Work offsets let your machine know where your stock is and where your part will be when you’re done. It might sound rudimentary, but work offsets are important.

Aluminum is often the first metal that new machinists experience, and rightfully so. Its versatile, economical, and forgiving when it comes to feeds and speeds. But all those pluses come with a few compromises as well.  So, here’s our list of four things everybody hates about aluminum.

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.

Tormach's new PCNC 440 may be a small machine, but it can produce big results. This demonstration shows the PCNC 440 cutting 6016-T6 Aluminum and Hardened 4140 Steel for some upcoming projects.

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:

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.