Adding a 4th axis to your arsenal of accessories might seem intimidating, but it can add a whole new perspective to your CNC machining. The extra axis does more than just give you an extra degree of freedom while cutting, it can help you save time and money on your machine.

For those of you looking to step up the efficiency and ease-of-use of your Tormach mill or router, adding an ETS is a worthy upgrade to consider. An Electronic Tool Setter (ETS) is a device that sits on your machine table and acts as a ‘switch’, telling the PathPilot control when a tool touches the top of the ETS at which point the control records the Z position of the machine.

Jeremiah Daws recently started taking machining and welding classes at his local tech school in Georgia, but his first career was in filmmaking. He’s always had an affinity for making things, like creating a homemade, rideable train for his nieces and nephews, but he wanted to take his making skills to a new level.

If you’re thinking about your next CNC mill, then chances are you’re looking for three things:

Reliability - it always delivers on tough projects
Usability - it’s quick to both learn and use
Affordability - it doesn’t cost the earth to buy, run, maintain or upgrade

Here’s why.

This coming September the PCNC 440 turns six years old!

The world of CNC can be intimidating. But, that doesn’t mean that you have to figure it all out on your own. There is an array of different resources around the internet that you can pick up everything from beginning CAD/CAM to advanced machining techniques and even resources for feeds and speeds.