15% Off Sale: Help Us Grow to 20,000 Users

Okay, I just got done going over our database and we just crossed 19,000 folks who have used our software.  Amazing!
Thank you for all your support.  But, this just makes we want to see how fast we can get over 20,000.   Nothing I’ve ever tried gets the juices flowing like a sale, and it’s been a while since our sale to launch G-Wizard Editor ended.  Also, we haven’t technically had G-Wizard Calculator on sale this year at all, except when bought in combination with GW Editor.  So, the right answer is it’s time to have a sale.  … Read the rest

Introduction to CNC Machining Productivity

I just uploaded a new installment on our CNC Machining and Manufacturing Cookbook.  This is an introduction and overview on how to think about CNC Machine Shop Productivity by analyzing the overall Workflow in the shop.  It’s based on our CNC Manufacturing Workflow (as is the rest of the Cookbook):

One of the key things in this new installment is an Excel worksheet for tracking shop costs that you can use to begin to analyze your shop’s productivity and cost structure, and to track improvements in various parts of the Workflow.… Read the rest

Introducing Our CNC Machining and Manufacturing Cookbook

Something I hear constantly from CNCCookbook visitors is some sort of exclamation about how much information can be found here.  There truly is a tremendous amount of information–literally a couple thousand pages of it.  Some of it is in the Blog area, where it can be accessed chronologically (not especially helpful except to stay current), by Category (see the list on the lower left column), or by Search.  The blog comprises nearly 600 posts, so the majority of the site is still in the form of regular web pages.  You can visit those pages using the menu above to drill down to the information you’re looking for:
-  Software:  These are the home pages for our G-Wizard Software and all that goes with that.… Read the rest

Worried About Global Warming? Then Buy American Made (Or European, Or Japanese)

I was reading Gilbert Kaplan’s article recently on anti-Manufacturing forces in Washington, and why we can’t seem to make much progress helping out the Manufacturing Sector here.  Gilbert is a former official in the US Department of Commerce, and he makes no bones about there being strong forces against Manufacturing in Washington.  He names 5 constituents that makes sense on the face of it:
1.  Those US companies that view offshoring as part of a major competitive advantage.  He gives an excellent description:
First, we have the people who are making big money by moving manufacturing off-shore.… Read the rest

G-Wizard Customer Fox Engineering Builds Custom Fuel Injection Systems for Hot Rodders

I got a nice note from Josh Bentley recently, talking about how he used G-Wizard and his Industrial Hobbies CNC Mill to do some amazing fuel injection work for his company Fox Engineering. Here are some samples:

502 Cubic Inch Big Block Chevy in a Steel Deuce Hot Rod…

Cross Ram Fuel Injection Setup for a Small Block Chevy…

Custom Injection Setup on a Hemi…

Custom Fox Injection on a Lamborghini V12 in a T-Bucket Roadster:  Gotta Be a Wild Ride!
That Lambo V12 in the T-Bucket roadster is a real kick, isn’t it?… Read the rest

CNC’ing the World’s Ultimate Pizza Cutter

I’ve recently written that there’s always a market for the very best of any product type and this story from Tormach’s blog is a great example.  Imagine what the world’s ultimate pizza cutter would be and you’ve got to come pretty close to Frankie Flood’s art:

I love the idea of the course he describes where each student makes their own 3D printer.  Check the Tormach article for more information or click on Frankie’s Logo above to go to his web site.… Read the rest

You Can’t Find Optimal Feeds and Speeds in Charts, Handbooks, or the Seat of Your Pants

I see a lot of interesting discussions about feeds and speeds out on the Internet.  There are people that think you can get good feeds and speeds just by reading manufacturer’s charts, by ear, from their CAM program, and through a whole host of other shortcuts.  Some say they’ve had enough experience as machinists that they just know the best feeds and speeds.  Or, they may say their shop only does a few materials and they’ve learned them by trial and error.  I’ve heard in the same breath that tooling manufacturers don’t test near enough variables to have complete data but that an individual machinist can accumulate enough knowledge through trial and error to come out with near optimal feeds and speeds for all the situations that they encounter.… Read the rest

The Decline in US Manufacturing is More Recent Than You Think and May Be Turning Around

Some important points to know about manufacturing in the US:
-  Manufacturing in the United States produces $1.8 trillion of value each year, or 12.2 percent of U.S. GDP. For every $1.00 spent in manufacturing, another $1.48 is added to the economy, the highest multiplier effect of any economic sector.  (The italics are mine, and put there for those who think the US is better off not worrying about manufacturing).

