Inside a Chinese CNC Factory

[@StrangeParts]

Use code 50STRANGEPARTS to get 50% OFF plus free shipping on your first Factor box at bit.ly/4fLjdA6! I had to reupload this because the music and sound effects were muted the first time around 🤦

[@penguiin12]

ive been a subscriber for years man but i gotta say please man please dont make the pog face in the thumbnails it makes me feel stupid even clicking on them. thanksssssssss

[@thinkmonkeyman]

What year was this filmed?

[@JLCCNC]

Thank you to Strange Parts for visiting our factory in 2023 and creating such a clear and engaging video. We are thrilled to see the video gaining attention and sparking discussions among viewers. We have noticed the discussions surrounding our equipment and processes. We are excited to share some great news: since the video was filmed, our factory has undergone a series of technological upgrades and equipment enhancements. Our production line now incorporates more automation and modern equipment, which not only boosts production efficiency but also ensures a further improvement in product quality. We are committed to continuous improvement and innovation. To provide a more vivid look at our latest advancements, we plan to release a new CNC factory video in the near future, showcasing our new equipment and processes. Once again, thank you to Strange Parts and everyone for your support and interest. We look forward to sharing more updates with you and hope to have the opportunity to invite Strange Parts back in the future to witness our growth and progress.

[@AlJay0032]

Thanks for letting him film.

[@808GT]

Look forward to that video. Truly amazing work and we are already very happy customers of jlcpcb

[@richardhansen469]

JLC is a wonderful company, my electronics hobby would not be possible without the PCB and CNC work I order from you guys. To date I've ordered maybe 200 different PCB boards and about 30 different parts to make electronic enclosures.

[@chuckvanderbildt]

Given how many different designs these people are presented with on a daily basis, each time requiring them to quickly and creatively come up with the best strategy for manufacturing them, they must really be culturing some of the most skilled and nimble machinists out there.

[@innominatum9906]

One of the more modern and large CNC shops in my area of Scandinavia uses some of these skilled CAM programmers. They have their own in-house programmers who are really skilled and awesome at their jobs - but for extremely complicated machining they have a team located in Vietnam they can call for help. They even flew one of them over here to help with a job! Housed him and his family for 3 weeks while he was on the job. The skill gap is insane. Its like they know every tiny bit of information, parameters and all the shortcuts - literal experts of lets say MasterCam or Fusion 360.

[@dæmnKris]

Eh, you just described the job of a machinist, then concluded that because they do their job they must be one of the most skilled at that job. "The pharmacist gets different patients and prescriptions every day, they must be one of the most skilled pharmacists out there" is basically what you said.

@@dæmnKris So, you are saying there's no difference between a prototype factory machinist, which deals with a much more diverse workload daily, and a machinist who oversees an assembly line pushing the same widget daily, is that it?

[@innominatum9906]

@@dæmnKris If you think every machinist are at the same level of skills and experience no matter what they do - youre 100% not a machinist. I run prototypes in all ranges of materials every single day - Im way above a "button pusher" or your regular setup guy. Complicated simultaneous 5axis programming? These guys will wipe the floor with me. I know just enough about machining that the reality is: Ill never learn every aspect of this trade. There will always be someone more specialized than you on certain topics/areas.

[@briancox2721]

When you're doing prototype or job shop quantities, you don't care about doing it the best. You just care about getting it done as fast as possible, to print, and with what you have on hand.

[@Daphoid]

And this video is a great example of the skill the Chinese manufacturing industry has and why I always try to tell people that yes there are things that are really cheaply made, made after hours, made with illegitimate companies on the side type thing to sell rapidly on amazon. BUT to blindly assume that everything from China is cheap garbage just shows the ignorance of their skill; and what components in your favourite products came from there. Even if it says "Made in (Different Country)" that can still include components from China. Yes they have political, human, labour, cost, and worlds of other problems, as do lots of countries. But manufacturing is their wheelhouse; and moreover, a global thing. Raw mining, raw materials, processed materials, it all happens in so many different countries, and so many humans are involved to get that thing on the shelf of your local store, it's crazy. Cool video!

