On today’s episode we continue our season talking about companies who produce their own products. Our guest is George Breiwa, founder of DynaVap, a company that produces a unique type of vaporizer, using Index multi-spindles and CNC Swiss lathes. George says that one of the keys to the company’s success is growing and nurturing a community of passionate customers. Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or your favorite app. Main Points George describes DynaVap’s VapCap 2020 M vaporizer, which he prefers to refer to as a selective thermal…
Author: Noah Graff
I know a ton of people reading this will relate to what I’m talking about: starting something that feels completely daunting. So here’s another blog about my new YouTube channel, I Learned It on a Podcast—partly because I desperately need viewers, but mostly because this episode hit me hard.” “For those new to the show: I Learned It on a Podcast is my attempt to create what I always wished existed—something that highlights amazing podcast episodes the way book reviewers highlight great books. I listen to podcasts constantly and kept finding incredible insights that I wanted to share.” Watch the…
Have you ever wondered if bone screws could actually be machined from real tissue? If that were possible, where could one get such bone? What animals would be safe enough? Here’s an old favorite episode. If you haven’t listened to it before, it is going to expand your mind. And you get to learn a thing or two about ranching! Today’s podcast is the first episode of our new season about companies related to medical manufacturing. Our guests are Jim and Mary Rickert, owners of Prather Ranch in Fall River Mills, California. Prather’s closed herd, in which no female cattle…
A few months ago, we brokered a Tornos MultiSwiss 8/26 from Germany to a shop in Massachusetts. To make sure the machine was in top shape, we brought in two Tornos experts—my friend Dulio and his longtime mentor, Donato Notaro–today’s podcast guest. Donato had just officially retired after nearly 50 years in the machining world, much of it spent at Tornos in Switzerland. He still works freelance. Born in Italy, raised in Switzerland, Donato has done service work on at least four continents. He’s the kind of guy who checks backlash like a surgeon testing vitals. We talked about Swiss…
Happy Father’s Day. My parents never let me get a dog, and my dad, Lloyd, is a self-proclaimed “not a dog person.” The closest thing I got was a rabbit in the 4th grade named Floppers, that I gave away because I got bored with him (though I did love him). Like I did two weeks ago, I’m shamelessly promoting my new YouTube show, I Learned It on a Podcast, where I share the fascinating, mind-opening ideas I discover through podcasts. The show is still brand new (this is Episode 2), so I need all the views I can get.…
Our guest on today’s show, Howard Sheldon, grew up working in his family’s third generation precision turning company. He planned to eventually take over the business from his father, but unfortunately succession didn’t happen the way he had hoped. Howard left his family company in his mid-30s, and 10 years ago started his own Swiss turning company, Sheldon Precision Engineering Ltd. Howard turned out to be a natural entrepreneur, and he has built a thriving business that gives him the lifestyle he wants. Starting a business from scratch gave Howard the opportunity to create his ideal company and run it…
A couple weeks ago, I took my family for a weekend getaway to Lansing, Michigan, so I could bid on an ACME 1-5/8″ RBN-8 screw machine built in the ‘60s. It had threading, a slotting attachment and five slides. We figured we had a few interested customers, and my colleague Rex went to inspect it ahead of time. The trip didn’t go exactly as planned. We got caught in traffic, and by 10 PM we were still an hour and a half away. I got drowsy, my wife tried driving, but after five minutes on construction roads with no lights—and…
I just launched a new YouTube show where I share the most fascinating lessons I’ve learned from podcasts—ideas that can help you grow in business and life. It’s called I Learned It on a Podcast. The first episode dives into a topic I know Swarfcast listeners will appreciate: how to communicate, negotiate, and really listen—even when you disagree with someone. The episode works great in audio, but to get the full experience, I highly recommend checking it out on YouTube. Listen on your favorite podcast app using pod.link, or: * View the episode on YouTube! Follow us on…
My guest on today’s podcast, Jared Daily, could have been a mechanical engineer or even a doctor if he wanted to, but instead, he followed his passion and became a journeyman machinist right out of high school. Then he fell into a career 24 years ago, teaching precision machining to high schoolers at South Adams High School in Northeast Indiana, which happens to be the Number 1 machining region in the United States. Jared ’s classes sound fascinating and challenging. They usually ditch the text book to do hands-on projects like build a car engine from scratch using high-end CNC…
Chris Armstrong has saved me more times than I can count—helping us at Graff-Pinkert through tough machinery deals, especially when it comes to Swiss machines. Citizens? He’s our guy. But today’s podcast isn’t just about technical know-how. After years of driving coast to coast fixing machines and solving problems most people wouldn’t touch, Chris is shifting gears—rebuilding how he works, the kinds of parts he makes, and how he makes a living. This is a story about the machining world. It’s about burnout, comebacks, and the deep, rare purpose you find when you fix things for a living. Listen on…