Since its launch in 2009, Kickstarter has provided an instant a preemptive marketplace for projects to raise capital through individual investors. The practice is known as “crowdfunding”. This is HUGE for machinists. We’ve all seen good ideas floating around the shop but the two biggest hurdles to turning an idea into a product has been [...]
So, you’re thinking of signing up with one of those big box website companies and taking a shot at their “easy website builder”? Allow my next statement to be my shortest editorial ever: DON’T I suppose I should qualify my words word. You are an owner/machinist and the reason you hold that title is because [...]
We’re posting a gnarly video below (PG13) that is bound to cause any one of the following reactions: horror, shock, laughter, amazement, fear, anger, sadness, judgement or frustration. You might experience one of the aforementioned, but does it end there? In our consumer/entertainment driven society our brains are slowly being trained to see things and [...]
You may have caught one of our headlines 30 months back about how President Obama’s small business plan will fail. The $30 billion shot in the arm didn’t quite break the skin of the small business sector and time has proven that government spending through the banking sector is not the answer. Banks tend to [...]
It used to be that 20 years ago was a significant amount. Not so much now. Haul someone from 1992 to 2012 and there wouldn’t be the same amount of future shock that bringing someone forward from 1930 to 1950 would have. Maybe we’ve become more sophisticated, more technically savvy. But, a 20 year span [...]
Torchmate Before Christmas by Rachel Miller (CNC enthusiast and marketing director for Torchmate) Twas the night before cutting, and all through the house Not a fabricator was working, not even their spouse. The sheet metal was laid out everywhere, In hopes that a Torchmate soon would be there. The plasma cutters were nestled all snug [...]
What’s interesting about the Wall Street movement is that it erupted about the same time as an annual talent shortage survey by the ManpowerGroup, which found that 52% of U. S. employers are having trouble filling positions. But unfortunately for the Occupy Wallstreeter interviewed, a background in history was not on the list of sought-after skills. [...]
Anytime industrial equipment or technology initially used by industry giants seeps into the private sector, it evolves in unusual ways. Ten years ago, you could only find the regular use of CNC machines and other types of robotics in the governmental or high-end fabrication shops and factories around the world. We saw this with the [...]
I don’t remember when Dual Contact Toolholders first hit the market, but when I saw them I imagined they’d be a flash-in-the-pan product. At this point it seems like they’re more hit than miss and here to stay. I’m know there are a lot of other engineers that are far smarter than me that have [...]
It’s nice to see a company going back to the core of manufacturing. Nearly every consumer product these days is wrapped in plastic, but what most (non-machining) people don’t realize is their plastic gizmo had its start in a CNC machining center in the form of an injection mold. One prominent company is skipping the [...]