[@Lizlodude]

This is what I try to drive home whenever the 'Chinese stuff sucks' discussion comes up. By all means China has a lot of issues, but they are also just way better at manufacturing that most other places. Both can be the case.

[@nox6438]

@@Lizlodude Exactly, I mean they built an entire hospital in under two weeks during covid. The infrastructure and manufacturing capabilities are absolutely incredible.

[@oceanwave4502]

I think German high-tech products are good but their price tags are increasingly frustrating, thanks to ever higher energy cost in Germany. The world has been used to using German high quality stuff for long, but at some point, those become less and less affordable while Chinese stuff is catching up fast in terms of quality and the prices are more appealing than German's. See the EV as an example: Chinese EV is 1/3 of price of German EV. (I know this is an extreme example, but it is at least a reality). If this trend keeps going on, deindustrialization in Germany seems inevitable.

[@rogersliu1200]

Made in USA.....the problem is people say they love their country and would die for it, but they will not study maths for their beloved country and most of them cannot even finish school. so funny

[@BIZKIT551]

@@nox6438 While I agree with what the people above you commented, I cannot agree with yours. You have to also know what is fact and lies. During Covid, the CCP really went ham with their propaganda. This hospital you speak of that was built under 2 weeks was even in HK news for all the wrong reasons. The plumbing wasn't done properly so there was no proper water and irrigation system in place as well as shoddy workmanship caused parts of the building to become flooded by rain water.

[@tb0ne315]

It's amazing we're now describing subtractive manufacturing in terms of the opposite of additive manufacturing when the latter is so much newer.

[@GrandePunto8V]

Young generations are dumb like that.

[@AndrasBuzas1908]

@@GrandePunto8V people are born knowing everything yep. Back in my day even yokels in the mountains knew advanced physics.

[@Koushakur]

Being opposite does not imply being older or newer

[@LoganDark4357]

the latter is what hobbyists have at home so it's what people are more likely to have seen on youtube

[@lornetontegode6986]

Bakelite is used for lots of fixtures and jigs due to its thermal stability and low creep. It's a thermoset plastic so it won't deform over time. It's also easy to machine.

[@spehropefhany]

Also excellent electrical properties.

[@MasterThief117]

These types of videos are really insightful! These are some insanely talented engineers and machinists! Props to JLCNC for letting you take such a thorough tour of everything!

[@Vancidium]

Bro really walked into a CNC factory and unlocked the DLC where machines have machines making machines. Next update: robots arguing over union rights.

[@RobWVideo]

I remember 15 years ago when Apple announced the unibody MacBook Pro and the shock at realizing that they were going to CNC-machine each laptop top case out of a slab of solid aluminium.

[@rigues]

I've been using JLCPCB for all of the PCBs in my projects for about 5 years now, and they are GREAT! Scott, I would love to see their FDM/Resin Printing setup. Add that to your wishlist 😉

[@sofronio.]

FDM+1, looking forward to that!

[@mountednoble]

When I lived in Hangzhou, I was using an old htc phone and it broke on me, so I took it into the electronics mall and had a guy repair it. I watched as he disassembled my phone by hand, changed out parts, and reassembled it. It’s absolutely amazing how skilled some people in China are at small electronics work! How’s your putonghua now since you’ve left China? Mine has gotten pretty bad!

[@sarhan.]

Real ones know this is reuploaded lol

[@roganfrazer256]

The question is why 😂

[@thenijni3018]

Based

[@scarr3ll]

​@@roganfrazer256 because the first one had dead air where the music is in this one

[@far9832]

@@roganfrazer256 Because he gets double the sponsor money

[@BeefIngot]

From how long ago?

[@Mannedavid]

It's insane how they're able to do this level of quality for such a low price. The company I'm working at uses JLC's CNC service from time to time when the waiting time for our internal machine shop is too long 😅

[@sarhan.]

Brother the vid was uploaded two minutes ago

[@AhammedShaheedhudheen]

@@sarhan. this video is a reupload

[@cristibaluta]

I don't find it low price at all, especially for China. It is at least double than buying the same thing as a product from a store. For example i cnc a camera bottom bracket and paid more than 40$ with shipping and tax. On aliexpress i paid less than half for the same thing but different camera and worse design.

