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Tool Pr0n: Matsuura 5-Axis Mill

By Chuck Cage

Can you afford one of these?  No.  But you can get a big kick out of watching one in action.  This video shows an edited clip of the killer mill turning a solid block of metal into a fully-finished V8 engine block.

Sean says he saw this exact sort of thing on How It’s Made a few weeks ago, with the engine blocks destined for GM vehicles.  Sweet.

(Thanks, Vito, for the tip!)


This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 31st, 2007 at 4:04 pm and is filed under Automotive, Metalworking, Tool Pr0n. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

5 Responses to “Tool Pr0n: Matsuura 5-Axis Mill”

  1. Nate Bezanson Says:
    July 31st, 2007 at 8:00 pm

    Starting about 5 minutes in, the workpiece begins pivoting back and forth under the tool. I swear it’s the closest I’ve ever come to seeing a machine dance! Absolutely breathtaking. Do I want to know what it takes to compute a toolpath for a machine like this?

  2. Yuppers Says:
    August 1st, 2007 at 6:39 am

    Sexy! I could watch all day.

  3. John Laur Says:
    August 1st, 2007 at 2:43 pm

    “5 axis, how exactly does that work?” I thought.

    Until about 4:20 remaining in the video this thing is just a really big mill, but at that point the machine begins to do such a thing that you could not even imagine the underlying mechanics and precision necessary to accomplish its task.

    It is my understanding that the type of milled engine block this is producing is worth on the order of $4000-$6000 so you can imagine the cost of the machine.

  4. Jon Says:
    August 2nd, 2007 at 10:08 am

    @John Laur

    Not only is the workpiece moving at that point, but the tool is moving too!!

    Love it when the chips fly ~6:18 left in the clip, roughing out the cylinders.

  5. doubtingben » Blog Archive » Matsuura 5-Axis Mill Says:
    August 12th, 2007 at 11:45 am

    [...] http://toolmonger.com/2007/07/31/tool-pr0n-matsuura-5-axis-mill/ [...]

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