Since we've drifted a bit from Joe's original question to more of a "how dey do dat?" thread, I thought I'd post these pics from CSM again.
This first one is what I beleive is their hydraulically powered tracer mill (powered pantograph equiv) for one stock at a time. This machine is similar technology to TrueTrace and HydroTel mills I've used more than 3 decades ago. You can see the pattern and the stylus in the front position. The rear position is where the product would be. This type of machine appears to be a 4 axis; 1) left/right, 2) in/out, 3) up/down, 4) rotate pattern and product. The toolholder and cutting tool is not in the spindle in this pic.
The pictures below are of a 10 spindle machine that is CNC or DNC controlled. I beleive this machine was also 4 axis and was machining 20g RBL stocks at the time. Note that not all spindles are being used.
Just looking at the inletting/frame to stock shapes, you can tell the RBL was designed to be machine inletted from the start.
