I went round to see my mate Nick today, armed with some 6mm steel plate left over from the workbench. The idea was to make a spanner by cutting the same profile as the prototype in steel.

The issue we had was the cutting depth of the small diameter cutters. We had to cut half way through, then turn the job over and do the same from the other side. We also had to make sure that the two sides lined up perfectly.

Nick made a jig to hold the job between two dowels along the centre line, so when we turned it over everything would line up. It worked perfectly! I’m really seeing the benefit of CNC machining and I think as I tool up that’s the way I’ll go.

Here’s the master at work.