NEW (to us anyway) CNC Knee Mill & Engine Lathe

Since we began RISING in 2004/05, we have always strived to make our designs here in Utah. Unfortunately, when we began we did not have the experience or money to establish our own machine shop to make our 6″, 8.5″ and 12″ pliers so we contracted with foundaries overseas. While we were able to have our designs made into high quality tools, all was not ideal. Foreign manufacturers have no loyalty or allegience to us, as is evident from our products being sold by other companies, and they have no real sense of shame or guilt when they don’t produce quality products. These factors, as well as our desire to make everything in our own shop lead us on a 9 month journey into the world of mills, lathes, and the used machinery market.

Our end goal was to make the best gear possible with used machinery that would last.. So we purchased a 1975 Engine Lathe with digital read out and a 1976 Knee Mill with CNC retrofit. These machines can do anything and everything that the top of the line 3-axis cnc mills and engine lathes can do – but just a bit slower.

2 months into fulfilling our original mission and things are going as smoothly as we could hope. After breaking many expensive parts, we have the lathe turning alumiunm into great fly tying tools, and the mill is working on our 6″ pliers. The next few weeks should be exciting to say the least !

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