[@asddsa-dy4ne]

@@AhammedShaheedhudheen Is it? I don't remember this one.

[@josslaypeg3884]

@@cristibalutaYou mean that having a bespoke design specially machined for you is more expensive than something mass-produced? Thanks for the sparkling insight into the economics of manufacturing, do you have any more expertise you can share with us while you’re here?

[@lilisomething]

Excellent to see a new vid, and wow, Scotty was nearby. I live in Zhuhai.

[@mikeselectricstuff]

Surprised they're not using renishaw or similar tools for probing - doing it manually must be a lot slower and less accurate

[@StefanReich]

Nice to see a positive report about China for a change 😄

[@SandyCrack69]

Vending machines for commodities are quite common “back of house” here in Australia. I’ve seen in varied places such as large mining sites , casinos Maitenance & av departments to manage consumables. I’ve even seen them in exhibition centres servicing their clients filled with tape , power boards, safety vests & computer cables . Also interesting that robot they were testing loading parts was made in Denmark ( by Universal Robotics ) rather than a locally manufactured clone … I guess with the work they want to do, spending money on industry standard out ways more than makes up for any saving using a sub standard local one …

[@Fraet]

The companies in China wants the best quality for the best price just like everywhere else. If that means it's the robot from Denmark then so be it. The Chinese robotics competitors are working on bettering their craft to compete. It's a race to the top when the field of competition is based on quality for price. When you put barriers to that, you wallow in your own mediocrity.

[@reeseyme9613]

21:23 actually that is known as a digital or digimatic indicator and usually with an accuracy of under 10 micro meter or micron usually refer in metrology industry. the granite granite surface table will have even tighter tolerance because all of which contributes to the uncertainties of the measurements result.

[@mohgujai]

Still using Mitutoyo for the final measurement, they know what their limitations are at.

[@Mellow_labs]

Strange question, could I use any of the B-roll footage (With credit) for a JLC sponsored segment in one of my videos? Great video as always, Glad to see you making them more regularly again!

[@thegreenpickel]

Neat to see, I use JLC for PCBs. I did a safety squint while watching the video.

[@JobPWN]

I love how you are describing CNC exactly opposite from how 3D printing was described when it first became available. How the world has changed

[@sushionroad4859]

Its really great to see you uploading again 👍

[@Doggie504504]

When talking about facing the top of the material, that was just a regular, center-cutting, endmill. Facemills are tools with multiple inserts and are usually 1"+ in diameter. CNC machining is such a neat process to watch.

[@Boediprasetya]

The equipment used is extraordinary

[@aaaaa-yv1zr]

Most machines are low-end made in china machines.

[@Uncaged_Rage]

Cool to see you back in China again.

[@sofronio.]

Fancy machines are important, but the true heroes are the people behind them. I love your video!

[@BeefIngot]

I often use JLC for their PCB and Assembly because the assembly is much easier with the ability to pick parts and not need to go back and forth. It also allows you to, if you're on a budget, pick the parts they have commonly available very easily so its interesting to see they seem to have gone full force into CNC too. Hopefully the process for that is just as easy/good as the PCB side of things although obviously they aren't particularly huge on the cnc side of things yet.

[@joemacleod-iredale2888]

16:14 those of us who watched your iPhone chassis making video can hear how much easier the vending machine would have made your life for a year!

[@drgentech4930]

If it would ever be possible, I would LOVE to see a factory where they make CNC machines (or other kinds of complex manufacturing equipment). Those are some of the coolest machines!

[@damianfitzpatrick3465]

Titans of cnc, nyc cnc, have done tours of many places

[@drgentech4930]

@damianfitzpatrick3465 could you link to a video where they tour a factory that makes CNC machines?

[@_Dimon_]

They just use other CNC machines to make them.

[@awood12345]

I had some motorcycle rearset plates made for my race motorcycle as they ones I had were no longer made. JLC were responsive and fast and the price was good for a pair of them. I did have to modify the design to reduce the tool changes and keep the price down. Highly recommended, will used again.

[@miskaknapek]

how cool - new material from Strange Parts - what a gift, just in time for the holidays :D thank you very much Scott!

