The Impractical Machinists

The guys are back from IMTS, and it’s time to get back to reality.

In this episode of The Impractical Machinists, Patrick, Cameron, and Bradley look back at their week together at IMTS 2026, from doing live sessions in front of a real crowd to meeting people who actually listen to the podcast (still a little weird).

Then it’s back to what’s been happening in their own shops.

Patrick talks about what life has been like since going full-time with his shop, including his first late payment, a big job that seemingly disappeared, and dealing with the reality of making mistakes. The guys also get into customer relationships, knowing when it’s worth standing your ground, hiring help, keeping up with shop maintenance, and all the little things that start piling up when you’re busy making parts.

And, naturally, there are plenty of completely unnecessary side conversations along the way.

Basically, IMTS was fun. Now it’s back to running machine shops.

What’s been keeping you busy in your shop lately? Let us know in the comments.

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Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

What happens when you get The Impractical Machinists together at IMTS for their first-ever live, in-person episode?

A lot of shop talk, a little chaos, and more machines than anyone has time (or money) for.

Pat, Cam, and Brad sit down live from IMTS to talk about what caught their eye on the show floor, the machines and technology they didn’t even know existed, and the tools and workholding they could actually see themselves using back at the shop.

But as impressive as the equipment is, some of the best parts of IMTS have nothing to do with machines. It’s finally meeting the people you’ve talked to online for years, putting faces to usernames, swapping shop stories, and realizing just how big the machining community really is.

They also get into shop life, what they’d actually spend money on, Pat’s big move to running his shop full-time, and, of course, a little machining trivia along the way.

Welcome to The Impractical Machinists, live from the show floor at IMTS 2026!

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Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

Learn more about The Machinists' Hub here!

IMTS is almost here, and the guys are getting ready for a very busy week in Chicago.

Patrick, Cameron, and Bradley sit down before the show to talk about what they’re looking forward to, what they actually want to see on the show floor, and what might be a little overhyped this year. From workholding and inspection to automation, AI, and all the unexpected stuff you stumble across at a show this big, there’s plenty on the radar.

For Patrick, it’ll also be his first time at IMTS, which means finally meeting a lot of the machinists and people he’s known online for years.

And this year is a big one for Practical Machinist too. The whole crew will be at the Machinists' Hub with live sessions, trivia, meet-and-greets, happy hours, and the first-ever in-person episode of the Impractical Machinists Podcast.

If you’re heading to IMTS, come find us in the West Building, Level 3, Booth 432638. See you in Chicago!

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Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

What makes a “real” machine shop anyway?

Justin Webb didn’t come up through the traditional machining route. He dropped out of high school, eventually went back to earn an engineering degree, and started Zealous Manufacturing almost by accident. He was designing parts for customers until one of them finally asked, “Can you make these too?”

There was just one problem: Justin didn’t know how to machine.

So he bought a Tormach, figured it out as he went, made plenty of mistakes, and slowly built a working machine shop around the equipment he could actually afford.

In this episode of Impractical Machinist, Justin joins Ian to talk about that journey and why, years later, he’s still running the same kind of machines some machinists told him he’d eventually “outgrow.”

They get into what smaller machines can teach you, engineers vs. machinists, knowing when you actually need more machine, the temptation to compare your shop to everyone else’s, and why the fanciest equipment isn’t always the smartest business decision.

It’s a conversation about Tormachs, but even more so, it’s about building the shop that makes sense for you instead of the one everyone else thinks you should have.

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Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum.

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Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

When an end mill starts misbehaving, the cutter usually gets blamed first. But Scott Walrath says the real problem may be the toolholder, the runout, or the way the whole setup is working together.
In this episode, Scott joins us from CERATIZIT USA to talk through what he has learned from more than 40 years in the cutting-tool industry. We get into carbide prices, tungsten supply, tool life, reconditioning, high-performance milling, and why small changes in setup can make a big difference at the machine.
It’s a practical conversation about getting more out of your tooling and figuring out what is actually causing the problem before you reach for a new end mill.

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Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

Planning to attend IMTS? This year, IMTS is celebrating manufacturing with a 6-week giveaway. Through August 14, they're releasing a new limited-edition hat patch every week. The first 100 people to register for IMTS using that week's promo code will receive the matching hat. Register here: IMTS Registration, then check IMTS or Practical Machinist's social channels each week for the latest promo code and that week's hat design.

This week felt different.

After years of talking about someday owning his own CNC machine, Pat finally spent his first full week making real customer parts on one. It wasn't smooth. There were long nights, missing tooling, scrapped parts, last-minute hardware runs, and more than a few moments of wondering what he got himself into.

But somehow, after putting in 92 hours between his day job and the shop, he wouldn't trade it for anything.

The guys talk about what that first week was really like, the mistakes nobody tells you about, and why having good people around you makes all the difference when you're getting started.

Later, Cam shares the next big step for his business as his shop prepares to move into a much larger building. From planning machine layouts and inspection rooms to figuring out how to relocate an entire operation without bringing production to a halt, it's a real look at what growth actually looks like behind the scenes.

