TOPICS:
- Saunders is settling in and working very hard on some updates to the shop this past year.
- Grimsmo dives into new coolant dispenser.
- Being a parent and teaching your kids cool stuff!
- Oil vs coolant.
- Grimsmo talks about ordering two new lathes!
- Cycle time speed increases across different machines.
TOPICS:
- SMW and Grimsmo in limbo between the lone bootstrapper and leader of a team
- Plurality of Swisses. Saunders and Grimsmo discuss production volume, process reliability, and other decision making factors for buying new CNC lathes
- I'm Nak sure if I need a Willemin or Nak. Grimsmo and Saunders debate about whether or not the Nak should be let go in favor of a Willemin Mill Turn
- Sourcing centerless ground 17-4 Stainless
- Bar feeders & Automation
- Area 419 Tour of the new shop gets Saunders dreaming big. The tour is set to premiere on YouTube on Monday, April 19th!
- GK products like the SAGA, Norseman, and Rask increase in demand
- Superordinate Shop Goals - Giving the team a unified vision
- Renishaw Probe Replacements = Worth It!
TOPICS:
- Grimsmo crashed a Renishaw spindle probe on the Mori.
- Saunders hired an intern just to focus on Johnny Five!
- Orbit mechanical water timer for filling coolant.
- Should we both get another swiss lathe?
- Saunders is reorganizing the whole shop.
- Doing a night run of pallets is a game changer.
TOPICS:
- Just Start! Saunders and Grimsmo discuss the importance of context and relativity when it comes to business advice.
- SNAP OUT OF IT! You may not realize you're in a comfort zone!
- Work Smarter AND Harder? The age old debate.
- Intelligence Vs. Diligence & Practice Vs. Skill
- Lights out production on the KERN
- Saunders hires out the cleaning and bookkeeping!
- Odoo ERP at Seneca Woodworking & Using Data
- SMW got flooded! Delay on/off switches: https://amzn.to/3eU8ZB2
- Martin upgrades the Shapeoko into a detent track burnishing machine
- How and when to hire more people
- Grimsmo talks about the possibility of selling the Nak for a bigger Tornos!
- Oil Vs. Coolant
- Ultrasonic Cleaning
TOPICS:
- Saunders' makes something awesome that went to the bottom of the ocean!
- Machining titanium
- Fusion 360 Tool Library issues and fixes
- Catching up on backorders.
- Shipping delays and organizing.
- Playing catch-up.
- Grimsmo gives a deep dive into swiss lathes and purchasing info for Saunders
TOPICS
- Learning - The importance of Curiosity and the Dunning-Kruger Effect (overestimating your competence)
- 3D Printers for Dual Extrusion
- Pivotal Machinist Moments - Area 419 Tour, Never Stop Quitting Your Job, and the Downside of Bootstrap Mentality.
- It Figures. After releasing the "How to Get Paid On Time" video, Saunders gets stiffed.
- Don't Take It Personal! Implementing systems and strategies for handling problematic situations is a MUST.
- Whip It Good! Haas Lathe Spindle Liner Whipped Itself into Shape?
- Lights Out, KERN ON. Grimsmo and his team arrive at the shop to find the KERN still running after successfully completing 10 pallets.
TOPICS:
- Saunders talks about his experience with quitting his day job and when you should to.
- Do you spot holes in machining?
- Saunders goes into a huge rabbit hole of 3d printing.
- Lathes, Lathes and more Lathes!
- Hot glue in the shop? What are the uses?
- Saunders does a shop tour at Area419
TOPICS
- Does a College Education Matter? Grimsmo and Saunders share their different paths and initial interests BEFORE they got into CNC machining.
- Someone is looking for a new machinist---could it be you?
- Optical Flat & Monochromatic Light for Part Flatness @laneymachinetech
- Grimsmo and Saunders offer each other workable solutions for tool break detection and other quirky issues.
- Renishaw probing macros and lathe part off techniques
TOPICS:
- Reaming holes.
- Endmill coatings and storage.
- Grob factory tour.
- Tool like time and replacement methods.
- Johnny Five returns.
Links:
https://www.mscdirect.com/product/details/09782467
TOPICS:
- Trusting Instincts
- Social proof for marketing and branding
- Creative Fixturing and Workholding
- Grimsmo and Saunders Approved Tools!
- Good reasons to outsource things beyond the scope of your business
- Xometry Pay - Solving Collection of past due accounts for businesses?
- Prusas, 3D printed 1/4" Royal Collet for sub spindle & Gauge Housings
UP NEXT:
FEBRUARY 2021 GOALS FOR GK
TOPICS:
- Ordering Lathe Material - Purchasing/procurement
- Finances in Business
- What makes you happy?
- Growing a business in 3 stages
- Lathe talk
- Past due accounts receivables?
