CNC Machining 101
Fundamentals for the shop floor: speeds and feeds, tool wear, coatings, coolant and setup choices, explained in plain terms.
- CNC Machinery
- CNC Machining 101
- Cutting Fluids
- Drilling
- Indexable Tooling
- Milling
- Threading
- Tool and Work Holding
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Long Reach vs Long Length End Mills: Which One for Deep Pockets vs Deep Walls?
Deep pocket or deep wall? Long reach (reduced neck) end mills reach deep with a short flute; long length mills cut tall walls. How to pick, plus stickout.
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Why the Drill Chart on Your Shop Wall Is Lying to You
Most shop SFM charts were built for uncoated HSS drills decades ago. See why modern coated carbide tooling runs 3 to 5 times faster, and what should replace the wall…
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Blind-Hole Drilling: The Chip Volume Math That’s Snapping Your Drills
Why drills that run clean through-hole pack and snap in blind holes, and the peck-cycle chip volume math (G73 vs. G83) that keeps them running to depth.
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SFM Chart by Material: Max’s Guide to Speeds, RPM and Chip Load
Blown up end mill, chattered finish, burned edges that should have been clean. Walk the floor of the shop after a bad run and the tool gets blamed first. Sometimes,…
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Why Taps Break at Reversal: A Guide to Synchronous Tap Holders
A tap is the only tool that reverses direction mid-cycle. Learn why that moment breaks tools and how synchronous tap holders like Emuge-Franken Soft Synchro protect them.
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Stop Smoking End Mills – One Easy Lesson
Most machinists can tell when a tool is worn. Fewer understand what is actually happening at the cutting edge – This article explains the physics of tool wear.
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How to Diagnose Costly End Mill Wear Before It Scraps Parts
A field guide to the 5 primary end mill wear modes: what each looks like, what causes it, what it costs you if you ignore it, and what to adjust…
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How to Thread Inconel Without Breaking Taps
The full threading picture for Inconel: what makes it hard metallurgically, how to select and set up a tap correctly, what your parameters should look like.
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Precision Sells: A Hard Look at the Okuma GENOS M560-V
This post takes a hard look at what makes Okuma machines, specifically the GENOS M560-V, a different kind of investment from a production standpoint.
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Is Your Coolant Killing Your Tools?
You bought premium carbide and running recommended speeds and feeds. You’re watching your coating spec. Still your tools are dying…
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Cutting Tool Coatings Explained: A Machinist’s Guide
For the advanced machinist, coating selection isn’t an afterthought, it’s part of the process setup. Get it wrong and you’ll be sorry…
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Killing Chatter: How End Mill Geometry Fights Vibration
If you run a CNC machine long enough, you know the sound immediately. That harsh, high-pitched screech cutting through the shop floor noise. Chatter.
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