1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
2. works produced by human creative skill and imagination.
3. creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture.
4. a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice.
Spring 2015 - Foreword
The Art of Machining
art| noun
1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power.
2. works produced by human creative skill and imagination.
3. creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture.
4. a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice.
What is art? That question has plagued mankind for ages, and the answer varies greatly from person to person. To most, though, it probably falls into a few general categories, like paintings, drawings, and sculptures . . . you know, the stuff you find in museums and galleries. Sure, there are other forms of art – like music, theater, and motion pictures – but it’s a pretty sure bet that most folks don’t go looking for art at their local machine shop. In fact, they probably couldn’t even find their local machine shop . . . even if they knew what one was.
But they would find art there. Not in the form of framed paintings on the walls, alabaster figurines ensconced in glass cases, or marble sculptures perched atop pedestals. But the art is there. And usually, it is clearly displayed for the world to see, proudly showcasing the skills of the shop’s in-house artists – the CNC machinists.
I’ve yet to visit a machine shop that didn’t have a collection of finished p(art)s on display to show prospective customers their capabilities. Complex components sculpted from difficult-to-machine materials, tiny pieces with intricately machined details, decorative components with beautiful surface finishes, utilitarian devices with extraordinary form and function – they’re all art.
Each billet of raw material is a blank canvas; the cutting tools are the paintbrushes; the workholding is the easel; the machinist is the artist – and each finished part is a work of art.
But it’s not only the finished parts that are art. So is the process. The motions of the cutting tool and machine are a carefully choreographed dance, sculpting billet into part. The sound of an endmill taking a perfect cut is fine music to the machinist’s ears. The G-code program is the sheet music that directs the machine tool orchestra. It’s all art.
For our cover story, we visited Titan Gilroy, a true artist in both the classical and machinist sense. His mother was a talented artist, and he inherited the gene. While growing up, art was his refuge from street fighting. During a stint in prison, art was his salvation. And today, art is his passion – as he machines complex parts out of difficult materials for the aerospace, defense, subsea, and medical industries. His particular style of art – let’s call it Americanism – is all about running parts hard and fast, making money for his customers, and bringing work back to America. But Titan is not content to keep his artistry to himself; he’s taking his Americanist Movement to the masses through another form of art: a reality TV show about machining called TITAN – American Built. We take you inside Titan America MFG for a look at the artist at work.
We also take you inside the creative studios of numerous other machining artists around the world to see how they turn raw materials into art. You’ll see motocross art from Florida, medical implant art from Arizona, automotive art from Australia, aural art from Spain, motorcycle art (with an Italian flair) from Taiwan, and much more.
For our education piece, we visited Bates Technical College in Tacoma, Washington, which gears its training program toward getting graduating “artists” into jobs and apprenticeships at such local companies as Boeing. Thanks to state and legislative support, the school is able to provide first-class, hands-on training in a high-quality learning environment.
You’ll also find a selection of interesting industry news in Cycle Time, and a preview of additional content available online, such as helpful videos, customer case studies, and more.
It’s a jam-packed issue, so sit back, relax, and enjoy!
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