[@charlesk7623]

I remember watching your JLCPCB video and realising how reachable and affordable a custom pcb could be. After many iterations, I even had some smd pcb's made for projects. Seeing this, it has opened up the door to easily manufactured (affordable) cnc projects. I am totally trying this. Thanks for showing us the possibilities!

[@nicholasnarcowich9163]

I programmed those types of machines in the '80's, '90's & 2000's... thank you for the look back, & what is modern, & for your fun videos :-) This reminds me of a PCB shop my friend had in Hong Hong in the '90's, so much hand touch up work. But, that takes the part from maybe okay, to good - no question. So, with most business, it is The People that make The Difference. Treat your people well, & your business will do well. & thinking that, you could expand that from business to just about anything run by people... treat your people well, everything will work well. Godspeed.

[@saccadecom]

Both JLC and PCBWay offer similar custom fabrication services (CNC, 3DP, PCB/A, etc.) Are there dozens (hundreds?) of full-service fabrication shops like these in China, or just a few?

[@honggao9610]

There are hundreds if not thousands….. at least a few dozen large ones I can think out of my head. Not to mention local small scale ones.

[@anthonyhart7878]

a lathe spins the part, a mill spins the tool?

[@e_xtech]

Super cool to see factory tours again! Love to see it!

[@AdamsWorlds]

Can never get enough CNC, mesmerising.

[@Benzerm]

There are sooooo many OSHA violations throughout that whole video. I haven't seen one pair of safety googles.

[@doctorbuga4302]

this isnt the usa with over regulation and clip board warriors working for osha

[@knightsljx]

this is not U$A

[@flipschwipp6572]

looks perfectly fine to me, outside the US nobody wears goggles the whole day. we all still have two healthy eyes. What should be flying around out of completely enclosed machines? Pair of goggles cant replace smart and careful workers and a clean workspace.

[@eastcoastsailingcenter7768]

Yer brain needs dodge

[@jkn.782]

😂 Actually when the machine starts they close the glass door

[@jacobvaughn7247]

The lathe with the drills that are drilling off center are what we call Live tooling because they can rotate independently from the main spindle. There is X-live tooling and Z-Live tooling.

[@bkohatl]

It is great to have our pal back doing what he does so well. You were missed, pal.

[@r4dius]

Great to see you're back like the good ol' time

[@meetv7700]

Man is back in China now. Be ready for quality content.

[@mikey-qo8sh]

this video was great. My company orders custom parts all the time and I never realized the scale of operation that takes place.

[@HayabusaRyuu]

As always the most impresive machines are the people that do work like machines

[@richardhansen469]

Wow, I order all my hobby PCB's and aluminum CNC work from JLC! The prices are amazing, considering they'll also do the bead blasting, anodizing and hole tapping of a part.

[@asdfxcy]

Yeessss, Scotty is back in the factory! The edge finder is indeed a very clever tool! If you want to maximize accuracy when using it you don't look for the point where the wobble stops (very little wobble and no wobble is hard to differentiate by eye) but you move it a bit farther until the wobbling end suddenly jumps to the side. That's the point where the part's edge intersects with the circumference of the tool so it *has* to move out of the way. An edge finder is essentially a tool that amplifies the difference between intersection and no intersection.

[@flikflak24]

I'm a machinest myself ( spending most of my time on a lathe ) btw it's not called a "drill bit" but just a "drill" even if it's made of solid carbide And what the doosan lathe had that make it able to drill holes off center is what's called " live tools/live tooling" cause the tool is able to be spon around just like on the mill ( I use to hand program a lathe with 3 turrents ( the thing that holds the cutting tools ) with 2 spindles ( the thing holding the material ) with X.Y.Z and C axis all by hand ) and yes it is like {actually the same programming/code language that 3D printers use. Though there is some code/values that the 3D printers don't use for movement ( like G2 and G3 along with J.I.K and R for makeing radius and round things where 3D printers only use G1 and then micro stepping in X and Y to make round enough shapes ( R gives a true roundness based on math. So X and Y are moving at the same time but at different speeds depending on where it is online the micro stepping a 3D printer does. Which is just like" go here. then here. then here. then here and so on" to get a roundish shape. And yes I did ask one of the main board manufacturers and main board programmers to please start useing or at least support those values/part of the coding language for the 3D printers )

[@DragRedSim]

Sounds like you need to enable arc support in your printer firmware. Marlin has this as a feature that can be compiled in, while Klipper has “support” for the feature (which just converts it back to straight lines, albeit at a resolution of your choice). Cura can slice with G2/G3 when using the Arc Welder plugin; I’m not aware of similar features in other slicers just simply due to lack of experience with them.

