The CNC mill is the foundation of most modern machine shops, and it’s usually the tool with the most demands competing for its time. This means making tough choices when small-volume parts are needed.

3D printers are ubiquitous now, but they’re still prohibitively expensive for some people. Some printers cost thousands, but even more inexpensive options aren’t exactly cheap. [Daniel] decided that ...

Superficially, it is easy to think about converting a 3D printer into a CNC machine. After all, they both do essentially the same thing. They move a tool around in three dimensions. Reducing this to ...

MIT students have created a portable factory for rapid prototyping, fitting a 3D printer and a CNC milling machine inside an ordinary briefcase. MIT students have created a portable factory for rapid ...

One of the long-touted possibilities of 3D printing (also known as rapid prototyping and additive manufacturing) has been for the military to make replacement parts and repairs tools for machines and ...

Master of none, and all that.

Medium-sized cnc machines, which I am defining as those using NEMA 23 and 24 motors, need about 5A per stepper, usually mandating separate driver modules alongside a control board. However, 3d printer ...

Sam Cervantes is a quiet-seeming guy who speaks earnestly about his line of work. When I visited his Brooklyn 3D printer factory in 2013, workers in an assembly line were busy putting together ...

With the new year still unfolding, observant manufacturers will want to keep an eye on the world of CNC machining, to be ready for and take advantage of the important developments emerging now. Here’s ...