means a source of value added in production runs, the operation (…)