[@nukenuked5749]

sweet mate thanks for the tour and thank you for posting another amazing video mate

[@neppuneptunia]

the thing you were unsure of at 21:10 is called a height gauge and they're very common in engineer and machine shops

[@doctorbuga4302]

its an ind8cator not a gauge, genius

[@cqpzg]

@@doctorbuga4302 "its an ind8cator not a gauge, genius" Types this and has the nerve to call someone a genius. LOL

[@neppuneptunia]

@ yeah that's true I am quite bad at mixing up terms 😭

[@Doggie504504]

@@neppuneptunia Technically its a drop indicator, height gages are on rails and go up and down on a gear or motor if you have a high end one.

[@ViperMD]

Awww yeah. This is the good stuff!

[@towelie]

glad to see you back :)

[@Onyx2525]

Watching a working machine up close without safety glasses is no doubt very wxciting :)

[@DragonKingGaav]

Water jet cutting factory tour next!

[@MichelBinkhorst]

Really amazing process!

[@wxfield]

The way he's indicating off the part with a dowel pin, is (I think) a more accurate way than using an actual indicator. If you think about it a second..the cutting tools get used over and over until they can't cut anymore. This involves wear. Using a separate indicator only dials-in the machine relative to the indicator tool. Using a dowel pin and the cutting tool is much more precise if you want to indicate to an edge with the intended cutting tool.

[@cristibaluta]

I just ordered my second part and i'm curious how they are gonna hold it cause it's like half an oval with thin walls, it's the front side of a camera. I find it strange they don't do titan, i was interested in having some titan parts. I thought they are US based, so the parts are made in China actually?

[@ALI-TECH]

You are back to the route!

[@arbjful]

Strangely enough I use the end mill (connected to the touch probe), to align the stock in X or Y axis and also to zero the axes.

[@visiondoctor2020]

love manufacturing vids

[@tbix1963]

Very cool video and factory. Thanks for sharing.

[@zenmark42]

New shop looks like it's gonna be quite a pretty spot.

[@MCCENTx2]

That is not how I use an edge finder. The wobble has nothing to do with it. If you look at 9:47 it moves to the left when it makes contact with the material. Then you back it off until it stops pulling left.

[@DaveChurchill]

In the 90s I visited a CNC Music Factory

[@Akshun82]

There it is!

[@Joliie]

17:15 neat those robot arms (Universal Robots) are engineered locally here, not that often, I get to say that, on these videos :) but those are brilliant

[@ConnorWeller]

Safety glasses!!!!! But great video, really interesting to see how they do it. Youre an educator, you gotta teach that saftey is so very important

[@zachfox7771]

imagine a world where it makes sense to describe a cnc machine as the opposite of a 3d printer hahaha

[@valdoaluppi7424]

3d printer are cnc machines

[@ekuldan226]

I finally got a notifacation for this one

[@rfitzgerald2004]

This is fascinating, thanks for taking the time to explain everything so well. I was surprised how much manual intervention was required to setup each part, I assumed that the measuring and homing would be more automated, I've seen some machines in the past which have a ruby-tipped probe that touches each edge, I thought these would have used something similar. Is there a reason they don't?

[@Zeinzu2]

IS this the new place??? Looks nice. Are you going to give it the same aesthetic as the last place?? Love the soundproofing BTW!

[@scotty7]

I saw a wild thread on CNCd parts from China being extrem cheap, like a less complex but similar Fan blade for a Dollar and other parts for Cents, can you weigh in on this?