- Creating your own cnc machine?
- Saunders on feeling overwhelmed and a defining moment at Pierson Workholding.
- Can daily tasks actually KILL your business?
- "You do not rise to the level of your goals. You fall to the level of your systems." - James Clear
- Marketing
- Business accounting
- Tool life for lathe parting inserts
TOPICS:
- Saunders is starting 2021 off great with their ERP system and staying busy with orders.
- Saunders also tells us about his broken tool on the lathe.
- Grimsmo has been getting their Okamoto surface grinder up and running and it has been awesome!
- The big news out of Grimsmo is that the Rask is back! They have been hard at work for almost 4 years to bring back the Rask.
TOPICS:
- Grimsmo starts us off with a smooth lead in
- SMW Product Demand Increases & The Struggle to Reduce Lead Time
- Super Helpful Tools & Gadgets (Scales & Pallet Jacks)
- https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200680712_200680712
- Precision
- Abbe's Principle
- The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the Modern World
- A Crazy Metrology Question on the NYCCNC Forum
- Toolpath & Product Improvements
- Reliable Processes VS. Cycle Time
- Using templates for easier programming
- Conventional VS. Climb Milling
2020 has been a wild year, and we are sure you are tired of hearing about it by now. But here at the Business of Machining we decide to reflect on the positives. Thank you to everyone for being with us throughout this year!
Grimsmo has found a solution to lift very heavy objects within their shop without the need of a forklift. It takes them back to the old Volvo days in the garage. Saunders is playing with a Vortex cold air gun and is having a literal blast.
TOPICS:
- Podcast Feedback & Developing a Consistent Opening Statment
- Strategy: Learning Your Customer Base & SEO
- Email from Brewery | ERP VS Wiki
- Covid Hits Close to Home at SMW
- Staffing A Growing Business & The Concert Mindset
- Recycling Chips: The Need for a Compactor
Grimsmo makes a big move and purchased a Okamoto surface grinder! Saunders' offers his input and general advice on purchasing new machinery. The boys talk about the potential of using "Slack" in their respective companies. This could help bridge the gap between consumer and company and it is worth looking at.
Saunders has started to step away from his ERP system "LEX" to let his team run it. While Grimsmo works very very hard to get shipping Rasks before the end of the year, how exciting!
Business of Machining has now reached it's 200th episode! That's 3.84 years of "private" conversations about manufacturing and growing small businesses.
A sincere thank you to the listeners out there--or as we've lovingly dubbed them, "parking lot circlers." In the past 4 years, this podcast has been downloaded over 1 million times!
TOPICS:
- The importance of authenticity
- Detailed trips down memory lane for both Grimsmo Knives and Saunders Machine Works.
- Mental Health & Tony Hseih
Saunders & Grimsmo are ending of the year with expansion! Both shops are on similar growth paths in their respective shops. Grimsmo has hired on Pierre to help boost production, while Saunders has hired 3 people around his shop.
Grimsmo's surface grinder should be here in a couple of weeks! Which means they have to make some room for it and figure out how to bring it into the work flow.
Saunders' describes how "Lex" is formatted. Going in depth about the benefits of an ERP system when it just works. Grimsmo and Saunders talk in depth about pride. Pride often gets confused with arrogance, but letting the pride replace arrogance is a step we all need to think about.
TOPICS:
- Auctions, Warranties, and Riggers
- Is Saving Money the Ultimate Purchase Factor?
- Developing Decision Making Framework
- Formalizing the Interview Process
- Tom Lipton's Test Jig
- Pierre - New to GK Team
- SMW Phase 5 of Shop Overhaul
- Machine Modifications for Chip Evacuation & Larger Coolant Tanks
- Water & Coolant Delivery System Update
- Vendors and Relationships
- DLC Coating
- Sandvik QS Holder
The boys have been crazy busy this week. Saunders' and his team have developed a little bit of a safe word around the shop. PINEAPPLE! This signifies that the person is safe. For example, if you hear a loud bang or somebody drops something and hear the safe word. Than you know that person is ok! Its actually a very good idea especially when you have a lot of ground to cover or a lot of employees. Saunders' also visited the Grob machine manufacturing facility in Ohio! He said that he had an awesome time and learned a lot while he was there.
"Confidence is a superpower" - Robin Renzetti
The boys also touch on quality control methods. This is especially important in both Grimsmo & Saunders' shops because of the attention to detail needed for both products. Grimsmo is also buying an Okamoto surface grinder! This is a machine that was thought about for a long while and they are finally pulling the trigger.
Today the Johns are reppin' each other by sporting SMW and GK tees.
TOPICS:
- Orange Vise Tour
- Grimsmo's Next Machines
- Process for Pressing Bearings into Bearing Cages
- Surface Grinding Machines - CNC or Manual?
