Today gave us two real wins.

First: wheels can have custom cuts now. I started with a traditional pattern, partly because it gives a clean reference point. If you are going to change geometry, it helps to begin with something watchmakers already understand.

The point is not decoration for its own sake. The point is control. Once the process is stable, we can explore other cuts with a lot more confidence.

Getting there meant treating the wheel like a precision part, not just a small one. Toolpath, workholding, runout, burr control, and how the cut actually leaves the edge all matter here. On a wheel, every visual choice also becomes a mechanical choice. If the cut looks right but shifts the part, raises burrs, or leaves inconsistent thickness, it is not done.

Second: we finally, finally achieved precision milling on both sides.

That sounds simple until you try to reference a tiny part twice and have both operations agree with each other. This has been one of those stubborn problems that keeps exposing every weak link in the chain: fixturing, alignment, zeroing, part handling, and process repeatability. You fix one source of error and the next one shows up. Then you fix that one too.

What changed is that both sides now locate and cut the way they are supposed to. The features actually line up. Thickness stays where it should. The part comes back from the second operation looking intentional instead of lucky. That is the difference: not a one-off success, but a process that is starting to behave.

These are still early steps, but they matter. Custom wheel cuts open up a lot of design room. Reliable two-sided precision milling opens up a lot more than design. It changes what parts we can realistically make, and how seriously we can hold the geometry.

So yes, two wins today. Not flashy ones. Just the kind that quietly expand the map.