Within Tolerance

Born from frustration with a bad light, Okluma and is owner Jeff Sapp create high end EDC lights that are incredibly popular. Jeff joins Dylan this week to share his backstory, talks sub-spindle live tooling lathes, moving the company, and crazy 1000 mile endurance bike races. Go check out Jeff's IG @_okluma_ ----------------------------------------- Help support the podcast www.patreon.com/within...

Have you ever wondered how National Geographic gets those crazy shots right up next to animals? This week's guest, Tom O'Brien is the one to help make those possible. Tom works at National Geographic as a Photo Engineer taking the ideas of photographers and making them a reality. Dylan and Tom talk about cameras, gear, the best shop from the 70s, the Rock, and more! Go check out Tom's IG @mechanic...

Are you tired of having to do calculations to see when a job will be finished? This week's guest Pete Oxenham was, and created his new company Chatter.dev to solve this problem and many more dealing with machine data. Pete tells Dylan of his beginnings in manufacturing, starting with making car parts for his Mustang, to acquiring an Enshu HMC to meet a new customer demand, to starting a software c...

Hot off a record year Andrew rejoins Dylan on the podcast to talk about the unexpected realities of owning a business with such massive growth. From the toll paying taxes takes at a large scale, to moving the entire business to a new shop, to researching and adopting an ERP Andrew has had a year full of immense highs and lows. Dylan and Andrew talk about systems and how they do/do not scale with g...

Easton comes back on the podcast to talk full-time running his shop and all things Moria Manufacturing. Dylan and Easton share crash stories, near misses, and where they see their shops going. Dylan asks Easton about a realization he had about going full-time, and both discuss different CNC control pros and cons. ----------------------------------------- Help support the podcast www.patreon.com/wi...

WT's first guest, Dan Rudolph, returns this week to talk with Dylan about a year of growth, learning, and packing ever more machinery in their shop. Dylan and Dan discuss moving compressors and RapidAir systems. Dan has spent the last year tooling up a process for a difficult part and shares things learned about the long term development process. Dan talks machines with a new Swiss on its way to h...

Joining Dylan this week is James Milne of Fifty50 Knives, maker of some of the finest kitchen cutlery out there. James started off hand making knifes but demand quickly grew to the point where CNC became a need. James tells of buying used machinery, the issues that came with them, and a fantastic story of determination and overcoming these issues. Dylan and James also discuss 3D printing and the b...

 Have you ever wondered how a scientist would approach machining? Wonder no further! Dylan is joined by Marvin Groeb, or @marvgro on IG, System Engineer at Kern with a Masters in Materials Science. Listen in as Marv tells about using the scientific method to test speeds and feeds, shaping with a Kern 5 axis, cutting ceramics and more! Marv brings a wonderful mindset to machining and his backg...

The Yetiman returns! Dylan is joined once again by Jeff Tiedeken of MLS Aerospace and Cutting Time for an episode full of fun stories, lessons learned, and awesome builds. Jeff talks about his adventures spinning up a nuclear project, quantum computers, building show bikes, and accidentally buying a mine. Dylan and Jeff both have new machines with another new one on the way for Jeff, so they both...

All it takes is a brief glance at Uriel's website to know he loves making things. From water treatment to space suit hardware it seems like he's successfully gone wherever his interests take him. Uriel joins Dylan this week to discuss his newest company, Austere Manufacturing, where they are making some incredible soft goods buckles. Uriel talks about the steps taken to get up to speed producing t...

Joining Dylan this week is Prometheus Lights founder and owner of FourSevens, Jason Hui. Listen in as Jason shares his background in manufacturing and design, trials of acquiring another company, and dealing with sourcing issues through the pandemic. Jason and Dylan talk about 3D printers, specifically Jason's incoming printers for production and prototyping. Check out Jason's podcast, I'm No Expe...

You asked for it and it finally happened! This week on the podcast Dylan is joined by his business partner Brad! Listen in as Dylan and Brad talk about Brad's background in machining, how they met and started Proteum, new machines, going full-time, and more! Help support the podcast as www.patreon.com/withintolerancepodcast

Dylan is joined this week by Joe Barros of TDC Manufacturing. Tune in to hear how Joe got started in manufacturing, what made him choose Brother's, and what TDC really stands for! Dylan and Joe talk about the tough decision of buying a new machine, hiring help, and starting new brands. The book Joe mentioned at the end is Essentialism by Greg McKeown. Help support the podcast as www.patreon.com/wi...

