Full Width [alt+shift+f] Shortcuts [alt+shift+k]
Sign Up [alt+shift+s] Log In [alt+shift+l]
89
Machine tools – machines that cut or form metal – are the heart of industrial civilization. Sometimes called “mother machines” (because they’re machines that make other machines), machine tools are required to make almost everything. Nearly every manufactured good is made using machine tools, or by machines which were made using machine tools:
a year ago

Improve your reading experience

Logged in users get linked directly to articles resulting in a better reading experience. Please login for free, it takes less than 1 minute.

More from Construction Physics

Reading List for 05/31/2025

Wind wars, ALARA, power plant water use, grassroots opposition to data centers, and more.

2 days ago 3 votes
Can We Afford Large-scale Solar PV?

In the US solar energy has steadily risen in how much of our electricity it supplies.

4 days ago 5 votes
Reading List 05/24/25

Tulsa’s remote worker incentives, the “stolen iPhone building”, the Trump administration’s shipbuilding struggles, falling traffic law enforcement, and more.

a week ago 7 votes
How Japan Invented Modern Shipbuilding

And conquered the shipbuilding industry in the process

a week ago 10 votes
Reading List 05/17/25

The “Safe System” of road design, a manufactured “superwood”, concrete sphere batteries, Tesla’s insurance arm, the University of Nebraska’s drought monitor, and more.

2 weeks ago 10 votes

More in architecture

Inside a Wooded Hideaway Where Every Room Opens to Nature, Even the Sauna

Tucked into a five-acre wooded site just outside Seattle, Washington, the Interurban Residence is a quietly bold family home designed by Heliotrope Architects. Created for a family of four, this home turns its back on urban hustle and instead reaches deep into the forest, embracing sun, air, and natural materials with equal parts elegance and restraint. With interiors crafted by Amy Baker Interior Design and a landscape thoughtfully composed by Land Morphology, Interurban feels not simply placed within the forest, but deeply rooted in it.

3 hours ago 1 votes
Reading List for 05/31/2025

Wind wars, ALARA, power plant water use, grassroots opposition to data centers, and more.

2 days ago 3 votes
At First This Small Apartment Looks Simple, Then You Notice the Loft and Hidden Office

Located in Vila Mariana, one of São Paulo’s most traditional neighborhoods, this small apartment (398 square feet or 37 square meters) is a standout example of how compact living can be redefined through intelligent design. With interior design by RMV Interiores, the renovation focused on vertical space optimization and a contemporary material palette that balances efficiency with refined aesthetics.

3 days ago 3 votes
When There Is No Intelligence in Artificial Intelligence

AI is a tool for design, no more, no less. Humans are the creators.

4 days ago 4 votes
Can We Afford Large-scale Solar PV?

In the US solar energy has steadily risen in how much of our electricity it supplies.

4 days ago 5 votes