Select Materials Based on Lessons - Not Fear

Letting students take control of the CNC machine for the first time each semester can be terrifying enough if they were paying attention to your wise words of caution, but we all know some of them weren’t taking studious notes. An easy way to save your machine and nerves is to give your students forgiving workpieces, like machinist wax, wood, or plastic, but that’s not always the best solution.

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Tormach Is a Jeweler’s Best Friend

As the world of manufacturing trends toward being smaller and more customized, many industries are doing the same. Customized jewelry has often been relegated to work done in castings, but customized jewelry is becoming a much bigger industry, and CNC machinery is helping to lead the way.

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Machined Stainless Steel Steering Wheel Hub for Packard Hot Rod Made on Tormach PCNC 1100

Here's a really nice build sequence from PCNC 1100 owner Jeff Rasnake, detailing how he made a custom stainless steel steering wheel for a Packard Hot Rod. First, he modified the original wheel by opening up the center bore to fit on to a new steering column:

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New Features in Vectric VCarve Pro 6

Vectric VCarve Pro 6 was just released last week (along with a new version of its big brother, Aspire 3). While Vectric products fall firmly in the camp of "Specialty" CAM, they still have a lot to offer for the CNC machinist - they are a superior choice for engraving, relief carving, and other similar tasks.

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Face Milling on the PCNC 1100

Perhaps one of the few topics that isn't done justice on the internet (in my slightly biased opinion, at least) is metal cutting - especially from a novice perspective. A few months ago, I was surprised to realize that some of our most popular Youtube videos have been aimed towards beginners.

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Making Trumpet Mouthpieces with a PCNC 1100

First flutes, and now trumpets. I just found this great video from PCNC 1100 owner Dave Harrison about how he makes his Wedge Mouthpiece: milling, turning, polishing, and engraving. If you're into machining and making stuff, this is really fascinating.

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