HMC Machine Shop Metalworking Projects

Conversational Mill CNC

I attended a proctor training workshop where we learned how to program conversational CNC on a ProtoTRAK knee mill. With my fellow “baby” (first-time) proctors Sebastian and Christian, I designed and milled out an aluminum image of a Minecraft Villager. It was fun to do the math to figure out how to achieve the shaping that we wanted, and rewarding when our piece came out obviously better than we could have done by hand.

Close-up photo of Villager CNC engraving.

Photo of Jacob, Sebastian, and Christian with their Villager CNC engraving.

Metal Fixturing and Fidgeting

During another workshop, fellow proctor Clara and I started designing a work-in-progress brass fidget toy. It’s inspired by the ratchet mechanism in retractable pens; the idea is that you can pull one end of it and turn it, then let it slide back down, and repeat.

Selfie with brass fidget toy base on lathe.

Photo of reducing brass fidget toy diameter via lathe.

Photo of brass fidget toy measurements and schematics.