Page 39 - CNC West Web August - September

Above and left - Currently, the only CNC machines that J.E.M. F/X has three of are the Flow water jets. The versatility and ease of use makes these some of the most useful machines in the shop. All three are 6’x12’ and cut everything from wood and plastics to thick steel and aluminum.
Below – Andrea Crookes is building a bomb box on the laser out of acrylic. “The box gets wired up for pyro,” explains Andrea. “The top piece I’m making now is cut, engraved, and etched all on the new laser. Like the water jet and our CNC plasma cutter the laser is one of the machines we rely on a lot. It is quick and easy to program and can do a multitude of things with a single setup. Bomb boxes are custom made for specific tasks depending on the studio’s needs.”
Boss lasers, Sampson CNC Plasma cutters, a new Baileigh automated tubing bender, a CNC press, one ST20 Haas lathe, mig welding, tig welding, full sheet metal fab and assembly. When you build everything from fog machines and roll cages to pod cars and pirate ships, versatility is a big part of choosing machine tools. “Every machine has to be quick, easy to program, and be useful to the entire shop. We work in steel, aluminum, wood, and plastics. We have three water jets because we need three machines to keep up with the workload. Pretty much everyone in the shop can use the water jets for basic cuts with just a little training. Our more experienced designers can really get a lot out of them. The water jets are one of the most important tools we have. If one is down for service, or God forbid needs a part, the guys cry like little babies even though they still have two others. The Flows have been great over the years for us are reliable as hell. Most of the time if they aren’t running it is because someone broke a tip. We’ve all broken tips, but at J.E.M. F/X we have a big ceremony of shame that goes along with it.”
J.E.M. F/X have high school dropouts to guys with a master’s in engineering working side by side. Aptitude
CNC WEST August/September 2021
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