Easton and Drew join Dylan again this week to catch up and talk shop. Easton tells us of some shop injuries, lessons learned with parting tools, and sub spindle live tool lathe life. Drew shares his experience with NPT taps, new Drewfab products, and his recent experience looking into buying another business and how to value businesses. Dylan talks about his 4th axis install and some cool tools an...

This week's episode ended up taking 2 weeks to make! The episode begins with Brad Southard joining Dylan in the shop for the first in-person podcast. Brad tells us his backstory from starting in woodworking, making handmade knives, abusing school equipment, and collaborating with Spyderco. Unfortunately both are beset by loud neighbors, and Dylan's laptop fails to record the second half. The next...

"When you quit your job, you're showing the universe that you're serious. And once the universe knows you're serious, it will conspire to help you". Brandon from MarkZero Prototypes continues to show how true this idea from Rich Roll can be with the successes in his business. A Professional Engineer and owner/operator of MarkZero, Brandon tells Dylan how he came up in the engineering world and eve...

Dylan is joined this week by Aaron Gough from Gough Custom, a knifemaker who uses machining to its utmost in his process to craft his gorgeous outdoorsman knives. Listen in as Aaron shares his story, from grinding knives at a young age, to a career as a software engineer, to jumping into making knifes professionally. Aaron talks about buying his first machine, Milly, a Fadal VMC and the effort he...

Dylan is joined this week by Dave Stanbach of Carbide Cutting Tools, a tooling manufacturer in South Carolina. Dave and Dylan talk about cutting tool design, the machines used to make the tools, and all things carbide. Listen in to learn how CCT makes their high performance tooling. Help support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/Withintolerancepodcast

Join Dylan, Easton from Moria Manufacturing, Jake Yates from Yates Precision, and Drew Dominique from Drewfab celebrating 100 episodes of Within Tolerance by talking about new machines, financing machines, running small businesses, and generally throwing each other under the bus at any chance. This will be part 1 of 2 (or maybe more?) Thanks to everyone for listening, participating and supporting...

3D scanning, crazy 5 axis Haas machines, and vacuum forming are just a few of the incredibly cool things this week's guest Chris Purceski is involved in at Parts Shop Max. Tune in to hear how Chris worked his way up in the world of manufacturing and honed his Solidworks chops. Chris talks about tool choice for the HSK spindle on the Haas VR9, balancing tool holders, and dealing with a brand new ma...

Whether you know him from his company Zodiac Engineering, from his products and parts, or as your new friendly neighborhood Yamazen Applications Engineer, Ken is a staple in the machinist community. Listen in as Ken and Dylan talk about his origin story, product development and machining, new knives in the making, and the move into Apps. Help support the podcast! https://www.patreon.com/Withintole...

Have you even come across Spencer Webb's page and thought "what makes this guy tick?". Well grab your favorite beverage, pull up a chair, and listen in as Spencer tells us his story. From the MIT Pistol team, to getting his pilots license, to designing antennas for some amazing challenges Spencer shares the circuitous route he took to end up where he is as antenna consultant and purveyor of precis...

From NASA robotics competitions, to owning his own shop Juan March comes on the show to talk about the creation of Jax Precision and his backstory. Juan shares the successes and trials of owning his own shop, from trying to find shop space, to buying his second machine. Dylan and Juan discuss coolant choices, finding job shop work, machine options, and starting and maintaining a quality system. He...

Going from squirting plastic out of his 3D printer, to ripping it to shreds with his Datron in such a short time, Ed Kramer has put himself through quite the manufacturing journey the last few years. This week Dylan talks to Ed about all things Datron, compressors and mini splits, and how many ice cube trays one machinist needs. Ed talks about digital height gages and metrology and future machine...

When this week's guest Michael Sargent ran into the issue of accurate and dense workholding for his companies Carbon Tactics and Gear Fur, he leaned on his background in engineering and kinematics to design vises and start Flux Workholding. Dylan and Michael go through the ins and the outs of the vise, the ideas that shaped it, and the concepts its based on. With Michael being a veteran of kicksta...