About this episode

Jamie and Curt discuss the complexities of modern machining and the challenges of managing a workshop.

This week on the Lone Machinist Podcast, Jamie and Curt discover that modern machining is really just thousands of lines of code standing between you and catastrophic stupidity. After a mysterious edge case causes a surprise Z-crash, Jamie finds himself debugging macros, reading error logs, and remotely killing machines at three in the morning because apparently sleep is optional. Meanwhile, the zero-point systems continue proving they're powered by black magic, fixtures are being swapped like Pokémon cards, and twenty microns of error is apparently close enough to inspire religious experiences. The new shop is slowly coming together, although progress is competing with the minor inconvenience of actually having paying work to do. Somewhere between making a thousand parts, moving equipment, and planning the next automation project, Jamie decides that what the workshop really needs is labels, a talking stick behind bulletproof glass, and a toilet brush permanently marked "Not For Rectal Use." There are discussions about knife automation, grippers with springs, flip stations, and the accidental addition of Bukaki Mode™, proving once again that software features should probably have…

People in this episode

Hosts: Jamie Peacock, Curt Van Filipowski

Guest: Jon Dillehay

Topics covered

• machining
• automation
• debugging
• error handling
• workshop organization

Keywords

• machining
• automation
• debugging
• error logs
• Z-crash
• workshop
• software features

More episodes of The Lone Machinists

• Ep. 81: Teaching Engineers to Talk with Al Whatmough · July 15, 2026 · 1h 29m
• Ep. 80: Production Doesn't Care That You're Dying · July 8, 2026 · 49 min
• Ep. 79: Month-End Is a Contact Sport · July 1, 2026 · 1h 13m
• Ep. 78: Marketplace Finds and Questionable Decisions · June 24, 2026 · 1h 5m

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the The Lone Machinists podcast page.