[@yousefabdelsamie5983]

Informative video, Thank you very much for sharing

[@SergejKolmogorov]

Lol, I messure the zero height on my cnc machine the same way. Lower the cutter to the moment he touches the surface =)

[@Aldo.flores]

Would be interesting return back to this facility to make the iPhone backplate and make comparisons between them

[@kennytheamazing]

Ordered a few gear prototypes with this factory just now. It was very cheap in MFJ nylon!

[@DJNovaBlast3000]

Can't you use Lasers to Zero out the Material in the Vise??? 6:00

[@SuperShadowmetal]

titans of cnc offer free training on using all types of cnc i recommend you taking them when you buy your cnc

[@TheYoungSapling]

The level of manufacturing skill in China is insane. They’re just so far ahead in terms of scale, efficiency, and skill

[@SiggyPony]

Very cool video :D that said... hehe putting your hand closer to the robot it isn't going to stop you getting wacked 😅 that's called "you found the hole and now your digging it deeper"

[@DarkArtGuitars]

Kinda crazy how they're playing with robots but don't even have a digital touch probe in every machine. While analog edge finders and touching off works, a digital probe is so much faster and requires much less training. I'm sure they use them, just odd to have the featured machine without one.

[@AnnaVannieuwenhuyse]

One concern about that robot arm though, is whether it's the type with sensors on it or whether it's the type that does not care what it runs in to and will just run in to it as efficiently as it can -- a tug of war you can't win... Do you know whether it's a safe type, being so exposed and open?

[@huguberhart]

JLC has some cool references on their website in the "what our customers say" section :)

[@infered5365]

Not a single pair of safety glasses in the whole video.

[@ljubomirculibrk4097]

And blowing aluminium shawings...

[@AlexKidd4Fun]

Savage engineering? 🤔

[@vongdong10]

I appreciate cnc billet parts so much more now. Crazy you need such large machines for small parts. So much inefficient use of space for what is produced from them.

[@dankster7993]

Is this a reupload?

[@2000vitaly]

Reupload?

[@MrJermbob]

REMIXXX

[@OnlyMe-mt7zb]

Anyone know what that last peice could be?

[@henryatkinson1479]

Pretty odd that a job shop like this isn't using probes for workpieces or tools - huge inefficiency.

[@lornetontegode6986]

That edge-finder isn't brass. They have to be hardened so it's probably been nitrided, hence the brass colour.

[@StrangeParts]

Yeah, that makes sense. I don't know what I assumed it was brass!

[@RHelenius]

One reason he might be going fast through the instructions, as well as why he isn't using the measuring tools, might be because he doesn't actually know how. He was probably trained to work this machine for these specific processes, and nothing more.

[@patteahan8704]

Cool to see Scotty back in a China factory

[@Krishell]

This video gives me so many questions and emotions 😂(as a Cnc / machine operator) 😂

[@grantchen2324]

the How Its Made series continues here

[@_ata_3]

A factory like this is good for small batches of the same part. How thousands of complex parts are produced? Are there factories like this with hundreds of CNC machines and lathes?

[@spehropefhany]

Yes, different factories with many machines that spend more time running and less % with setups etc., but for more complex things there are often better ways than machining from solid stock, like metal injection molding, die casting or powder metallurgy. Then you do some final machining in a CNC machine for the tight tolerances.

[@_ata_3]

@@spehropefhany Thanks. I imagined there were some advanced metal casting because to have a person on each CNC to prepare each part would take a lot of time but I was not sure if it substituted CNC completely. As you say it's more a combination of different techniques.

[@scarr3ll]

*reupload because first one had dead air where there is music in this one*

[@strubbleler]

at 13:00 minutes you say that a part like this is uncommon, but... i think this must be how car - turbo's are made! (unless is cast, which i doubt )

[@patrickfischer5258]

Opening a running cnc machine and sticking your head in is crazy work without at least some safety glasses or full face shield and the dude running it doing the same...

[@nsglcck]

There is so much room to further automate!

[@araeden]

Engaging video as always Scotty. But regarding the sponsor, how is the food not frozen? And what about the microplastics in the containers? I know all of us are 69* percent plastic at this point (*NOT A REAL PERCENTAGE), but I really think we should be trying to reduce our plastic packaging over time.

[@DogDog173]

Scotty does it, I like it.