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.

#21 – The Wild World of PLM with Fino

Jessica sits down with manufacturing tech veteran Michael Finocchiaro for a blunt conversation about PLM, digital threads, CAD data chaos, and why the “single source of truth” promise rarely matches reality on the shop floor. From AI hype to disconnected systems, this episode cuts through the buzzwords and gets honest about manufacturing software.

#50 – The Tool Library Vanished

This week’s issue covers one of the most overlooked foundations of CNC programming: accurate stock models. We explore why assumptions are often more expensive than mistakes, share a real-world lesson in data backup, highlight industry trends, and examine the growing pressure being placed on today’s machinists and programmers.

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The Underground Archive

A smarter way to set chip load
Program Multi-Turret Machines
The Handoff that Wrecks a Spindle
Inconel Punishes Programmers
The M-code mistake shops make
Riskiest Moment in a Turning Cycle
Engineering/CAM 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 CAM 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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