Manufacturing Technology Orders Exceed Forecast

Up 102.9% from 2010

July U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $506.97 million according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

This total was up  7.3% from June and up 92.7% when compared with the total of $263.14 million reported for July 2010.

With a year-to-date total of $2,975.10 million, 2011 is up 102.9% compared with 2010.

“The manufacturing beat goes on! Machine tool sales continue to exceed forecasts for 2011,” said Peter Borden, AMTDA president. “The stock market’s volatility and the traditional summer slowdowns as budgets are depleted were no match for the ongoing demand to get new machines into production as soon as possible. This pace will slow; but for USMTO 2011 so far, there are no signs of what we hear on the nightly news.”

On a regional basis sales in the  Northeast region were $58.38 million, down 17.9%  compared with the $71.08 million total for June but up 11.3% when compared with July a year ago. The year-to-date total of $434.97 million is 63.6% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

Orders in the Southern region totaled $75.03 million, 13.4% more than June’s $66.19 million and 191.3% more than the July 2010 total. With a year-to-date total of $381.76 million, 2011 is up 79.6% when compared with 2010 at the same time.

Midwest Region manufacturing technology orders in July stood at $159.26 million, 1.0% more than the June total of $157.62 million and up 70.2% when compared with last July. At $1,016.66 million, the 2011 year-to-date total is 138.5% more than the comparable figure for 2010.

And the Western region’s sales hit $107.31 million in July, 108.2% more than the $51.55 million total for June and 252.6% higher than the tally for July 2010. At $355.14 million, 2011 year-to-date is up 102.3% when compared with last year at the same time.

In the Central region sales totaled $106.98 million, down 15.2% from June’s $126.14 million but up 75.7% when compared with the July 2010 figure. The $786.57 million year-to-date total is 103.6% higher than the total for the same period in 2010.

From Industry Week Sept. 12, 2011

Move over, Magnetic Boy: there’s a new hero in town

Ah-CHOO!

Magnetic Boy, the subject of a few earlier articles of mine (see “Practical Uses for Magnetic Boy in the metal industry” and “An Update on Magnetic Boy“), as well as the subject of international attention for his supposedly magnetic properties, has in recent weeks been given a run for his money. Money is something he should have plenty of, since he could just go beach-combing for buried treasure whenever he’s short on cash, and return home with a bounty of gold doubloons stuck to his chest – but I digress. As if it’s not bad enough that insinuations of fraud and “fake” continue to circulate, including accusations of our wonder-boy being just “plump and sticky” rather than being a true prophet of a new age, he has also had to put up with other relatively plump and sticky copycats trying to steal his spotlight by claiming – and demonstrating — their own magnetic powers. Maybe it’s something in the water, but all of these Magnetic Boys seem to hail from somewhere in the Eastern European area. Or maybe it’s simply a geographic hotbed of X-boys, spawned from the high ratio of radioactive exposure this geographical area has seen in the last generation.

Be that as it may, there are two individuals whose own talents frankly surpass those of Magnetic Boy. The first is a 20 year-old Chinese man by the name of Wu Zhilong, who can make bowl-like objects suction to his belly so firmly that he can actually pull a car –loaded with 12 people – from them. Unlike Magnetic Boy and his copycats, this guy doesn’t claim to have any magical properties at all, other than incredibly strong stomach muscles. Apparently, he “accidentally” discovered this power back in 2008, but he didn’t start using it to drag vehicles down the street until this year. I do wonder how he “accidentally discovered” that he could drag incredibly heavy objects by attaching them to a bowl suctioned to his stomach. I mean, what? – “There I was one day, kicking back and minding my own business, when a large metal bowl which just so happened to be attached to an anvil fell onto my stomach…” Zhilong’s dream is to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. If I had his power, my dream would be to have my own tow truck business. You can see his amazing feat for yourself in this video right here.

But in my opinion, this next gentleman really does take the cake: he can sneeze bullets. Darco Sangermano is an Italian from Turin– so we already know he’s either a total mama’s boy or a super macho man, or a combination of the above. (And yes, I am allowed to say this because I am very happily married to a wonderful Italian man from Modena). In any case, our friend Darco happened to be taking a stroll in downtown Naples with his girlfriend during a rowdy New Year’s celebration, when he was hit in the temple by a .22 caliber stray bullet. The bullet went through the right side of his head, behind his eye socket and then lodged somewhere in his nasal passage.

