Ep. 89: Everyone Wants a Willy
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges of keeping up with production as machines outpace human capabilities, focusing on finishing processes and various related topics.
This week's episode of the Lone Machinist is basically what happens when the machines start producing faster than the humans can keep up. Curt is drowning in production, running huge batches of parts ahead of a pre-sale and discovering that the real bottleneck isn't machining anymore — it's finishing. We get into hand-finishing pocket clips, blasting, tumbling, abrasive brushes, custom tooling, and the increasingly ridiculous idea of automating all the bits that happen after the machine stops. Jamie, meanwhile, is preparing for IMTS, trying to quote a massive recurring machining job, figuring out how to make some questionable drawings less stupid to manufacture, and discovering that his new workshop has a back door that apparently doubles as a water feature. There's also international shipping, tariffs on stickers, transporting a ridiculous amount of merch to the US, Instagram deciding that photos aren't interesting anymore, and Curt continuing down the ultrasonic-cleaner rabbit hole. And somewhere in all of this, a bigger printer and possibly a Swiss machine start looking like perfectly reasonable purchases. Basically: the machines are doing their jobs. Unfortunately, we aren't…
More episodes of The Lone Machinists
- Ep. 88: Scaling Without Losing Your Shit
- Ep. 87: If You Want Me to Do It, Pay Me Properly
- Ep. 86: Spindle Grippers and Questionable Decisions
- Ep. 85: Coolant, Calendars, and Counting Errors
- Ep. 84: Birthday Cake and Broken Machines
- Ep. 83: Nimble Gripper Has Entered the Chat
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