Summer Training now available! Schedule here. Please sign-up here.

Participating shops:

• E4Metal Shop
• CNC/Machine Shop
• 3D Printing Lab
• Laser Cutting Lab

General Info

The CNC/Machine Shop at 2 West 13th Street (see map) supports both digital and manual machining with the following equipment:

• 4 Desktop ShopBots
• A 4’x8′ ShopBot Alpha with tool changer
• A Haas Super Mini Mill with 4th axis attachment
• 2 Roland MDX-40A bench top CNC mills with rotary attachments
• 2 Manual Vertical Mills
• 3 Manual Machining Lathes

Model production in the CNC/Machine Shop

With proper training and supervision, students can use this equipment to fabricate projects to high levels of precision out of foams, wood products, plastics, waxes, and metals.

The CNC/Machine Shop also has a Casting and Epoxy Room (more info below) for plastic casting and rubber mold making, and there is a spray booth and airbrush room down the hallway.  These facilities have ventilation for working with certain materials, but students must still use appropriate Personal Protective Equipment and only work with materials from the Approved Materials List.

Safety Orientations

Students must attend a short safety orientation before they can use this shop. Once completed, students will receive a sticker for their ID. This is separate from the Wood Shop or Metal Shop safety orientations.

We’re including the safety orientation at the beginning of all CNC tutorials for the time being.  If you only need access to the Casting Room, please check in with the Technician ahead of time if you have not had a previous orientation.  We can often give a quick safety orientation if the shop is not busy.

CNC Tutorials

We provide hands-on tutorials for the CNC equipment. Students must attend one of the tutorials and complete a short assignment before they are cleared to use the CNC equipment in the CNC/Machine Shop (the CNC Shop in the 25 East 13th St. building has a drop off service for students who do not want to run their own files). Tutorials last about 2 hours and take place in the CNC Shop on the 3rd floor of the 2 W 13th St. building.

Click the “Mandatory Orientation Sign-Up” button at the top of the page to reserve a spot at one of the CNC Tutorials. We’re currently scheduling tutorials for Mondays and Thursdays.  Space is limited, so as tutorials fill up, they are removed from the sign up sheet.  The scheduled training sessions are also visible on the calendar to the right of this page.  If you see a training session on the calendar but not on the sign up sheet, it means that it is full.

If faculty members plan on assigning CNC specific projects, please reach out to Nathan Carter to coordinate.  Sometimes we can set up specific training sessions for an entire class, or allow a professor to give their class a demo on specific techniques.  We also help coordinate due dates for assignments so they do not overlap with other classes we are aware of.  This can help prevent an unnecessary bottleneck in the CNC shop.

Casting Room

In order to use the Casting Room, students must wear goggles, a tyvek suit, and a respirator with appropriate cartridges.  These items are all sold in the Making Center Material Store.

The following materials are approved for use in the Casting Room:

Bio Based Casting and Coating Epoxy
Entropy Resin SAP CCR

Two Part Epoxies
West System Epoxy
Z-Max

Casting Plastics
Smooth­-On 300 Series
Smooth-­On 320 Series

Casting and Mold Rubbers
Smooth-­On Dragon Skin
Smooth­-On Encapso K
Smooth­-On Mold Star
Smooth­-On OOMOO
Smooth-On Brush On

Casting Foams
Smooth­-On Flex Foam­-it
Smooth-­On Foam-­it

No other products or materials are allowed without direct approval from the shop manager.  This is for safety reasons.  Talk to the CNC/Machine Shop staff if you have any questions.