Bleeding heavily but not dead, Darco was taken to the hospital in an ambulance. While waiting to be seen by doctors (excuse me? He was SHOT in the HEAD and he had to wait to see a doctor? What kind of medical emergencies do they HAVE in Naples anyways?), he suddenly sneezed – and the bullet shot out of his right nostril. Darco went on to make a full recovery. The fact that he has a pretty big nose may have helped. I’m not sure a .22 caliber bullet would even fit through my right nostril. Which doesn’t mean I wouldn’t be trying right now, if I happened to have a .22 caliber bullet handy.

A man who thwarts death after getting shot in the head, and then casually sneezes out the bullet in the waiting room of the hospital. WOW. Now that’s a MAN. That’s Italy’s answer to Chuck Norris. That’s the “je-ne-sais-quoi” X-factor that just makes a woman swoon and another man nervous. That’s right up there with the goose who lays the golden egg, except the male version.

Move over, Magnetic Boy. I, for one, have a new hero.

-Anja Wulf

Whatever you need, copper’s got it!

“Find a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck”.

The use of copper in metal manufacturing goes back further than any other metal, except for iron and gold. Not only is it an excellent conductor, but it is pretty, malleable, easy to work with and even has anti-microbial properties, making it far better suited for plumbing than, say, lead pipes. And although the use of copper for pipes continues to this day, copper pipes are kind of boring to read about unless you are in the business of selling, manufacturing, buying or stealing them (and yes, the rate of copper theft continues to rise proportionately to its steady increases in value – which is an alarming rate, as far as its theft goes).

Much more interesting are the many magical properties copper has been attributed with over the last 11,000 years or so. It seems that pretty much any disorder, ailment or unwanted condition can be improved or cured with copper. The fact that copper does in fact have anti-microbial properties, works well as a fungicide, and is even an essential trace nutrient makes its magical claims even more interesting, since some of them may very well have some sort of basis in fact and science.

If everything written on the subject is to be believed, a partial list of copper’s magical and curative properties include the following:

  • Copper is the metal of Aphrodite, or Venus, depending on which name you prefer. Either way, copper is the metal of the Goddess of love, beauty and fertility. If you wear copper on the opposite side of your dominant hand, it can be a very effective love charm – especially when combined with emeralds (you know a particularly clever woman must have thought up that last part!)
  • Fact: copper is an effective spermicide. The majority of IUD’s, the oldest and most effective birth control method on earth, are made of copper even to this day. It could be reasoned that if copper’s ability to prevent pregnancy was known about thousands of years ago, this may have strengthened if not given rise to the association of copper with love and fertility.
  • As early as 2400 BC, ancient Egyptians used copper to sterilize wounds and drinking water, as well as for the treatment of headaches, burns and itching. Based on copper’s actual properties, chances are that these treatments were in fact effective.
  • Around 400 BC, Hippocrates used copper to treat leg ulcers associated with varicose veins. If I knew how, and if I had varicose veins, I’d try it out right now, but alas, all I have to offer is this titillating factoid.
  • Ancient Aztecs fought sore throats by gargling with copper mixtures. This gives me hope that copper may also help prevent the end of the world, as predicted by the Aztec calendar to occur in 2012. I’m not exactly sure how this all connects or if there’s any logic to it, but then again the Aztecs were very mysterious in general. In any case, gargling copper on the End of Days can’t hurt, and may actually prevent Armageddon. Any takers?
  • Many arthritis sufferers wear copper bracelets to relieve pain.
  • Copper is said to have a revitalizing mental effect by stimulating energy flows, thereby overcoming lethargy. It is also said to improve one’s powers of communication, channeling, cleansing and self esteem.
  • Physically, copper is said to improve blood circulation, increase energy, detoxify, reduce inflammation, stabilize metabolism and improve oxygen use.
  • Anyone who takes themselves seriously while waving sticks around in the air and casting spells will tell you that copper is like, totally the best metal for magic wands, because it is an excellent conductor of “all different types” of energy.
  • If you do happen to be in possession of a magical copper wand, you can use it to heal any part of your body by touching it with copper, which will “re-balance” that part of your body and make it all better. This may possibly be almost as effective as when mommy kissed your boo-boo and made it better, but sadly I was unable to find a single scientific study to back this up.
  • Pure copper can be worn to prevent illness and to encourage healing in general because it balances the polarities in one’s body. Anyone worthy of the title “Wiccan” knows this to be indisputable fact. Be warned, however, that a possible side effect can be that you also turn into a turbo-charged version of Austin Powers – with or without the additional supplementation of emeralds.
  • Copper also attracts good luck and money. Proof of this is a fact that every American child knows: “If you find a penny, pick it up. All day long you’ll have good luck” (a long time ago, when our government wasn’t yet bankrupt, pennies were originally made of 100% copper. If the government had picked up pennies instead of thrown them away, it wouldn’t be broke). So if you really play your cards well, you will be lucky in love, super healthy, your polarities will be balanced and you’ll be filthy rich – in which case you’ll probably lose the copper and trade it in for lots of gold. And diamonds. And a Rolex or two. Because one Rolex is never enough to keep you balanced and happy and successful and lucky in love and rich…