-  In 2011, the average manufacturing worker in the United States earned $77,060 annually, including pay and benefits. The average worker in all industries earned $60,168.  … Read the rest

Vanity Plates from LinkedIn

I recently got a notice from LinkedIn stating that my profile was in the top 1% out of 200 million in terms of how many people had viewed it.  So, they sent me my vanity shot:

Nice letter, and I assume I have the CNCCookbook readership to thank for it.  I can’t imagine who else would be spending time wondering who in the heck Bob Warfield is.  For those who are curious about my history, here is my LinkedIn profile.
Thanks for your kind attention in having gotten me this award.  … Read the rest

The 15 Best Web Sites for CNC Job Search

Times are tough, no doubt about it, and I wanted to do something to help others find work.  I get a lot of notes from folks who are using the G-Wizard Editor and our G-Code Tutorial to increase their CNC skills before setting out to find a new job, so that’s one way we try to help.  More directly, we spent time in conjunction with a guest blogger putting together the research on the 15 best web sites for CNC job search.  For each site we give a quick overview of what kind of site it is, some links for sample searches that bring up CNC jobs on the site, and a sample search result that shows how a job is listed on that site.… Read the rest

Tell MAKE Magazine What You Think About Offshoring!

I can’t believe MAKE Magazine is focused on telling their Makers how to go offshore.  I’ve written about the problems of offshoring before.  Even big companies get it wrong and it makes no sense at all for small companies with so many fine innovative shops right here on our shores.  I’ve talked to many small businesses who are building all sorts of things without recourse to offshoring.
Head on over to the MAKE article and leave a comment telling them what you think about it, and tell them CNCCookbook sent you.  … Read the rest

Boeing’s Problem: Focusing on the Dumbest Idea in the World led to Offshoring

Forbes magazine has a two-part series of articles that essentially blames Boeing’s problems on poor decision making around outsourcing and offshoring work done for the 787 dreamliner.  After already being billions of dollars over budget and delivering the first planes 3 years late, the grounding of the entire 787 fleet adds insult to injury.  The last time an entire fleet was grounded was 1979, and this is not the sort of thing that should be happening to a company like Boeing.  As a market leader, they’re supposed to know better.
Steve Denning, the Forbes writer behind the series, goes on to say that bad offshoring decisions are “a disease that has been gnawing at the US economy for decades: flawed offshoring decisions by the C-suite.”  He quotes Harry Moser, founder of the Reshoring Initiative who says that as many as 60% of offshoring decisions are based on miscalculations.  … Read the rest

CNC Manufacturing Workflow Infographic

Over the holidays I visited a friend who has a new waterjet at his shop.  I’ll write more about that later, but one thing he said really stuck with me and that is that the waterjet had seriously changed his whole workflow.  This had to do with whether he was producing rough stock ready for machining using his tried and true Marvel bandsaw running 10 hours a day or using the waterjet which can cut material up to 2″ thick with an accuracy of about 0.010″.  It’s fascinating to compare the two.  … Read the rest

What Makes Your CNC Business Different?

Having founded 4 Silicon Valley startups and participated in success and failure at 3 others, I’ve learned a little bit about making a business successful.  I write another blog called Smoothspan that specifically discusses business strategy for entrepreneurs, but I like to do a post here every now and again when I have something to say that is particularly suited to the CNC, machining, and manufacturing world.  I know a lot of you out there either have your own businesses or have considered starting a business, so I want to pass along whatever I can.… Read the rest

HSMWorks Sold to Autodesk: What Do Solidworks Users Do?

Here’s a bit of industry news that was a shocker:  CAM provider HSMWorks has been bought by Autodesk.  If you go to their home page, it’s now called “Autodesk HSMWorks.”  Even weirder is the tagline, “The CAM Solution for Solidworks.”
The gang over on CNCZone is not real happy about this development.  HSMWorks is thoroughly integrated with Solidworks, and the general suspicion is that it Autodesk will not want to continue to support deep integration with a rival.  I haven’t seen any announcements to that effect, but it is a bit jarring to see an Autodesk division calling its product, “The CAM solution for SolidWorks.”  Hard to believe that will continue much beyond however long it takes them to create an Autodesk Inventor version.… Read the rest