Technical Articles by Bob McClintic

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Engineering, Operations Management, Plant Engineering, Process Engineering & Supervision

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"Post Casting Operations"

Trim Tooling, Necessary Evil or Value-Added Process or Profit Opportunity

"World Class, Brick and Mortar or Blood and Spirit?"

"Shot tips" "Parting Shots" "Milk, Eggs & Automobiles"

"Where have all our Journeymen Gone?" (What happened to our apprenticeship/training programs?)

"The Evolution of Process and Machine Controls in High Pressure Die Casting"

"Can't Someone Come up with Some New Problems to Solve?"

"Securing the Services of  a Consultant? Who Needs Them?"

"Planting the Seeds of Our Future Success"

"Contrary to Popular Belief, Reports of Our Death are Greatly Exaggerated"

"Die Materials, The Recipe is Everything"

"Volunteerism and NADCA: Are you ready to get involved?"

"Words That We All Get Tired of Hearing"

"Are We There Yet?"

"(Will you have) Chocolate, Strawberry or Vanilla??"

"Not to Decide is to Decide"

Die Casting Machinery: Putting it all Together (Are we ready  yet?)

Hot Chamber Process Improvement Tip: Controlling that Nuisance Drip

Defining the "Perfect" Casting! (The Conversation that every supplier fears but must have in order to survive.)

Is Zinc Die Casting Still Alive? Understanding Where to Look.

Should This Be the Die Caster's Coat of Arms? (It's Their Fault!)

"Structural Die Castings", Buzz Word or Reality?

Passive-Aggressive Vs. Team Players

Training Our Customers? (May 2014)

To "Sprue" or not to "Sprue"? (July 2014)

Design of Experiments (D.O.E.) and Black Belt Projects (Searching for the Red X). (September 2014)

The 2014 NADCA Congress & Tabletop in Milwaukee, (A full buffet of suppliers (November 2014)

Families and Business Management Style (January 2015)

Zinc Markets and Tooling Archives (March 2015)

Tie Bars and Platens, Once More (May 2015)

Is Your Company full of "One Man Bands" or an Orchestra? (July 2015)

Living With Change (September 2015)

Pre-Fill a Hot Topic (November 2015)

Part I, Engineering the Infrastructure, Compressed Air, (January 2016)

Part II, Engineering the Infrastructure, Central Die Lube (March 2016)

Don't Miss the Point of Doing a Simulation (January 2017)

Decoding "Design Intent": (What did the Engineer really need?), (March 2017)

What's Your Training Budget for Future Success? (May 2017)

Overflows, Vents and Simulation (July 2017)

Why Not Magnesium and Zinc? (September 2017)

What is Advanced Technology in Die Casting? (November 2017)

Is it Time to Give your Shop a Tune Up? (January 2018)

Tool Steel and the Small Block Chevy V8 (long run tools vs. the annual changeover) (May 2018)

What's City Planning have to do with Recruiting Employees? (Is it time to look at how you sell your company to new or prospective employees?) (July 2018)

Cast Over: "Hot Topic" (September 2018)

Furnaces and Metal Handling. What's the Big Deal? (January 2019)

Are there really Cost Benefits to Process Control? (May 2019)

Simulation: When is Enough, Enough? (July 2019)

Do your "Systems" Insure your Companies Success? (Taking a second look at your Procedures.), (November 2019)

What are you Waiting For? (January 2020)

When do you Begin Process Development? (When do you start Your Project-Timeline?)_(March 2020)

I Love the Smell of Die Lube in the Morning! (May 2020)

Die Casting Defects: Nothing is New, or is There? (July 2020)

Re-Thinking Die Casting Employee Training and Education. (May 2021)

CAD CAM: Computer Modeling and Simulations, Your Unanswered Questions. (July 2021)

What's the News from the Die Casting/Manufacturing Floor? (September 2021)

Even You Can Afford an Intern (March 2022)

Die Cast Lubricants and Plunger Life (May 2022)

Preventing Casting Defects Through Design and Simulation (July 2022

Reshoring and Secondary Operations in a Die Casting Company (September 2022)

Additive Manufacturing: Tooling, casting or process? (November 2022)

Oxides are Inevitable, Hard Spots are Not! (January 2023)

An "Element"-ary Guide to Die Casting Alloys: (Choosing the casting material that best suits your (customers' project)(March 2023)


What is PPM and how do I calculate it?

Troubleshooting a flashing die? What are some of the major causes of flash and how do I address them?

My die won't quit flashing!

How much could a flashing die cost? Think the cost of flash is insignificant? Look again!

Calculating the high cost of flash!

Learn about the intensification circuit on various types of die casting machines:

The Effects of Intensification on Casting Quality



Bi-monthly "Parting Shots" articles featured in:

Die Casting Management Magazine

(For faster download speeds, select "text only pages below")

First article introductions and expressions of gratitude to Jim Hamilton, former author (PDF format click here), (For Text only format click here)

Flash, it's not as cheap as you think! (PDF format click here), For Text only format click here)

 New Product Development and Die Casting Process. Friend or Foe?  (PDF format click here), For Text only format click here)

Failing to Plan or Planning to Fail?  (PDF format click here), For Text only format click here)

Where's Bubba and why can't we make a good casting today?  (PDF format click here),  For Text only format click here)

 Want to dramatically improve your up time? Look at your core pin design.  (PDF format click here),  (For Text only format click here)

Taking care of basics, the clamp mechanism (linkage) in the die casting machine  (PDF format click here),  (For Text only format click here)

High Tech/Low Tech, Low cost measurements that pay big dividends!  (PDF format click here),  (For Text only format click here)

PPM, What is it and is it possible?  (PDF format click here),  (For Text only format click here)

Percentage of Cold Chamber Fill, Myth or Method? (Is this the primary process parameter?) (PDF format click here),  (For Text only format click here)

"Die Casting Engineer Magazine"/DCE: "The Do's and Don't of Design"

 

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Available for Die Cast Consultation Throughout the World  

Our Clients are located througout the world. From North America to Asia, McClintic and Associates has clients in over a dozen countries. Consultations can save you millions of dollars and weeks of headaches as you search for the cause of die failures and products not passing inspections.  

 Member North American Die Casting Association


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Bob McClintic and Associates 
523 Lincoln Lawns Dr. NW Grand Rapids, Michigan 49534 USA 
E-mail: RMcClintic@DrDieCast.com 
Phone: 1-616-292-0454