That sums up some but not all of the magical properties of copper. By now, I have pretty much talked myself into taking a trip to the plumbing section of the nearest hardware store so I can buy a copper “amulet” for my own personal use. So if you see someone running around with a copper mechanical sleeve clamp hanging off their neck, you’ll know who started that trend.

-Anja Wulf

Gold: the original “Chick Magnet”

Yummy, delightful gold

Gold has been making headlines again recently, due mainly to the fact that as the rest of the economy crashes and burns, the value of gold just keeps going higher. At over $1800 per troy ounce, gold is once again proving that when things go south, gold goes north.

But why is it that gold is so precious? Although it has plenty of uses, on a purely practical level, iron, copper or aluminum are far more practical. If you were stuck on a desert island with only one type of of metal to rely on for your survival, chances are you wouldn’t pick gold.

Of course, the fact that gold is rare plays greatly into its role as a “precious” metal. The world’s holdings of gold accumulated through all recorded history only amount to around 120,000 metric tons. Compare this to the fact that in 1995, the average hourly output of steel was 10,500 tons. Whereas the average increase in the world’s gold supply is only around 2000 tons a year, American steel increases by around 10,500 tons per hour. Another way to look at this is that the totality of all available gold would fit inside a cube measuring 60 cubic feet. Its value would be more than $1.4 trillion.

It makes sense then that gold became the first form of actual money. But this still does not fully explain why it has always been considered to be so very precious. Independent of location, culture or time, gold has always been revered by every culture that had any access to it as an extremely coveted commodity.

This could have something to do with the inherent properties of gold. Gold is the most malleable and ductile of all metals. One ounce of gold can be drawn into a wire 50 miles long, or hammered into a thin translucent sheet 1000 times thinner than a piece of paper. Gold does not tarnish or corrode. Gold also occurs in a virtually pure state, whereas most other metals need to be extracted from ore-bodies. Gold has been found nearly everywhere in the world. Because it was first found in streams and rivers, the Egyptians thought it was a particularly dense combination of water and sunlight. The Incas called it “tears of the sun”. It is generally understood to be the first metal ever collected or used by humans. Its association with gods, immortality, power and wealth are common throughout history and to this day.

But this still does not explain why, in every place that gold was found, the humans decided it was very valuable. On a purely practical level, gold is not strong enough to use for weapons or utensils. Culturally speaking, this is in fact baffling, since the perceived value of nearly everything throughout history can be traced to its practical uses. With that in mind, why wasn’t iron or bronze the first form of money? After all, the discovery and use of iron helped create a quantum leap in human civilization, literally taking us out of the Stone Age.

The earliest texts and archaeological evidence prove that gold was not used for tools. In fact they prove the opposite: the first uses of gold were very similar to its predominant modern use: gold was used for ornamentation; or, in other words, jewelry. This makes sense, since both its properties and its appearance lend itself to such a thing. If I was a Stone Age Babe, I would definitely prefer a gold pendant over one made out of bones or teeth.

