Hands-on learning is quickly becoming the best-known way for students to fully grasp concepts and curriculum, especially in the world of technical CNC machine education. To this end, classrooms have started to change in accommodation for this type of hands-on teaching. Because 3D printers are becoming more regular in everyday classrooms (not just tech ed rooms), machine tools, like multi-axis CNC mills and lathes, are more commonplace in the shop.

At Tormach, our mission is to not only empower people to make things, but to also embolden them to make a difference.   It is invigorating to see how our customers cultivate creativity, foster ingenuity and encourage the development of their own industry and businesses, as well as the lives of future innovators.  Recently, a Tormach machine owner led me to a pristine winter landscape of stretching farmlands and an exceptionally resourceful robotics team in central Minnesota. 

When most of us hear the word acrobat, we think of high-flying trapeze or people doing crazy stunts in precarious locations. Believe it or not, there’s an industry for creating the stuff that those crazy performers use everyday.

Learning to machine has long been considered a journey. There is always something new to learn, as well as skills and techniques to perfect. Machining knowledge often can’t be just simply taught, it often requires hands-on learning and some serious time at the machine.

The puck dropped and players with gloves and sticks reacted. Instead of zipping across ice, they jetted through water during the 2006 Vancouver Underwater Hockey club game after a specially designed puck was put into play.

With their size and approachable design, Tormach machines have found their way into a number of classrooms at high schools and colleges around the nation. While the uses for a CNC mill or lathe in the classroom may seem obvious – teaching kids to machine parts – you may be surprised at how many teachers are doing much more than just teaching machining.