Explore past newsletters, podcast episodes, and shop-floor insights from the CNC Underground community.

Latest from the Underground

The newest stories and conversations from CNC Underground.

The 90-Day Problem with Andrew Brown

Tony Gunn brings a global perspective on manufacturing, sharing what he’s learned from decades on the shop floor and visits to hundreds of facilities around the world. From what separates successful shops from struggling ones to automation, workforce challenges, technology, and lessons the U.S. can learn from manufacturers abroad, this conversation takes an unfiltered look at where manufacturing stands and where it’s headed.

#67 – When AI Disagrees with your Best Machinist

This week’s CNC Underground explores managing 5-axis machine limits, preserving valuable shop knowledge, and what happens when AI disagrees with your best machinist in our latest conversation from IMTS. Plus, discover a new GibbsCAM 2027 feature, weigh in on what shops should standardize first, catch up on the latest manufacturing news, explore industry job openings, and see which trade shows and events are coming up.

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The Underground Archive

Machine Features Shops Barely Use
Shop-Floor Tech and Tombstones
HSM, Reshoring, and GibbsCAM
IMTS, Gun Drilling, and Mistakes
The $150,000 Hiring Mistake
Confidence that Creates Scrap
Apprenticeships & Reshoring
The Kid With The Basement Lathe
Can You Automate Accountability?
Automation Repeats Chaos
The Real Experts Are On The Floor
One Missed Decimal Teaches Fast
When Toolpaths Turn Into Gambling
America’s Manufacturing Bet
Rest Machine – No Air Cutting
Live Tools & Shift Conflicts
Simplify Your Fixtures
The Tool Library Vanished
Smarter Way to Set Chip Load
Program Multi-Turret Machines
Handoff that Wrecks a Spindle
Inconel Punishes Programmers
M-code Mistake Shops Make
Riskiest Moment in a Turning
Engineering Communication
7 Ways to Program 5-Axis
One Small Miss, One Big Crash
Finish Tips, Rush Jobs, Terafab
A Near Career-Ending Mistake
7 Ways to Automate Busywork
End Tool Chaos, Smarter Inspection
Rebuilding US Manufacturing
Smarter Roughing, Shorter Cycles
CAM Trends & Tribal Knowledge
That One Button No One Touches
Machine Thin Features w/o Chatter
Everyone Saw It. Nobody Stopped It.
Rough Faster w/o Breaking Tools
Machine Orders Up, 2026 Outlook
MIT’s New Program & Deburring Tips
Tool Life, Safety Tech, Ransomware
Boeing, Mitotec & a Killer CAM Tip
Real-Time CNCs & Smart Toolpaths
Hybrid Mfg & Laser Lathes
Cybercabs, CAM tricks, & CNC Jobs
Microsoft’s Warning 2 Manufacturing
Fixe Bad Finishes
Turning Point for U.S. Manufacturing
Toolpath Fighting Your Machine?
The $6.5B Bet Reshaping U.S. Mfg
Confidence, Auto, & STEM
AI, Gen Z Recruiting, the Utah Boom
Manufacturing Can’t Shake It
The U.S. Just Bought 10% of Intel
MIT’s $500K Manufacturing Club
Billion-Dollar Manufacturing Shift
Automation, Labor, & Reshoring
Made in the USA
Fix Multi-Turret Bottlenecks in CAM
What Most CNC Pros Miss
Will AI Replace Your CAM Job?
Mistake Shops Make With Old Files
One CAM Tip Could Save Your Part
CNC Putter Wins the U.S. Open
U.S. Manufacturing Isn’t Back Yet
AI Knows What….
The people behind the machines

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