Historically and archaeologically, the common denominator of the uses of gold in human cultures has always come down to one simple concept: aesthetics. Gold is beautiful. Above its properties or its scarcity, this is the predominant fact that helps to explain its consistent role as a truly precious commodity. Turning it into money or a standard for world currencies came as an afterthought. Its original allure was the same that it has always been since: gold is really pretty. This also helps to explain why the concept of gold has also been equated with vanity and with greed: the concept of beauty has also been confused with these traits.

So call it vanity, or call it art appreciation. What is interesting here is that the role of gold throughout human civilization shows there is more at work in the human psyche than simply practical considerations. While it could be argued that the irreducible minimum of an appreciation for the “finer things in life” still aids our basest survival needs such as mating and procreation, this simply doesn’t jive with the subjective reality of our ongoing love affair with beauty. And while concepts of beauty have changed and varied through time and different cultures, gold seems to be one of those things that every human group has found to be very lovely indeed.

It could then be argued that the most valuable things throughout civilization, and indeed the human experience, are not the weapons and materials of war and “progress”, but rather those things that inspire us, even “for no good reason”.

It is nice to acknowledge this, as it proves that there is more that drives us than just our base animal instincts, as some would have us believe.

-Anja Wulf

Mercury: the strangest metal of all

 

Quicksilver

1. another name for mercury

2. rapid or unpredictable in movement or in change: a quicksilver temper

[Old English, from cwicu alive (see quick) = seolfer silver. Literally, “live silver”

 

When I was in high school, there was a rumor that a kid several years ahead of us had committed suicide by sucking the mercury out of a thermometer. When a rumor is scary enough, you don’t bother to verify it, you just duck your head and run in the opposite direction. Ever since then, like many people, I have had a strange fascination with the substance.

Mercury is a study in contradictions. It is known for its toxic properties but has been prescribed through the ages as a healing substance; it is a heavy metal that is actually a liquid at room temperature. Mercury has always been revered for its shape-shifting properties that was considered the primordial metal, and the key that could unlock all the mysteries of alchemy.

Mercury shines like a mirror, it conducts electricity and in spite of the fact that it’s a liquid, it is a metal. In fact, it is a heavy metal, 13.5 times more dense than water.

This means that you could build a reflecting pool out of mercury. It has in fact been done. A mercury fountain was constructed for the 1937 World’s Fair in Paris, and in Spain large reflecting pools were filled with mercury to allow Caliphs to gaze at their reflections.

This also means that if you tried to jump into a pool filled with mercury, your bones would actually break. However, if you stepped into it, you could walk on its surface, sinking only about an inch with each step. If you were so inclined, you could also use it as a surface for billiards or a pool table, since the balls would only sink a fraction of an inch.

Mercury vapors are extremely toxic. This became evident in the 19th century when the makers of felt hats, who used mercuric nitrate in their trade, started exhibiting a huge array of strange behaviors. Hence the term, “mad as a hatter”.

Mozart may have died from mercury poisoning as well, at the young age of 35. Not because of making hats, but because like many rock stars, he was a major womanizer. Syphilis was common in his time, and the only treatment for it consisted of large doses of mercury, administered in a variety of ways. Because mercury has anti-bacterial properties, it may have even worked as a cure – unfortunately, at the loss of the patient. If you’ve ever heard of the saying “a night in the arms of Venus leads to a lifetime on Mercury”, now you know where it comes from.

Mercury has many valuable uses. It is used in electrical devices around the world. Despite its toxicity, there is little evidence that its use for dental fillings have done any harm. Mercury compounds exist even in modern medicine. It also happens to dissolve aluminum. In World War II, it was rumored that allied spies spread a paste of mercury on the wings and fuselages of German fighter planes, causing them to fall apart in midair.

As far as whether mercury from a thermometer could kill someone, the best answer I could find to this question is “no”. Apparently it would just go right through someone and come out the other end. Whether that amount would be enough to cause psychiatric disturbances is a moot point, since you’d have to be crazy to try it in the first place.

