For Those About to ROCK…IMTS 2014!

In honor of IMTS 2014 we’re posting our blog a bit early this week. Our own Brian Sides is clearly beside himself with excitement on Day One of the show, and we thought you’d enjoy his impassioned reactions here. (By the way, we’ll have whatever he’s having!)

When I was 13 Santa Claus made the mistake of granting my wish for an AC/DC album for Christmas. Guess I had been a good boy – it was “For Those About To Rock.” The album had a bronze cover with the coolest cannon I’d ever seen and the band’s iconic electric logo blazed across the top. I opened it up and there was a concert shot probably second only to every KISS concert shot ever. I had struck Christmas morning gold for a 13 year old boy.

About 12 seconds after I opened that gift, I ripped the needle off Elvis’ Christmas Album (good in its own right by the way) and dropped this molten black vinyl onto a turntable stereo that took up half the dining room it seemed. I then very gently lowered the needle back down on to the beginning of the pristine 33 1/3 RPM groove. Oh my goodness, (OMG didn’t exist yet) those opening guitar riffs, the pounding drums coming in right behind, right on cue, and then Brian Johnson’s signature voice screaming “OHHHHH YEAHHHH YEAHHHH!....STAND UP AND BE COUNTED!!!...” “I’ll Have a Blue Christmas” and “Silver Bells” It. Was. Not. Sorry Mom…I mean Santa.

“The Home of All Things Hard Rock and Heavy Metal”

When I walked into Okuma’s booth in progress on Saturday, after two weeks of set up and still two days to go before show time, all I could hear were those opening riffs, drums, and vocals pummeling me. I felt like that 13 year old boy as I stood beside the massive new MA-12500H (now I know why we gave it so many digits!) and the ridiculous looking cannon-like part on the pallet. Turned around and saw the VTM-2000YB ready to fire its guns in salute. Wow! It’s Day One into the show now and this machine tool rock concert overwhelms the senses.

Big cannons come in small packages too. The 3-axis vertical GENOS M560-V is plowing through titanium like it’s butter for the OMAC/Boeing STEP-NC demo. That is, when it isn’t cutting high precision spitting images of visitors to the booth. The new 5-axis MU-6300V backed up to the PALLETACE FMS makes me dizzy when all 5 axes do their thing in precise rhythm. Rock on MU! If you ever watch “That Metal Show” (highly recommended), you know their claim to fame is being “the home of all things hard rock and heavy metal.” Well Eddie Trunk, we love you, but that home has been temporarily relocated here to Chicago, IL.

And back here in the Okuma App Store there’s been an AC/DC chorus of cannon fire. “You mean I can create MY OWN Apps?” Yep, and it is as simple as AC/DC’s three chord rhythm for every song they ever wrote. As an added bonus, those of you not quite sure about Okuma’s OSP control yet, but interested in trying Okuma’s machines and network of customer support for the first time, there are two new CNC lathes with FANUC controls on display, one 2-axis lathe (HJ-250E) and one 4-axis lathe (LU-S1600), available to you now. Merry IMTS!

FOR THOSE ABOUT TO ROCK…WE SALUTE YOU!

Brian Sides is Director of Technology, Okuma America Corporation.

Are you enjoying all the metal at IMTS? Feel free to comment and share your thoughts. And you can follow Okuma on Twitter (@OkumaAmerica) and Facebook to get live updates throughout the week.