Within Tolerance

Chris Townsend joins me to talk about Eagle Manufacturing, the student-run business at Brown County High School in Indiana. We get into running a real shop with 70 students working short class-period shifts, using ProShop to keep handoffs on track, and giving kids room to fail safely. Plus, why a flat top grill might be the best culture investment in the program. Check out Eagle Manufacturing'...

Episode five of My Tool Library Is Better Than Yours. If your shop runs on a standard tool library, those tools need to always be there. Justin and Zap break down Kanban cards, tool tags, and tool storage. Sometimes the answer is a better system. Sometimes it's just more holders. Check out Justin's IG @justingraylabsCheck out Zap's IG @zap.consulting------------------------------------...

Everyone's answer for the best part of IMTS 2026 was the same: the people. Zap, Justin, John Grimsmo, Chris Hopkins, Andrew Henry, and James Meyette join me across four days of mini episodes, recorded from the Kennametal, Rego-Fix, Datron, and Matsuura booths, to talk about what caught their eye. We get into less AI hype than expected, metrology finds in the back rows, high-density workholding...

Andrew Henry of Henry Holsters is back after nearly five years, and a lot has changed: 11 employees to just over 30, a building addition, a Matsuura MX-420, and a shift from making parts to running the whole stack for other holster brands. We get into hiring his first real programmer and handing over the keys, the dark side of lean and why gratitude has to come with it, bringing on a fractional CF...

Zap and I go live one more time before IMTS with Patreon members firing off questions. We map out the meetups (Kern on Wednesday the 3rd, plus a rotation of podcast recordings around the show floor) and swap updates: Zap on Kinematic Sauce, CritLink, and nonstop coast-to-coast travel, me on the new auto CMM, the coolant dosing project, and the podcast bot that's now live in the Discord. Plus a...

Justin and Zap are back for chapter four of My Tool Library Is Better Than Yours: Standard Tools Are the Cheapest Automation You Can Buy. Standardizing saves you a little time every day, but the real money is in killing the expensive outliers that blow up a Saturday night. They get into what "standard" actually means (it's not one holder for everything), why drills and taps are the b...

Eddie Riddell of Steele & Co Engineering joins Dylan this week from his one-man job shop in one of the most remote cities in the world. Eddie traces a wild path from a New Zealand apprenticeship to the Australian mines to going out on his own, buying Haas machines sight unseen from across the world and landing on a DN Solutions SMX mill turn. They get into learning G-code out of necessity, why...

A long overdue catch-up with Dylan and Zap. Dylan owns up to overcommitting the shop and relearning that automation doesn't save you from yourself, then runs through tooling, RO water, and a 3D printer that ate itself mid-print. Zap talks Kinematic Sauce, building systems that persist without him, and why being cheap is the fastest way to sink a shop. Plus neat oil, buying machines the right w...

Justin and Zap dig into the idea that a good tool library is never finished. They cover treating it as a digital twin of your crib, promoting tools from bench to standard, and when it's fine to let a specialty tool live outside the system entirely. The theme running underneath it all: seek perfection if you want, just don't let it stop you from starting. Check out Zap's IG @zap.consult...

Episode two digs into presets to boost throughput in CAM. Justin and Zap break down the golden rule—if you're dialing in feeds and speeds every single program, you need a preset—plus how far the rabbit hole goes with floor finishing, wall finishing, tape-and-glue, and everything in between. Plus why the same carbide in a different holder isn't the same tool at all. Check out Zap's IG @...

Kicking off Down the Rabbit Hole, a new Within Tolerance podcast for nerds, by nerds. Justin and Zap launch their multi-part series "My Tool Library Is Better Than Yours" with the bootstrap basics: a simple four-folder structure, modeling your holders and tools accurately, and getting roughing and finishing presets dialed in. No money required—just stop building tools from scratch every...

Justin Gray catches us up on life post-Toolpath. We get into Justin Gray Labs and his vibe coding kits — along with the security nightmares they're built to prevent. He's also chasing fidget pistons to a two-tenth window on a Syil and Speedio. Then we get into Kinematic Sauce, the calibration algorithm he and Zap built for Speedios, with Fanuc and Haas next. Plus, his new show Down the Rab...

Two months of catching up with Zap: the Toolpath Summit recap, his Claude-built ERP CritLink processing real money, and his Boise shop dialed in for remote operation. Dylan finally has power, runs the Flex overnight, untangles a kinematic shift on the C250, and survives a titanium job that tried to take him out. Check out Zap's IG @zap.consulting ----------------------------------------- Help...

