‘Recipes’ to help machinists: Turning Performance

Properly machining a part requires knowing the correct speeds and feed rates for a cutting tool and workpiece material — a skill that can take years to master. What if a resource existed that could make it possible for anyone to run a CNC machine and successfully cut a range of materials, from plastic and stainless steel to titanium? What if the same resource could help seasoned machinists learn how to optimize a new cutting tool or material?

More than a decade ago, I bought a benchtop CNC mill to develop a product. To improve the odds of my business succeeding, I needed to learn the basics of machining. But all the essentials, such as cutting tools and CAD/CAM software, were foreign topics to me. So I soaked up every resource I could find in the pre-YouTube era and fell in love with machining.

A partial recipe from ProvenCut. Images courtesy of J. Saunders

Each ProvenCut recipe includes, among other ingredients, a photo of the chips made during the cut

Countless aids since have emerged that shorten the learning curve for manufacturing entrepreneurs: affordable CAD/CAM software; YouTube channels dedicated to CNC machining, including my company’s own, NYC CNC; online and hands-on training classes; and the resurgence of manufacturing through reshoring and insourcing. Yet I have continued to see people struggle with speeds and feeds whether they are new to machining, working with a new material or trying to optimize a new cutting tool.

The machining world needed a modern solution for determining correct speeds and feeds — a solution that accounted for high-speed CAM toolpath strategies, current CNC machine capabilities and user-friendly, intelligent interfaces. The idea for ProvenCut was born. It would offer proven speeds and feeds backed by video tutorials and comprehensive machining and tool information.

Since launching ProvenCut last year, user response has been exceptional, with feedback ranging from “You saved me hours of testing a new tool for stainless steel” to “ProvenCut is like watching high-definition TV after spending your whole life reading plain text.”