CNC Machining Blog - Tips and Tricks for Machinists

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:

The ability to import an STL file for stock geometry is a Hurco WinMax feature I'm excited to discuss. Although many people have this feature on their controls, they either aren't aware of it or don't know how to use it. I thought it was worth a quick blog post and video. 

The Hurco control is so easy to use and self-teach that often times there are overlooked features that could be extremely useful if operators knew about them. This blog article is to help machinists understand some features of the WinMax^® software they may not have been aware of.

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 CNC machine knows how important correct centerline measurements can be for accurate machining. Often times, however, when troubleshooting for issues, or after a slight “bump” of the machine, there might be a need to verify or re-measure these centerline values.

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”.

Hurco has many different partherships - some in education, tooling companies, CAM software compalnies, and both Indy Car and NHRA drag racing. Even though every single one of our relationships are important and special in their own way, one of the coolest relationships that we have is with John Force and the John Force Racing team.