They also talk IMTS, what they're looking forward to, and where you'll be able to find the Practical Machinist team during the show. If you're planning to be in Chicago, come by the booth and say hello.

🔔 Subscribe, Rate, and Review to never miss an episode. Your feedback helps us bring you the content you love!

Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum.

Or listen to our podcast on YouTube

Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

Brad Jacob from Maple Lane Machine and Tool joins Patrick and Cameron as guest host for this episode.

They catch up on what has changed at Brad’s shop, how the VF-2 is working out, and why he has been considering a different CAM system. That leads to an honest discussion about software support, unexpected updates, five-axis programming, cutter compensation, modeling around tolerances, and the amount of work you can lose when you leave a system containing years of programs and models.

The second half is built around stories submitted by machinists. There is a new machine that supposedly needed nine tons of concrete—but actually needed one setting changed. A young programmer who thought he had nothing left to learn. Perfectly good threaded parts rejected by questionable gauges. A rush job made from material the customer later admitted was wrong. Four long shafts, sixteen-hour days, and a baby due at any moment. And a batch of good parts rejected because the inspection room was too hot.

We’d like to hear how other shops handle these situations. Have you ever switched CAM systems, challenged a rejected part, or accepted a rush job you later regretted? Share what happened—and what you learned from it—in the comments.

🔔 Subscribe, Rate, and Review to never miss an episode. Your feedback helps us bring you the content you love!

Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum.

Or listen to our podcast on YouTube

Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

Every machine shop runs into the same challenges sooner or later. Cash flow gets tight, tooling costs keep climbing, and deciding when to invest in new equipment is never easy.

In this episode of the Impractical Machinists Podcast, Pat, Cam, and Brad answer questions from the Practical Machinist community and share how they'd approach some of the biggest decisions shops are facing today.

What would you do? Let us know in the comments.

🔔 Subscribe, Rate, and Review to never miss an episode. Your feedback helps us bring you the content you love!

Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum.

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Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

Taylor Jenkins didn't start out wanting to be a machinist. He wanted to fly planes.

Then COVID hit, his plans changed, and he ended up in a composites program working with carbon fiber instead, chasing the same hands-on itch he'd had since high school building RC gliders and racing drones. From there he landed a job as a CNC operator in southern Utah almost by accident, just because he could already read a blueprint.

A few shops, a few good mentors, and one really bad boss later, Taylor ended up running his own shop, Lone Wolf Precision, completely solo. No crew, no robots, just him, two Brother mills, and an auto saw he's genuinely proud of.

In this episode, we get into:

- His path from drone racing and RC planes into machining (it's a weirder story than you'd think)
- The probe crash that almost killed his new Brother machine, and what it taught him about automation actually eating your "free time" instead of giving you more of it.
- The aerospace shop that trained him right, including learning the CMM inspection feedback loop the hard way
- The bad coworker situation that finally pushed him to leave that job for good
- The six weeks he had to buy a machine and make a brand new production contract work, after turning down a job offer to do it
- How he finds new work (hint: it's not LinkedIn), and why he fires customers who aren't worth the headache
- The saw stop he designed because every shop bandsaw stop he's ever used has been garbage

If you're running your own shop, thinking about starting one, or just like hearing how somebody actually built theirs from the ground up, this one's worth the listen.

🔔 Subscribe, Rate, and Review to never miss an episode. Your feedback helps us bring you the content you love!

Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum.

Or listen to our podcast on YouTube

Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!

Ron Gobbels, CEO of Kam Wire EDM Technologies located in Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, joins the guys for a conversation that covers a lot more than just wire EDM. 
From growing up in the trade under an old school German mentor, to making a scary leap into shop ownership and watching the work dry up almost immediately — Ron shares the real story of building a specialty machining business from the ground up. He also breaks down everything you've ever wanted to know about wire EDM — how it actually works, what it can and can't do, and whether it belongs in your shop.

Timestamps:
0:00 — Introductions
0:49 —Why Ron diversified in 2019
8:26 — Ron's background — from old school tool & die to cowboy to EDM shop owner
11:00 — How Kam Wire EDM started and the scariest month of his life
16:31 — How Ron connected with Ian Sandusky
22:15 — What is wire EDM and how does it actually work?
28:16 — Crashes, floods and EDM horror stories
36:47 — Fixturing and cutting different materials
44:51 — Tolerances and what affects accuracy
51:40 — Should you have a wire EDM in your home shop?
55:25 — What to look for when buying a wire EDM machine
1:05:54 — The thickest and thinnest parts Ron has ever cut
1:09:20 — Can EDM replace grinding and milling?
1:11:42 — Do they take walk-ins?
1:16:46 — Ron's impractical tip: never stop innovating

🔔 Subscribe, Rate, and Review to never miss an episode. Your feedback helps us bring you the content you love!

Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum.

Or listen to our podcast on YouTube

Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG or PM@Marvel

Thanks for listening!!!