- Air Compressors & Sound Proofing
- Tasks - Batching VS. Whack-A-Mole
- Organizational Chart - G Suite Alias Emails
- SMW is Hiring! SMW Careers
Have you ever had such a premium custom table experience that ruined every other table in the world for you? Well Saunders has! He is loving the MakerPipe table systems to make some custom solutions for his shop. You can find Makerpipe here.
Both Grimsmo and Saunders are falling more in love with the idea of full ERP integration in their respective shops. Grimsmo especially are looking to get very creative with "GERP".
Saunders needs a new air compressor while John reminisces about the old shops compressor that would constantly be yelling in the background.
Both shops are looking at expanding the team! Saunders is considering hiring a marketing strategist while Grimsmo had two working interviews with some great potential team members! Things are looking great but we are going to need a bigger boat!
Grimsmo has a new book he has been reading called "E-Myth Mastery: The Seven Essential Disciplines for Building a World-Class Company".
The book is a must read for any business owner big or small to teach some essential habits and disciplines.
RASK KNIVES ON HOMESTRETCH, LIGHTS OUT MANUFACTURING, LATHE CRASHES, DATA & TOOL LIFE MANAGEMENT, MACRO VARIABLES, Q PARAMETERS, FUSION 360 BUG, PROVENCUT PART SERIES, and MORE!
Machining Verbiage
The new rule is that when running machines, you add "ING" to the end of the machine brand name to create a new CNC-centric gerund.
Acceptable examples are:
KEARN--ING
TORNOS--ING
HAAS--ING
TORMACH--ING
A BUMP IN THE NIGHT...
Just when you think it's dialed, you hit the lights and leave the shop only to be welcomed in the morning by 200-300 scrapped parts.
Grimsmo shares this one minor detail that derailed the entire lights-out process. Saunders points out that evaluating problems further up stream is worth doing!
FRIDAY - DATE NIGHT WITH A LATHE CRASH
The ST-20Y is set to run the one and done, dialed process for SMW diamond pins but the lathe insert broke on the 2nd pin. And that's not all. Not only was the insert blown, the parting blade took a huge crap! Luckily, Saunders had back up blades on hand, right? WRONG!
With similar experiences being shared between them, they embark on an in-depth conversation about tool life management, tool counting, macro variables, and Q parameters. The question remains: how do you incorporate these into your shop operations successfully?
Forget textbooks---except the one Grimsmo is a true FAN...uc (I mean, fan of)
Fanuc CNC Custom Macros: Programming Resources for Fanuc Custom Macro B Users
Machines Personified
Remember the poetic interpretation of Mars Rover's final message to NASA? While the rover never explicitly said, "My battery is low and it's getting dark," that partially humanistic phrase still managed to evoke a tinge of sadness for many. Why? We have a long history of personifying everything under, and including, the sun. In a strange way, machines have their own temperaments, quirks, likes, and dislikes--and that might be why it feels kind of sad leaving them alone in the dark.
Fusion 360 - Team Hubs & Documented Bug
The guys discuss migrating to Team Hubs and the importance of a local back-up copy of data. By the skin of his teeth, Grimsmo saves his butt by using Instagram to approximate the date of the correct version of a specific file. During a livestream, Saunders stumbles across a bug that is driving EVERYONE insane! Finally, Grimsmo discusses how one tiny checked boxed beside, "Make Sharp Corners" has been life changing! Click here for the HSS Spline Shaft Tool Video that incorporates spring passes + make sharp corners for awesome results.
ProvenCut Part Series
Saunders announces a new addition to ProvenCut that makes it more than just a library! Now, you can find parts similar to what you want to machine, select the machine and type of material, use the mouse to hover over the part to see which types of operations were used, and more! The first part being added to the series is a T-nut and there will be many more to come!
RASK IN HAND & FINE TUNING
All parts have been made and now the only things left are final tweaks for the surface finish, fit, and solving the 5-10% lock-stick issue. Grinding is all systems go. The blades are now the best they've ever been!
Rebuilding The Shop - Custom Tables and Benches for Organization
For Saunders, rebuilding the shop has been in progress for several months now but it's still like a breath of fresh air! He's excited to meet up with someone from Maker Pipe who's offered to help with custom solutions to get SMW to the next level!
John & John go over the never ending struggle of the classic make vs buy scenario. This time they are talking about making a custom shipping table to help speed up Saunders' work flow. Grimsmo has a Canadian version called FlexPipe.
Saunders' has been doing some WORK when it comes to Automatic Brix reading of coolant systems. He has been using a digital refractometer that you can find two versions of them here.
John Grimsmo is still struggling with the Kern. It has been full of little victories and bigger issues. Luckily Angelo had a good idea that helped solve a grinding problem!