Built on Saying Yes: Inside a One-Man Machine Shop, 525
About this episode
Leighton Hill shares his journey of building a one-man machine shop from a family passion into a business.
Some shop owners are born into machining. Others stumble into it through YouTube, side jobs, and a little bit of "sure, I think we can fit that D11 dozer cylinder on the mill." Leighton Hill's story has a little bit of all of it. In this episode of MakingChips, we continue our Gen CNC series with Leighton Hill of Hillco, a young shop owner from the Kansas City area who grew up around manual machines, learned CNC through hands-on experimentation, and is now building a real business from nights, weekends, Facebook groups, local relationships, and whatever work comes through the door. Leighton shares how his dad's hobby shop sparked his interest in machining, why he originally had no interest in CNC, and how a used Hurco mill changed the direction of his life. From a cramped two-car garage to a 40x60 shop, he's been slowly turning a family passion into a serious business opportunity. We dig into the realities of starting small: pricing jobs without overcomplicating it, finding work through word of mouth, learning from YouTube, quoting overflow work, considering job boards, and deciding when it makes sense to invest in new equipment. Leighton also talks about his goal of going…
More episodes of Making Chips Podcast for Manufacturing Leaders
- How a 19-Year-Old Built a Tight-Tolerance Machine Shop, Ep #532
- Win a Machine, Grow Your Team: One Shop Owner's Playbook for Smart Growth, Ep #531
- The AI Everyone Will Actually Care About at IMTS 2026, Ep #530
- Why Starting a Machine Shop Felt Less Risky Than Another Corporate Job, Ep #529
- The Fast Eat the Slow: A Strategy Playbook for the Future of Your Machine Shop, 528
- Stop Complaining About the Skills Gap and Do This Instead, Ep #527
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