Here at Tormach, we love getting involved in education and giving students a chance to get hands-on experience with real tools. That’s why we spent last weekend at the FIRST Robotics Regional Competition, in Milwaukee, WI, cheering on kids who built robots to compete for a place at the national event. Also during the event, the State of Wisconsin signed a new law that commits $250k in general purpose revenue to grants to help high-school teams participate in robotics events, like FIRST.

Last week, we had a visit from the Milwaukee Maker Space, which is just a short drive down the Interstate. And the week before, folks from a Madison, WI makerspace, known as The Bodgery, joined us for a product demo.

The first CNC milling machine was developed in 1957, and the concept of modern CNC really hasn’t changed since. Yet, the worlds surrounding CNC – fabrication, engineering, product development, manufacturing, Et al. – have changed dramatically.

Earlier this week, we spent the day at Madison College (MATC) as they uncrated their brand new PCNC 440.

The Maker community has been coming into its own in the last five years. With the help of inexpensive hardware, software, and tools, more at-home engineers and inventors have the ability to access know-how that used to be relegated to major corporations.

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.