-Anja Wulf

An Ode to the Ironworker

I was looking through C Marshall Fabrication’s products on this website, and I have to admit, I was rather impressed by the ironworker machines. Forget even about what they can do: the name itself is pretty Old School tough-sounding. I just get the idea that if I was walking around with one, I wouldn’t have to worry about getting mugged in a dark alley. If I did actually run into any trouble, I could use my ironworker to shear, notch and punch holes into my enemy, assuming of course that my enemy was less than an inch thick. Quite a practical machine indeed, in addition to its cool name.

In an eager quest to find out more, I turned to my old friend Google and started searching the web for ironworkers. I wanted to find out what the original ironworker was, what it looked like, and where it came from.

Based on my extensive internet research into the subject, the predecessors to the modern ironworker machine originated from the northernmost parts of Europe, as early as 7000 BC. Although the original models were described as rather short and ugly, they were also associated with superior results in smithing, mining and crafting. The original word for these ironworkers was “dweorg”, which later became the word “dwarf”. A noble heritage indeed, steeped as it is in myth, mystery and even the supernatural!

What I found out next led me, quite frankly, to an uncomfortable impasse: a professional conflict of interest. For, although I never conceived of the possibility that C Marshall Fabrication isn’t offering the best of the best metal fabrication machinery available anywhere on the planet, I must confess in the name of being fair and balanced that Google did lead me to one ironworker with a very refined and unique feature that, quite frankly, the ones on C Marshall’s website do not offer. Sure, C Marshall’s ironworkers can shear, punch, notch and bend at least as well or better than any others on the market – but can they SING?

That’s right: I found an ironworker that can sing. So well, in fact, that Old Blue Eyes is getting a run for his money right now. Meet Gary Russo, a New York City ironworker on the 2nd Avenue subway line. On his lunch breaks, he sings Frank Sinatra songs to whoever might be walking down the street at the time. He’s so good that he has captured national attention, and his fan base is growing quickly. You can watch a YouTube video of one of his recent performances here: Singing Ironworker . He sounds so much like Frank Sinatra that some people have in fact questioned whether he’s just lip synching to the real Frank Sinatra voice (he isn’t).

So, although I am a mere spectator of the metal fabrication industry, I wonder if it would be too much to offer an ironworker on this website that can sing in addition to its other features. Based on the steadily increasing number of Gary Russo’s fan base, it might be just the thing that provides the ultimate competitive advantage. Of course, it might help if the ironworkers on C Marshall’s website looked a little more like Gary Russo too. I probably wouldn’t be the only female who finally breaks down and buys one.

-Anja Wulf

USMTO News Release for June Manufacturing Technology Orders

Manufacturing technology orders up 103.9% from June 2010

June U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $459.39 million according to AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology and AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association. This total, as reported by companies participating in the USMTO program, was up 15.3% from May and up 91.7% when compared with the total of $239.68 million reported for June 2010. With a year-to-date total of $2,453.78 million, 2011 is up 103.9% compared with 2010.

These numbers and all data in this report are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTO program.

“At this pace, the industry would post orders equal to all of 2010 by the end of August,” said Douglas K. Woods, President of AMT. “Still, industry leaders view the rest of 2011 with cautious optimism given the weakness in parts of the economy illustrated by the Dow’s plunge at the beginning of August. We expect a bump in orders related to customers taking advantage of the current Bonus Depreciation rate before it is reduced in 2012.”

The United States Manufacturing Technology Orders (USMTO) report, jointly compiled by the two trade associations representing the production and distribution of manufacturing technology, provides regional and national U.S. orders data of domestic and imported machine tools and related equipment. Analysis of manufacturing technology orders provides a reliable leading economic indicator as manufacturing industries invest in capital metalworking equipment to increase capacity and improve productivity.

U.S. manufacturing technology orders are also reported on a regional basis for five geographic breakdowns of the United States.

Click HERE for complete Newsletter

The most popular screw in the world

Pretty much anything that can be bought or sold is available in the US. With a few notable exceptions, including medieval castles. You have to to to Europe (preferably) to see those.

