This week, everything works… except the things we actually need.

We start off optimistically with solar power plans and dreams of energy independence, before immediately spiraling into real-world problems like rising fuel costs, questionable ROI, and whether running a machine shop on sunshine is genius or just expensive optimism.

Then Fusion 360 decides to absolutely ruin Jamie’s week, turning simple edits into 10-minute emotional journeys and making basic machining tasks feel like punishment. If you’ve ever shouted at your CAD software like it personally betrayed you, this one’s for you.

Meanwhile, Curt casually builds “internet in a box” like a doomsday prepper with a Wi-Fi signal, downloads all of Wikipedia, and somehow makes it sound completely reasonable.

We also cover:

• Why copy-pasting G-code is a dangerous game
• The exact moment a missing line ruins your day
• Buying a new 3D printer for “totally valid reasons.”
• Designing print-in-place tools that might actually save your machine
• And why backups (and backup plans) are no longer optional

It’s part machining, part tech rant, part “how did we get here?”

Subscribe if you enjoy:
Questionable engineering decisions
Software-induced suffering
And slowly preparing for the apocalypse… but with good documentation

Links Discussed:

• Noughtical Work Holding: https://www.noughticalwh.com/

The Lone Machinist:

• Website: https://thelonemachinists.com/
• Bonus Content: https://thelonemachinists.com/#bonus-content
• Merch: https://www.jspeceng.com/online-store
• Patreon: https://patreon.com/TheLoneMachinists

Need Work Done? Check out Subtract Manufacturing at: https://subtractmanufacturing.com/

Want to try out Toolpath? Give it a go and get 10% off by using the code TLM10 at checkout: https://toolpath.com/

Jamie:

• http://instagram.com/jspec_engineering
• https://www.jspeceng.com/
• https://www.noughticalwh.com/

Curt:

• https://www.instagram.com/confoundedmachine/
• https://www.confoundedmachine.com/