Matt Blackwell spent over two decades fixing jets and flying C-17s before building a one-man backyard shop and a fiber laser fixture business he never planned on. We talk spindle gripping lessons, the messy line between hobby and business, and how a guy in a backyard shop ends up tapping a few hundred thousand holes. Check out Matt's IG @blackwell_engineering ----------------------------------...

Joe Alonso tells the full Novo Modo origin story—off-grid childhood, working full-time at 16, a career detour through blindness and Microsoft, and launching a shop on pure conviction with no customers lined up. We dig into his inspection-first approach, keeping shops small on purpose, and why culture fixes more than training ever will. Check out Joe's LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/joseph-alonso-...

Zap and Dylan catch up after a busy stretch. Boise expansion, Texas customer visits, QuickBooks meltdown, and the Claude Code build. Dylan's still chasing power for the Flex, doubled up compressors, and is increasingly frustrated with Fusion. Plus questions on specialization, work holding, financing, and the worst shops Zap's walked into. Check out Zap's IG @zap.consulting ------------...

Brian Kippen is back after nearly four years to talk about an incredible period of growth and change at KAD Models. From teaching machining to acquiring a wire forming business, adding a MAM with automation, and managing three facilities across two coasts—all while raising a toddler. We dive into the cultural challenges of bringing precision work to a fast-paced prototype shop, the reality of mach...

Zap and I wrap up 2025 with our first live podcast! Patreon members join us as we answer questions, reflect on 2025, and talk about plans for 2026. Thanks to everyone for a wonderful 2025 and looking forward to a great 2026 with more guests and episodes! McMaster Ugly Sweater - https://laurenfahey.me/mmc-ugly-christmas-sweater/ Keyence Sensors are - FR-S01 for radar level sensing and FI-C20D for r...

This week I talk with Ethan Perrin about MIT Formula SAE, building the Miters West shop, and why a small fiber laser and press brake changed how he prototypes. We also hit rescuing CMM's on a budget and his alumni EV formula car. Check out Ethan’s IG @ethan.perrin97 ----------------------------------------- Help support the podcast www.patreon.com/withintolerancepodcast

In‑person catch‑up: pre‑Flex rigging shuffle, neighbors bribed with donuts, and the first HyperMill customer part. Zap runs through leaving Boise, growing the team, splitting work the right way, and getting a shop moving with CMM, coolant, and probing. Check out Zap's IG @zap.consulting ----------------------------------------- Help support the podcast www.patreon.com/withintolerancepodcast

We catch up on a busy stretch: Zap’s UK stint, dialing in systems, and turning chaos into consistency—including saying no when it counts. Dylan locks the shop layout, keeps the S700, preps for the Hermle HSFlex and hyperMill, and shares a few hard-won long-cycle lessons. Justin's Speedio Filter - https://marketplace.sendcutsend.com/p/CD80E306/chip-filtering-grate-filter-for-brother-speedio-s50...

From an 800 sq ft pole barn to a 4,000 sq ft shop, Devin shares how Lichen leveled up: team, layout, and automation. We cover the R450 cobot project, M300 wins, live‑tool lathe realities, and building a stable, sustainable operation without the chaos. Check out Devin’s IG @lichen_mfg and check out his podcast Incremental at https://open.spotify.com/show/5pjzm7sFZrumDHv2eqytg5 ---------------------...

Curt of Confounded Machine shares how a garage hobby became a thriving EDC pen brand. We dive into retrofitting a Hardinge, moving to a Syil X5 , iso-grid grips, entropic anodizing, and his new “Mech One” mechanism. Rigibore RADS video mentioned: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0pM5cKUKSA Check out Curt’s IG @confoundedmachine ----------------------------------------- Help support the podcast www...

Jamie Peacock of JSpec Engineering and The Lone Machinists podcast joins to talk one‑man‑shop reality, from building and retrofitting machines to launching the Anchor Point zero‑point system. We hit in‑house anodizing, adding a 4th on Siemens, and why relationships beat everything in business. Link to the article discussed in the episode: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/lets-talk-cheap-labour-expen...

California updates with Zap, CMM finally dialed in, HyperMill setup progress, pin finisher optimization, RO water planning, and some honest programming errors. Topics include surface roughness tools, machine comparisons, cost tracking, floating tap holders, and technology perspectives. Check out Zap's IG @zap.consulting ----------------------------------------- Help support the podcast www.pat...