If you do travel to Europe as a tourist, chances are that you will end up touring at least one medieval castle. They are truly fascinating places to visit for children or grown-ups alike. Of course, the best part of any castle tour are the dungeons. If you’re like most tourists, you’ll visit a castle that still has a reasonably well-equipped torture chamber. Completely morbid and jarring to see, but also highly memorable.

Inside the castle you will nearly always find a display of ancient medieval weapons and armor, some of the finest historical examples of metalworking in the world, to look at and sometimes even to touch. The intricacy of the chain mail is mind-boggling. The sharpness and geometric perfection of the swords, daggers, spears, lances and other pokey metal objects is impressive even by modern standards.

If you bother to read the little printed signs under these displays, you can learn more about these weapons and suits of armor: in particular, their specific uses, and when and where they were made. After a while, you might notice a predictable pattern: the majority of these metal items were made in Germany. This does not necessarily mean that most weapons and suits of armor were made in Germany (although this too could be argued); but it definitely means that the majority of ancient metal weapons to have survived more or less intact to this day were made in Germany (or its historical geographic and cultural equivalent).

Even to this day, Germany makes some of the finest blades and knives on the planet. Witness Wusthoff and J.A. Henckels, to name only a few. The history of metal and metalworking is so entwined with Germany that even the word “smith” can be traced back to a prehistoric German word which means “worker or craftsman”. Incidentally, that same word (“Schmied”) is still alive and well in the German language to this day, and it still means the same thing. Just another testament to the consistency of metalworking and metallurgy throughout Germanic history.

One reason that German metalworking gained such a foothold in medieval times was by revolutionizing plate armor. Although plate armor had been in use since ancient Greek and Roman times, it didn’t evolve much at all until the early 1500’s, with the German production of so-called Nuremberg armors, many of which are some of the best examples of incredible workmanship and beautiful design in the metalworking industry to this day.

As a result of this quantum leap in plate armor evolution, it naturally followed that weaponry had to be improved, if it were to have any chance of penetrating the Nuremberg armor suits. This “theory of natural evolution” as applied to the metal industry seems to go a long way in explaining Germany’s consistent history of excellence and predominance in the area of metalworking.

Although the slotted head screw still exists practically unchanged to this day, it was finally eclipsed in the early 20th century, by a new type of screw invented by a Henry F. Phillips. After a successful trial run on the 1936 Cadillac, the Phillips screw became successfully entrenched in the American auto industry and just took off from there. By the beginning of World War II, the Phillips head screw had become and still remains “the most popular screw in the world”, as Wikipedia puts it.

You had to read the whole thing, but now you know how I came up with the title of this article. In any case, I hope you found it informative, relevant and entertaining.

-Anja Wulf

Leading the News

FRB Dallas: Texas Factory Activity Rebounded In July.

The Dallas Morning News (7/26) reports, “Texas factory activity rebounded in July as the manufacturing sector gained strength, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas showed Monday.” The Dallas Fed said the production index “rose from 5.6 in June to 10.8 this month. The Fed’s Manufacturing Outlook Survey also found growing activity in other measures of current manufacturing conditions: The shipments and new orders indexes rose from June to July. The shipments index rose to 7.8 after coming in at zero last month. The new orders index rose sharply from 6.4 in June to 16 in July.”

In an article on job increases in Texas, USA Today (7/26, Davidson) notes that one of “reasons for the state’s robust job growth” is an increase in exports. “Overseas shipments by Texas’ strong computer, electronics, petrochemical and other industries rose 21% last year, compared with 15% for the nation, according to the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank. The state also benefits from its proximity to Latin American countries that are big importers of US goods,” according to Moody’s economist Ed Friedman. “The surge creates jobs for Texas manufacturers and ports.”

Portland, Oregon Adds Manufacturing Jobs In June. The Portland Business Journal (7/25, Giegerich) reported, “The Portland-area’s June unemployment rate was unchanged month-to-month but decidedly lower than it was a year ago.” However, “the manufacturing sector added 1,400 jobs” last month. “Some 900 of those were in the durable goods category. Since the beginning of the year, the manufacturing sector has added 2,600 jobs, a 2.4 percent increase over 2010.”