Parts Department

By Justin Brouillette & Jem FreemanBusiness Entrepreneurship Technology Leisure Hobbies

Parts Department episodes

March 10173 - $65,000 and a brick
Jem quoted big this week while glued to his desk, ditching ChatGPT for Claude and getting his staff into Cursor. His parkour bricked iPhone became surprisingly zen. Justin scored a Tormach autosaw from Seattle, and he's hiring a Shop Coordinator. Both are wrestling with Xero bookkeeping.
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DISCUSSED:
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Soggy phone delights ꘎
Dumping Chatty G
New role at PDX CNC - Shop Coordinator
Justin steals a bandsaw - Tormach AF50+
Reconciling should be automatic by now surely!?
Robots via Cursor?
Getting staff into AI workflows - Jon into Cursor
AirShop - Bulk imports, quote billing new

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HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
45 min
March 03172 - One-click kanban glory
Jem's rocking top-tier muffs that isolate a screaming spindle while the guys talk one-click Kanban card glory. They discuss the magic of good- documentation, fighting AI amnesia with markdown, and the logistics of shipping PS2 kits to the States. From bike-ride domain buys to handling trade apathy, it's a heavy look at refining the systems that keep a modern shop running.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
Communication in the trades, what the actual fuck? ꘎
Are you driving Cursor remotely? ꘎
Dylan got good muff recommendation ꘎
Gemini Lead Interview Youtube @Justin Brouillette
HA Dashboard for Bambu
input.button

AirShop upates
New Docs site 😍
6 months 50% off currently!
Kanban carding / printers
QR Scanners are amazing
PS2 Launch

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Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
1 hr 1 min
February 17171 - Slag on my parts
Jem's dialed-in tumbler workflow is pumping out thousands of little widgets with barely any intervention, while Justin redesigned the Fang clamp packaging to keep up with demand. They swap war stories about terrible powder coaters, Jem races his cousin vs Cursor on a Raspberry Pi battery project, and Justin finds a surprisingly old-school solution to stop Slacking across the shop.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
Engineer versus AI in modbus solution ꘎
Clawtastic ꘎
Love of tumbling ꘎
Cursor is king ꘎
Package Redesign for Fangs
Local Open assistants
Open Claw
Quality issues other vendors
Microscope 10 inch
Intercoms

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Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
52 min
February 10170 - Sticker Licker 3000
Justin literally sold a room of his shop. Jem's questioning if his furniture business is secretly a tech company, someone stayed up til 2am installing sketchy AI agents, and plumbing codes make a surprise guest appearance. Also Fusion's new file types are confusing everyone.
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DISCUSSED:
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Praise for Jonny ꘎
Are we a technology company? ꘎
Who buys the stuff?
Backflow preventer for coolant
Jem's new KittaParts Gallery 👈
Dexter Room 👋
New Jem Robot Content
Big Fusion workflow shakeup - Kevin's explainer
🟧 AirShop Updates <> Help Scout
Onboarding Tour and Checklist - little steps to get started
Help Scout integration
OpenClaw
Hacksmith tour by Grimsmo

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Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.
HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
54 min
February 03169 - Scripting Blender like a coward
Jem's dealing with wrong-white paint drama and bushfire heat waves while Justin finally cut steel and loved it. They nerd out on slitting saws, spindle grippers, and robot pick-and-place logic. Justin's close to launching AirShop billing, got a tenant for his extra shop space, and is scheming ways to script Blender renders without learning Blender. Classic shop talk with a side of automation dreams.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
Charged 70% less, cost wage ~$25/hr 😂
Justin cut steel 🤦
IPA vs Ethanol
Subleased
Really excited about Gimbel UMC automation - Wafflesandpremix
Saunders Expanding Pins
Robot Probing idea
Blender automation renderings?
New Hoffmann Slitting Saw

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Profit First Playlist
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SUPPORT THE SHOW
Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show
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Show Info
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Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
54 min
January 27168 - Hole in the wall, glorious
Jem's recovering from bushfire evacuations and finding thinking work tough after the chaos. Justin's got a glorious new hole between his shop spaces and AirShop is streamlining daily operations nicely. Both are geeking out over Random Routing's insane 48-tool carousel upgrade. Jem's dumped ChatGPT for Gemini, and Justin's testing coated CNC tooling.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
Fires near Jem
5th Axis Kurt DX6 96 Adapter
Quitting my 3 axis reel
Converting Pierson Pallets to Lang 96
AirShop is really smoothing daily operations (Beta users wanted!)
Post Edits, Github shared Haas post
Gemini backing Siri
Home battery project ꘎
Time on the tools ꘎
Hole in the wall! Glorious
Chatty G I've dumped you ꘎
Reanimating grasshopper challenges ꘎
Diode was the right diagnosis ꘎
Home Assistant Green
Fire Ball 🔥
Random Routing with a banger
Aluminum finish quality 😍
Love the Kimla
Post drives the robot
48 tools
Simplicity of PC CAM

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Profit First Playlist
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SUPPORT THE SHOW
Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show
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Show Info
Show Website
Contact Jem & Justin
Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube

Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
53 min
January 13167 - Australian diesel spa
Justin's been deep in AirShop development over the holidays while Jem dealt with diesel generator drama amid fire danger. They chat five-axis workflow wins, a $30 kid's microscope that's surprisingly shop-worthy, permit nightmares for a simple door, and SendCutSend's wild live machining stream. Plus Chippy vs forklift round two.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
AirShop Incorporated 🟠 Signup airshopapp.com
Digital stocktake ⠄
We got Covid for Christmas
Amazing Microscope - this got me
5ax flow
Full-time Diesel Mechanic ꘎
Lack Gloucester, but once again finding more hours in the day magically ꘎
Chippy Death Plot
Kitta Builder
Bridge Builder game download
SendMillSend

00:00 Back in 2026
02:29 Business Developments and Product Launches
05:35 Sales Performance and Inventory Management
08:33 Family Life and Holiday Reflections
11:14 Innovative Tools and Equipment
14:13 Production Challenges and Strategies
17:04 Customer Engagement and Sales Trends
20:00 Robot River Table
20:28 5 axis Flow
23:22 Project Management and Workflow Optimization
26:23 Community Engagement and Social Media
29:19 Permitting Challenges and Bureaucracy
32:01 Work-Life Balance and Productivity Insights
35:04 Powerline Networking?
37:58 Plans
50:54 Robotic River Rodeo Full

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Profit First Playlist
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SUPPORT THE SHOW
Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show
Review on Apple Podcast
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Show Info
Show Website
Contact Jem & Justin
Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube

Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
54 min
December 23, 2025166 - Dylan shows us the Hermle C250
Jem and Justin wrap up the year with tales of inventory headaches, Home Assistant tinkering, and soft jaw frustrations on the new UMC. Dylan Jackson from Within Tolerance drops by to show off his fresh Hermle 250 setup. Plus: electrocution survival stories, air compressor mysteries, and why bricking your phone might be the ultimate productivity hack. Happy holidays from the shop floor.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
Shop automation with Home Assistant (green hub)
Stream Deck
Hacs - obscure 3rd party stuff for HA
Mains cable failure
Fusion MCP
Air leak on UMC
PS2 Turbine experiments
Dylan Jackson joins the show! Within Tolerance - his podcast
Dylan's business, Proteum Machining
Dylan’s sick headphones from 3M
AnyShortcut | Fusion | Autodesk App Store
Product dev
New ATC Pedestal versions
New CNC Tooling
New CNC Tool holders
New Fang Stock

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Profit First Playlist
Classic Episodes Playlist
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SUPPORT THE SHOW
Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show
Review on Apple Podcast
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Show Info
Show Website
Contact Jem & Justin
Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube

Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.
HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
54 min
December 16, 2025165 - Salt on the IBC rim
Jem and Justin chat new computers, shop reorganizations, and the joy of Facebook Marketplace finds like conveyors and what was sticky in Justin's new IBC tote. They swap notes on year-end revenue wins, FedEx driver diplomacy, and why thermostats are amazing ROI. Plus: Home Assistant rabbit holes, AI voice chat absurdity, and holiday shipping plans.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
Got schooled by AppMan ꘎
Home assistant rabbit hole Todd ꘎
Filled the big hole fast
2026 calendars
49 current small projects
Metaphorical hiking
Absolutely disgusting state of affairs
Roller conveyor
2025 End of Year
Christmas Live Show - join the recording 🇺🇸 Dec 18 - 11:30am PST or 🇦🇺 Dec 19 - 6:30am AEDT

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Profit First Playlist
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SUPPORT THE SHOW
Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show
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Show Info
Show Website
Contact Jem & Justin
Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube

Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
52 min
December 09, 2025164 - The filthy assistants
Jem and Justin catch up after Thanksgiving, celebrating the sale of Justin's YCM mill and his new fiber laser adventures. They swap stories about home automation dreams, robot programming, and the joys of hiring with AI assistance. Plus, a touching tribute to the generous soul who gave Jem his robots.
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DISCUSSED:
✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic
UMC Ep2 Youtube
Chatty G voice feels so dumb ꘎
Oh my Packout fever ꘎
Claude 4.5 Haiku looses the plot again ꘎
Opus 4.5 daily drive
Importance of a good sump
Getting daily fiber
Justin bought this 30w Fiber laser
Death
New Hire for PDX CNC?
Home Assistant? - Hacksmith / Grimsmo
Hacksmith Knife Vlogs

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Profit First Playlist
Classic Episodes Playlist
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SUPPORT THE SHOW
Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show
Review on Apple Podcast
Share with a Friend

Discuss on Show Subreddit
Show Info
Show Website
Contact Jem & Justin
Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube

Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links.

HOSTS
Jem Freeman
Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia
Like Butter | Instagram | More Links

Justin Brouillette
Portland, Oregon, USA
PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links
1 hr

About Parts Department

From the publisher's feed

Justin Brouillette (Portland CNC) & Jem Freeman (Like Butter) discuss CNC machines, their product design and manufacturing businesses, and every kind of tool that they fancy.