Milling Around blog favorite Jeff Rasnake shared with us some recent pictures of a handful of very cool projects he's been doing in soapstone.  According to Jeff, soapstone mills fantastic on his PCNC 1100 - here's a few example of the plaques and monuments he has made with soapstone that's quarried locally near his home in Virginia. It turns out that the relative softness of soapstone makes it a perfect material for DIY use.  Check out this article on DIY soapstone countertops from This Old House.  And Alberene Soapstone Company sells DIY kits for kitchens and bathroom vanities.  Check those out here. These are small compared to some of Jeff's other soapstone projects.  What really caught my eye is the very clever workholding for the larger pieces, which I'm told are for a park bench to be placed outside the quarry's business office. Very tall strap clamps! Final carving on the edge of the slab. This table extension is on casters and moves with the XY motion of the PCNC 1100 mill table. Check out the links below to see more work form Jeff: Jeff Rasnake PCNC 1100 Success Story Jeff Rasnake Packard Steering Wheel Project Thanks again for sharing,  Jeff!

Working in the state of Iowa on a wind turbine contract, Brad Martin is no stranger to automation and electrical engineering. A self-taught CNC machinist, many people know Martin through the online crowd-fund­ing plat­form Kickstarter. We’re giving him the nickname, “Kickstarter King.” “I got into CNC because I wanted to make my own "parts" for little projects I wanted to do. First, I bought a little lathe and then a little mill, both through the Little Machine Shop. After a while, I decided manual machining wasn't the way to go. I bought a Taig Mill, sourced all my own parts, and built the whole CNC system.”

IT Program Manager by day, maker by night, Kent Myers writes extensively about his interests and innovations on his popular blog, KentMyers.net. “I’m a computer network manager with a mechanical engineering degree that I never really used. I’ve always liked to build and create things, but in my day job I mostly sit at a computer. So, I started getting into woodworking and have done a lot of projects in the past 20 years. If you’ve been to my website you can see some of the work I’ve done,” Myers explained.

Tormach was founded over a decade ago in response to a real need among entrepreneurs, researchers, educators, and hobbyists to enter the world of CNC manufacturing. Evolving to support the needs of a digitally-savvy customer base and doing our part to add to the information, resources, and tools now available at the click of a button, we’re always encouraged to see you succeed.