What happens when a mechanical engineering instructor actually comes from industry—not academia? My guest on today’s podcast is Andrew Schiller from Utah Tech, who spent six years at Caterpillar and GE, and studied theology at seminary, before landing in the classroom. He’s teaching students to think like business owners—understanding costs, not just making parts. But more than that, his students aren’t just learning to push buttons, they’re falling in love with creating things that actually matter. ************* Listen on your favorite podcast app using pod.link. . View the podcast at the bottom of this post or on our…
Author: Noah Graff
Is an Acme-Gridley the mink coat of machine tools? A well made product that still does a great job, but nobody wants another one. In 2025? No. Not yet. On today’s podcast, Lloyd and I talk about our used machinery business over the last year. We saw one customer drop 20 million for five INDEXs to replace every cam screw machine in their shop. At the same time we sold machines to a multinational automotive supplier who is buying hundreds of Davenport screw machines—many older than me—I’m 45 by the way. ************* Listen on your favorite podcast app using pod.link. …
Today I’m talking to a guy who believes every company needs to be built to last—not just to flip. Neil Lansing is a turnaround specialist who left private equity to bet his own money on small, underperforming businesses. He’s taken companies from 18 employees to over 400. From $2 million to $40-50 million in revenue. And when everyone else was laying people off in 2008, he told his refrigeration company’s team: “We need more clients.” After transforming mom-and-pop service companies one after another, he found his final stop, Piedmont Machine & Manufacturing. At 67, he’s not looking for the next…
I want to make a big change in my life. It sounds like a minor issue, but I’ve been reading A LOT of sports on my cellphone lately—often in the bathroom or at my desk, or on the couch. It’s how I decompress after stress, or just get a small dopamine shot when I’m bored. Like many habit changes, it takes several nudges from the universe for you to finally act. I wrote this a few weeks ago, when I was desperately waiting for my beloved Chicago Cubs to sign a free agent. Day after day I googled “Cubs news,”…
Last week our condo’s hot water heater stopped working. The blue light had three flashes and then eight flashes, which ChatGPT diagnosed as a bad vapor sensor. My first inclination was to bring in a pro, but my AI sidekick insisted that it was an easy fix I could do myself in five minutes if I ordered a simple part from Amazon. The part came on Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon I set out to be a self-reliant “man of the house.” My wife, Stephanie, understandably was tired of no hot water for three days. No dishwasher, no shower. I…
Our guest on the podcast today is Shawn Gaskin, owner of Swiss Technologies of New England and Stone Medical in Plainville, Massachusetts. Shawn started Swiss Technologies over 20 years ago, with one L20 Citizen making parts out of sterling silver for Tiffany and Company. Over the years, his company has grown into a diversified shop, doing a significant amount of medical work. If you want to learn about the medical Swiss components business I recommend you check out this interview. Scroll down to read more and listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite…
Our guest on today’s podcast is Elliott May, engineer at BME in Port Huron, Michigan. BME builds original custom attachments for cam multi-spindles. They also rebuild Acme-Gridley screw machines. Elliott and I talked about a lot of fascinating things in this interview. How to keep old mechanical beasts relevant, getting young people into machining, and what it’s like to work closely everyday with your dad—who’s also the boss. Scroll down to read more and listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite app. Find us on Social: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/swarfcast Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/swarfcast/…
Tickling your opponent to win a UFC fight. What comes to mind? Sheer unmanliness? Bush league? Genius? Something very close to that actually happened last year. In an amateur MMA match in Maine, fighter Mason Lewis got trapped in a nasty choke. No angle, no leverage, he was doomed. So he did something nobody could have fathomed. He reached down and tickled his opponent’s bare foot. The guy laughed, loosened up just long enough, and Lewis slipped out and eventually won. Totally legal. Totally ridiculous. Totally effective. The UFC world tried not to make a big deal out of it.…
Most of us don’t have a knack for pivoting. We follow the standard curriculum, and we keep going forward when we get in a lane, whether we believe it’s the right direction or not. But for Michael Gimbel, my guest on today’s show, seeing setbacks as serendipity and then pivoting is a natural gift. Michael built a CNC router in his garage by age 12. He dropped out of an elite university after one year to start a company selling 3D printing technology that he invented. When the company failed, he picked up the pieces, shifting to contract manufacturing and…
Thursday, Dec. 18, 2025, was the last day before my supposed vacation started, which is today, as I write this. I felt like I was slogging through the mud, just trying to get through it. I felt like I wasn’t doing a good enough job. I felt like a mess, like I wasn’t getting done what i was supposed to be getting done. My dad and I reflected some about our lousy year, which wasn’t uplifting though there was something satisfying about being open about it. Amidst that yuckiness, I had some huge wins yesterday. I finished the second of…