Meet HSM-Modal. This modular and customizable milling machine can expand into a 41-foot-wide, 14-foot-tall, and 495-foot-long giant. In other words, it's not a tool you put in your garage; it's a tool that will build it.
To give you a sense of the scale it’s working at compared to other industrial giants, the machine’s creator EEW Protec calls this monstrosity a “lightweight” thanks largely to its carbon fiber components. Even then, operation requires eight inches of reinforced concrete floor. But the competition, according to EEW Protec, requires much more.
HSM-Modal has been used to make boat hulls, massive turbines blades, 1:1 concept vehicle models, and molds for all kinds of casting purposes. But perhaps most interesting is the company’s proposal for the advertising and entertainment industry. They suggest that the machine could whip up “medium-sized to large molds, sculptures, scenery and similar objects.” Imagine designing a set or sound stage on the computer, then pressing Print to have the whole thing carved out for you at a rate of 492 feet per minute.
Wanna see it in action? Watch it mill a concept car. An added bonus: A little CNC nightmare fuel. The HSM is no garage project.
Hat tip: EEW Protec's completely fascinating website.
