The numerical control (NC) code to operate the stages is in ``G-code'' format, which is an industry standard. The initial design from 3-d Autocad drawings is imported into a commercial CAD/CAM package called Surfcam[15]. Surfcam is capable of generating NC code for 2-axis and 3-axis milling and for turning (lathe operations). Rectangular pockets and grooves are defined as 2-axis paths, while surface machining (where the feature bottoms could have ramps) are defined as 3-axis toolpaths. After chaining features to define the toolpaths, the NC code is generated within the software. Surfcam also has a graphical simulator to view the tool motions involved in the machining operation. A postprocessor that is specific to our chosen geometry and coordinate system was written. Running the postprocessor produces the required NC code. At present the NC code for the broaching operations is written manually. In order to test and troubleshoot the final NC program, a software program was written to convert NC code to a 3-d Autocad script file, which is subsequently run and viewed within Autocad to perform final verification. The combination of reasonably inexpensive commercially available software and overall ease of use of complimentary in-house software helps further reduce the normally high cost of precision machining.