Machining a part requires knowing the correct speeds and feeds for a cutting tool and material; a skill that can take years to master. What if a resource existed that made it possible for anyone to run a CNC machine and successfully cut a range of materials - from plastic to stainless steel to titanium? What if the same resource could help seasoned machinist learn how to optimize a new cutting tool or a new material?

10 years ago, I bought a benchtop CNC mill to develop a product. I needed to learn manufacturing basics to improve the odds of the business succeeding, but machining, CAD, CAM, and cutting tools were foreign topics to me. I soaked up every resource I could find in a pre-YouTube world and fell in love with machining.

Countless resources have since emerged that shorten the learning curve for manufacturing entrepreneurs: affordable CAD & CAM software, YouTube channels dedicated to CNC (including our own, NYC CNC), online and hands-on training classes, and the resurgence of manufacturing through re-shoring, maker-spaces and in-sourcing. Yet we continued to see people struggle with speeds & feeds - whether they were new to machining, working with a new material, or trying to optimize a new cutting tool.

The manufacturing world needed a modern solution for speeds and feeds – a solution that accounting for new CAM toolpath strategies, modern CNC machine capabilities and a user-friendly, intelligent interface. The idea for ProvenCut was born. It would offer video tutorials backed with comprehensive cutting and tool information with pre-programmed CAM operations to help anyone run a CNC machine and make parts.

ProvenCut launched in August 2019. The 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 in plain text."

Each ProvenCut recipe includes:

• Video footage of the cut, allowing users to watch and listen as if standing next to a skilled machinist.
• Photographs of the cutting tool, the chips made during the cut, and machine setup.
• Links to purchase tools, tool holders, and raw material.
• Comprehensive cut data ranging from coolant to gage length to horsepower.
• A link to automatically open the cutting tool and CAM operation in Fusion 360.

ProvenCut recipes can be filtered by almost any machining criteria. Examples include: machine tool brand, gage length, number of flutes, coolant type (flood, thru-Spindle, dry), machine horsepower, tool holder style, tool type, and more. The filter options are unparalleled in the "speeds and feeds" world when compared with other resources, including manufacturer "starting recommendations", PDF guides, or calculators.

ProvenCut Users can also subscribe to updates based on certain filters to be notified in their feed or via a weekly email when new recipes have been added. Dimensional units can be switched from imperial (a.k.a. "inch") to metric with a master toggle and a simple mouse-hover over any dimension will pop up the alternate unit. Recipes can be starred as favorite and users can add cutting tools to their My Tools library to filter Recipe results by cutting tools that they own and have on-hand.

Recipes are created at Saunders Machine Works which operates over a dozen CNC machines ranging from a FANUC Robodrill to a HAAS UMC-750. Our success running NYC CNC, the leading CNC YouTube channel with over 300,000 subscribers meant we knew how to film machines and had a great audience to help kickstart ProvenCut. ProvenCut has also worked with select partners to create recipes on machines ranging from the popular Datron Neo to high-end Mori Seiki mold machines.

ProvenCut is constantly expanding its CNC machines, recipes, and materials, as well as adding new types of CNC machines including lathes and turning centers as we reduce the barriers and allow anyone to succeed with CNC machining!