CNC Machining Blog

I often travel to different areas of the country to visit existing Hurco shops, as well as talk with shop owners who are thinking about purchasing their first Hurco, but have some questions. …I say FIRST Hurco, because nobody ever buys just ONE Hurco!

The most frequent request we have received from customers over the past decade or so, has been for the ability to import a solid model directly into the CNC control and conversationally program features from that solid. Well...the wait is over. Hurco released the 3D Import feature at IMTS 2018 and it was a huge success. 

This past weekend I was lucky enough to attend the commissioning of the US Navy’s newest nuclear submarine, the USS INDIANA. In January of 2017 I posted an article about getting to meet the crew of the Indiana; in September she was christened, and now, after the September 29^th ceremony, she is a full-blown US Navy vessel! For the ceremony the US Navy activated a 100 year old Captain – who was an original Plank-Owner (original crew member) of the previous USS INDIANA battle ship – to pass the official ship’s telescope to the skipper of the current USS INDIANA.

It was awesome to see the support provided to this effort by the entire state of Indiana. As the name-sake for this amazing boat (the Navy calls submarines “boats” and not ships) the state of Indiana stepped up in a big way. All 92 counties provided something for the crew of the Indiana. Individuals and clubs or organizations worked countless hours on gifts and donations. Dining tables complete with an Indiana collegiate sports theme, made from Indiana sourced veneer will adorn the mess hall. A humidor and three poker sets – all hand-crafted from oak wood sourced in Constitution Grove located in Crane, Indiana - will give the officers and crew something to do in their down time. A teak wood bar top – made from a section of the actual deck of the WWII era USS INDIANA BB58 – will be placed in the Chief’s lounge and will offer them many hours of “recreation” to help pass the time. Purdue University also provided a beautiful replica of the Bicentennial torch that was carried all across the state during the Bicentennial celebrations.  

In addition to providing machines to the companies who actually built the USS INDIANA, Hurco’s involvement was also a bit more personal. The insignia of the US Submarine service is a warfare pin that includes a submarine flanked by two dolphins (fish not mammal) on either side. These pins are symbolic within the community of submariners, and synonymous with submarines throughout the Navy. As Hurco’s contribution we machined a set of these dolphins for each member of the USS INDIANA crew…and since the state of Indiana is known for limestone, we machined the symbolic dolphins out of Indiana limestone!

For anyone who might want to watch the entire ceremony, here is a link to the US NAVY official video...hint, the good stuff starts around 59:50 mark: 

Below are some pictures of many of the items donated to the crew of the USS INDIANA:

I am very excited about this feature, just like many of our Hurco WinMax users are. Although many people have this feature on their controls, they aren't aware of it, or don't know how to use it. I thought it was worth a quick blog post and video. 

There have been a number of enhancements on the Hurco WinMax control in the past few months and years that we never really get to share with our customers. The Hurco control is so easy to use and easy to self-teach that often times there are overlooked features that could be extremely useful and very powerful if operators knew about them. I thought this would be a great topic for a blog article to help our users find and understand these features if they weren’t previously aware of them.

CNC Cookbook Survey Respondents Rank Hurco Control #1

Well I’m just too excited about this not to share this news with my readers. With the help of Hurco Companies, I just recently published my very first actual book! It is a comprehensive guide to 5-axis CNC machining, and I wrote it to help the machinist as a shop floor guide of sorts.

Anyone who runs a 5-axis machine knows how important accurate centerline measurements can be for accurate machining. Often times, however, when troubleshooting process issues, or after a slight “bump” of the machine, there might be a need to verify or re-measure these centerline values. This usually requires a costly service call, and, even more painful, costly downtime of the machine while waiting. Although there is no substitute for the accuracy of the certified kit used by Hurco and distributor service personnel, this procedure will hopefully allow customers to keep their machines up and running (even if it is only while waiting for the service technician to arrive).

Earlier this week, a few of us here at Hurco were invited to a local function to meet the command staff of a newly commissioned Virginia Class Nuclear Submarine, for the U.S. Navy, named after our very own Hoosier state - the USS INDIANA…and, as it was written on the picture below, by the skipper of the Indiana, Commander Jesse Zimbauer, this submarine is “Hurco made”.