Tormach Tool Changer Getting Closer

There was an update to their blog a few days back, so check there for full details. The beta test has been underway for about 1 month for some lucky Tormach owners. You’ve probably seen the original Tormach ATC video, but this new one shows a lot of other cool features:

You can see from the video they’ve done a real nice job with the Mach3 screens for the changer, and the integrated tool touch setter is really slick too.
Should be a pretty amazing productivity upgrade for these great little mills.… Read the rest

What Price Machine Rigidity?

Machinists know that there is no substitute for beef when it comes to the rigidity of their machine tools. That made me wonder whether we could verify and quantify this notion in some way. How much beef does it take to achieve a level of rigidity?
I frequently recommend to G-Wizard users that they think of rigidity in terms of horsepower. Horsepower from the spindle is what pushes against the rigidity of their machine, and barring harmonics (chatter) excited by certain vulnerable frequencies (which are a factor of both rigidity and damping), rigidity may be the limiting factor for many machines, especially small ones.… Read the rest

We Have 2 New CAM Programs at CNCCookbook!

A warm CNCCookbook welcome to Mecsoft’s Visual Mill (and RhinoCAM) and HSMWorks. Their owner’s have graciously extended evaluation copies so we can try them out, review them, and provide feedback.
VisualMILL 6.0 CAM Software
Visual Mill and its cousins were extremely popular on our recent CAM survey, and I frequently hear about it from our G-Wizard customers as well as in many other places. Mecsoft President Joe Anand has encouraged me to go over their package carefully and reconsider categorizing it as a Hobby product. He says that just because they have a range of products that span the Hobby price range doesn’t mean their higher end offerings aren’t highly capable professional packages.… Read the rest

Carbide vs HSS and Chatter for Small Mills

I came across a great thread this morning on the 1911Forum, a gathering place for Colt 1911 handgun enthusiasts with a good sub-forum on gunsmithing. The question was being asked of whether Carbide or HSS tooling would be better for reducing chatter on small mills. I responded as follows:
Carbide vs HSS for small mills is an interesting question, and chatter may not be the limiting factor.
There is a trade off in material removal rates and rigidity within the envelope your mill is capable of. For example, chiploads are generally higher for HSS than for Carbide, all other things being equal.… Read the rest

Carbon Fiber Wingtips for a Jet Fighter

As I mentioned recently, I got the chance to see some serious carbon fiber work in action–building a set of wingtips for a jet fighter. To be precise, these wingtips are going on Czechoslovakian L-39 Albatross planes destined in some cases for the Reno Air Races:

Talk about a cool project!
This is Sky Greenawalt’s project, and I want to walk you through it a little bit. I’m hoping to get Sky to do some guest blogging here too, especially to talk about how he did the CAD work for this project, so let’s start there.… Read the rest

Carbon Fiber: UFO Quality Material

Carbon fiber has always captivated me. Its such a space age material, and when done right, it looks awesome. I’m fortunate to have owned a car or two with beautiful carbon fiber work, for example on the dashboard. I’ve always been interested in possibly making something out of the material, but have never had the time to learn.
Recently, a friend in the area has offered me a chance to swing by his workshop and see how he makes carbon fiber parts. He’s in the aviation business. Last night we trimmed the molds for some carbon fiber aircraft wingtips on my bandsaw and I’m going to get to see the vacuum bagging operation that puts carbon into place on these molds.… Read the rest

Henderson “Piggy” Motorcycle is the Coolest!

I need to design some cool looking brackets to mount some glass shelves in our home. I plan to CNC these, and I wanted something with a cool design motif, so I started cruising Google Images with searches like “Art Deco Brackets”. Somehow, I came upon this Henderson motorcycle, which has to be the coolest bike I’ve seen in a long time:

Our kids refer to the big-grilled Chryslers and Bentleys (the modern cars) as “piggies” because of their evocative features. It’s a term of affection, but this bike has to be the King of Piggy art.… Read the rest

G-Wizard Spring Deals are Coming

As I’ve mentioned here before, we have two distinct audiences for CNCCookbook–professional machinists and talented hobbyists. So it is with G-Wizard, our CNC Machinist’s Calculator. I wanted to let folks know there is a special Spring promotion coming that has something in it for both groups that I think you’ll really like. I’ll be sending the announcement via our email newsletter, which you’ll get if you’ve registered for the G-Wizard Trial at any point (and haven’t opted out, LOL!).
The offer for hobbyists is innovative. It was given to me by one of the hobbyist trial users as a way to create a product for hobbyists that would serve all their needs while leaving the “original flavor” G-Wizard for professionals.… Read the rest

Speaking of Art Suitable for Billionaire Playboys: Welcome Back Widgitmaster!

I’ve followed Eric, who goes by “Widgitmaster” for a long time and corresponded frequently. He’s been one of my remote machinist mentors, and I’ve learned an awful lot from him. He’s been out of the shop for quite a while owing to some family issues, but recently came back to build this exquisite display of a Turner’s Cube:

This cube is mounted on a wallnut base between ball bearings and is motorized to spin slowly. For more on how it was made, check out Widgitmaster’s CNCZone thread.    Something like this would make a wonderful gift, perhaps for that understanding spouse who wonders why you’ve tracked so many chips onto her nice clean carpets.… Read the rest

A Photo Album for Machinists and Billionaire Playboys

Ever since seeing the owner’s manual for Billionaire Playboy Larry Ellison’s custom Cobra, I have wanted to make one. In many ways, it is cooler than the car itself, which is no small feat. But the thing is, I’ve seen a lot of Cobras, and have even owned 2 (one of which I stiill drive). They’re wonderful cars, but I had never seen a photo album quite like this one until I came across it reading about Larry’s Cobra. There are many more details in the book than I can document here, so read the article on Kirkham’s site about the book and the car.… Read the rest

Great Video Series from Hoss on Tramming a Small Mill

Squaring up and tramming their mill is often a puzzle for new home machinists. Hoss makes it look easy in his great video series. Here is the first one:

Hoss Trams a Mill–Pt 1
The other parts are here:
- Part 2
- Part 2B
- Part 3
Those videos are taken from his CNCZone G0704 series as he converts a Grizzly G0704 to CNC. If you haven’t come across Hoss before, he is a must-read. His G0704 thread is great, but still in progress–he has CNC’d and added a belt drive conversion to the spindle, but he is still in the middle of his power drawbar and eventually a toolchanger.… Read the rest

MeshCAM: Great Ease of Use in a 3D CAM Package

Most machinist I talk to go through the same experience the first time they try CAM–total bewilderment and frustration. Everyone has this idea that you create a 3D solid model, load it into CAM, push a button, and out pops a finished g-code program. If only it were true!
Instead, you generally have to wrestle with the solid model until it imports properly, and then you have to tell the CAM program where the parts of interest on the model are and what sorts of toolpaths to apply to them.
Imagine my surprise when I loaded up MeshCAM CNC Software, stuck a solid model in it, and discovered that with very little trouble I could (drumroll please): push a button and get a g-code program.… Read the rest