This is the index of the mecanizador.com blog: 21 practical guides to the trade, written for people who stand at a machine. No courses to sell, no sponsored tooling, no affiliate links.
If you are starting from scratch, the CNC Path puts eight of these subjects in order, from what a machinist does to reading a whole program. The glossary defines 128 terms, and the CNC Challenge checks what has stuck.
CNC programming
The language of the machine: codes, cycles, compensation and setting up.
Essential G-codes to get started in CNC
Learn the G-codes that are actually used on the shop floor, with a worked example step by step and the mistakes worth avoiding from day one.
Read the guide →CNC · programmingCNC drilling canned cycles: G81, G82, G83 and G73 explained
A canned cycle is one line the machine repeats at every point you give it. Used well they save program and broken drills; left uncancelled, they drill where they should not.
Read the guide →CNC · programmingTool compensation: radius and length without the confusion
Compensation is what lets you program the profile of the part instead of the path of the cutter centre. Set up right, you never notice it; set up wrong, the part comes out offset by the same amount every time.
Read the guide →CNC · setting upHow to set the work offset on CNC: mill and lathe, step by step
A probe, an edge finder or a plain sheet of paper: real shop-floor methods for referencing the part, loading G54 and cutting without surprises.
Read the guide →CNC · processCNC threading: tapping, single-point or thread milling
There are three ways to produce a thread on a CNC and the wrong one gets picked more often than you would think. What separates them is speed, risk of breakage, and what you do when something goes wrong.
Read the guide →CNC · milling3-axis versus 5-axis machining: the differences, plainly
What separates a 3-axis mill from a 5-axis one, when the jump is worth making, and the sectors where each technology comes into its own.
Read the guide →Cutting and tooling
What cuts, how fast, and when to change it.
Cutting speed and feed: how to work them out
Cutting speed and feed are not guessed: they are calculated from the manufacturer's table and then trimmed at the machine. Here is how, with the formulas and a real example.
Read the guide →Tooling · latheHow to choose the right turning insert
The insert is what actually cuts on the lathe. Here is how to get the material, the geometry and the ISO code right so parts come out first time.
Read the guide →Tooling · materialsHSS, carbide and coatings: which tool for which job
A carbide end mill costs five times what a high-speed steel one costs and it is sometimes the wrong choice. What decides is neither price nor hardness: it is the combination of workpiece material, machine rigidity and number of parts.
Read the guide →Tooling · processTool wear: reading the edge and knowing when to change it
The cutting edge tells you what is happening in the cut. Learning to read it is what separates changing the insert when it is due from changing it once it has already scrapped a part.
Read the guide →Materials · parametersAluminium, steel and stainless: why each one machines differently
The same program that produces a perfect part in aluminium burns the tool in stainless. It is not a matter of "going slower": the cutting speed, the geometry, the coolant and even the way you enter the material all change.
Read the guide →Process · workshopCoolant and lubrication in machining
Cutting fluid cools, lubricates and clears the chip. Here are the types, how to look after a soluble emulsion and when each option makes sense in the workshop.
Read the guide →On the shop floor
Workholding, vibration and the mistakes that cost parts.
Workholding: why the part moves and how to clamp it properly
Workholding does not hold the part: it resists the cutting force. That difference explains most of the parts that shift and most of the frights on the machine.
Read the guide →Process · qualityVibration and chatter: how to spot them and how to get rid of them
That high-pitched squeal coming out of the machine is neither normal nor inevitable. It has a specific physical cause and it is almost always cured by changing one parameter, not by turning everything down.
Read the guide →The trade · latheThe most common mistakes when starting out on the lathe
When you start on the lathe, the frights almost always come from the same failures. Here are the ten most common mistakes and how to get them out of your habits.
Read the guide →Drawings and metrology
Reading what is asked for, and proving you delivered it.
How to read an engineering drawing without getting lost
Before you program anything, the drawing has to be understood. Five minutes reading it properly saves a rejected part.
Read the guide →Metrology · qualityTolerances and fits in machining: a practical guide
A tolerance tells the machinist how far a dimension may deviate before the part stops being usable. Here is the ISO system, the types of fit and what they do to the cost.
Read the guide →Metrology · measurementMetrology in the workshop: caliper and micrometer
A caliper and a micrometer look like the same thing, but they do not measure the same way and they are not for the same jobs. Here is when to use each and how to measure properly.
Read the guide →Metrology · qualitySurface finish: what Ra is, what Rz is and how to achieve it
Finish does not depend on the machine as much as people think. It depends on the feed per tooth, the nose radius and whether the tool is still sharp.
Read the guide →The trade and the business
Pay, prospects and setting up on your own.
How much does a machinist earn in Spain (2026)
A machinist's pay is not a fixed figure: it depends on your level, on the metalworking agreement in your province, on the sector, and on whether or not you have CNC. Here are the indicative market ranges and how to move up them.
Read the guide →Business · workshopHow to set up your own machine shop
Setting up a machine shop is a serious undertaking, not a weekend whim. You need the trade, a clear niche, well-chosen machinery and customers before you sign anything. Here are the realistic steps, with indicative investment and no sales pitch.
Read the guide →