Opportunity or Obstacles?

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By Lloyd Graff

I was buying bagels for my lunch, and on my ride to the deli I started listening to an NPR interview of Terry Gross speaking with writer Jerald Walker, who Gross described incessantly as having grown up on Chicago’s Southside.

Well, so did I, so I was drawn into Walker’s recollections of moving into a White neighborhood which quickly changed to all Black in the 1960s. It might well have been very close to where I grew up a few years earlier on Euclid Avenue. Michelle Obama grew up on Euclid also, 15 to 20 years after me.

Walker showed promise as a writer and eventually applied to the acclaimed Iowa Writers’ Workshop at the University of Iowa. He was one of a tiny group of applicants to be accepted. In the interview, he talked about writing an essay about his youth in Chicago, about being pulled into petty crime by his brother, watching his sister become a heroin addict, and seeing another brother shot. He emphasized the crushing horror of his tough life in Chicago, and being raised by two blind parents.

Walker was proud of the essay for its bleakness and tough truth.

Chicago-born writer, Jerald Walker

His teacher, James Alan McPherson, a Black author himself, tore the piece apart. Walker was furious. After class, he ran after the professor and demanded a one-on-one meeting. MacPherson told Walker that he hated the essay. He told Walker that yes, it may be true and factual, but it was still a stereotype of Black oppression and young Jerald Walker was not a victim. He was an elite writer, one of the 3% of applicants who applied to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop to be admitted. McPherson asked Walker to think about who he was, and Walker said he thought deeply about who he was for a year, and it changed him as a person and as a writer.

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For many years I have been trying to deal with the Black struggle in America. I live in an area which is now predominantly Black. Many of my neighbors are African-American, but I can’t say I’m close friends with them. The Black Lives Matter slogan and movement troubles me a lot because I think it emphasizes Black victimization, which I see as a huge negative, particularly for young people. It promotes anger and payback.

The “1619 Project,” from New York Times, which blames White people for almost all of the ills of Black America even today, is a huge negative for the improvement of the lives of Black Americans. On the sports front, I think the NBA showed poor judgement in allowing Black players to decorate their uniforms with Black Power slogans. I am not pleased by the societal about face regarding Colin Kaepernick, who grew up as an adopted son in a White family. He has now become a symbol of Black victimization, even though he had a successful career as an NFL quarterback and is now collecting big royalty checks from Nike for clothing naming rights.

Jerald Walker’s writing career has led him to Emerson College and a self-described “cushy” life in Boston’s 96% White suburbs. In the Gross interview, he talked about cringing at the thought of taking his 18- and 20-year-old sons back to his old neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago for his mother’s 80th birthday, after repeatedly telling them the horror stories of his youth.

I really think America is a victim of the Black victimization narrative, even though I know it has some truth to it. Will we someday become more nuanced and accepting of both the opportunity and obstacles?

I hope to see it–at least in the south suburbs of Chicago, where I live and work.

Question: Who won the election?

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Ep. 101 – Prototyping on a Desktop CNC Mill with Zach Dunham

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By Noah Graff

On today’s podcast we’re continuing our 5th season, discussing companies that machine their own products.

Our guest is Zach Dunham, Director of Marketing at Bantam Tools, a company which builds an 80-pound desktop CNC milling machine that costs under $4,000. This machine is designed for both novice and experienced machinists who want to quickly prototype and tweak new products.

Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or your favorite app.

 

 

Main Points

Zach describes Bantam Tools as a company that builds desktop CNC milling machines, with a focus on precision and reliability at an affordable price. The company has two products in their current lineup, including its new desktop CNC mill that was released in July of 2020. The company is based Peekskill, New York, and employs around 15 workers. (3:10)

Zach talks about the types of products made on desktop CNC milling machines (SEE ABOVE). He says the machines are often used to make “everyday carry items” like bottle openers and aluminum wallets. He says Bantam Tools’ machine has the capability to produce almost anything (aluminum, wood, or plastic) that can be made on a 7 x 3 x 9 machine with 3 axes, even more complex items like a small synthesizer (see video). He says that the target market for the company’s products are people who prototype. The machine is optimized for aluminum, but it can machine engineered plastics and wood as well. Some customers even create circuit boards with it. Machining other metals is not impossible, but it is difficult because the mill does not use coolant. (4:10)

Zach shares his background. He studied music composition at Bard College in New York, a good part of which involved electronics and recording arts. He worked as a sound designer for a while, and dabbled in acoustics, which led to getting interested in hardware. He taught himself much of what he knows about electronics. He launched his own product called The Public Radio, a single station FM radio, which is still being sold. Eventually he took a job with the crowd funding platform Kickstarter, teaching people how to launch hardware products. (6:30)

Zach talks more about his work at Kickstarter, helping customers launch new design and technology products. Toward the end of his time at the company, he worked with digital fabrication products. He gives examples of the kinds of products he helped bring to market, including a desktop waterjet cutter and a CNC machine that pulled itself around a table with cabling. (8:35)

Zach discusses the Bantam Tools Desktop CNC milling machine. He says a few hundred customers have pre-ordered the machine. Many of these customers are hobbyists or people who work primarily with 3D printers who are looking to add CNC capabilities to their workshop. The company also has orders from machine shops that need in-house prototyping capabilities. (11:10)

Zach says people can make the same things with the Bantam Tools CNC desktop mill that they would make on larger CNC desktop mills, such as fixtures, flanges, and gears, but Bantam Tools’ machine weighs 80 pounds and costs less than $4,000. Also, unlike other competing CNC mills in a low price range, Bantam Tools’ machine comes with a several things to help a user get started, including a t-slot bed, toe clamp fixturing setup, a 28,000 RPM spindle, at least one nice tool by Helical Solutions, and modern control software with a lot of interesting features. (15:00)

Zach says that the main benefit of the desktop mill is that it is fast and easy to use, which helps both novices and experienced machinists. Customers with access to full machine shops find it fills a unique role because it is cost effective and prevents tying up heavy duty machining centers with small runs or prototypes. It also is useful as a hands-on primer or training tool. (17:30)

Zach talks about the unique software Bantam uses for its desktop machines. The software accepts G-code files, NC files, and similar file extensions. There are post-processors for Fusion 360 and other CAD packages as well. It also can accept vector files from Adobe Illustrator. He says a preview feature allows you to see what the tool looks like before production. (19:55)

Zach speaks about the benefits of developing a new product in-house rather than with a third party job shop. He says it may not be cost effective to outsource a single small item or a prototype because of the amount of time it takes to set up the tools for a new part. He says a designer can waste a lot of time and money especially if they don’t have experience in machining and production. Bantam Tools’ CNC mill allows a user to become more literate in designing and how the machining process works. (24:40)

Zach describes the pros and cons between prototyping on a desktop CNC mill and a 3D printer. He says that most 3D printers can only use brittle plastics like PLA, while others may use ABS or engineering plastics. Bantam Tools’ CNC mill can machine aluminum and often can make objects faster than a typical 3D printer. (30:05)

Zach talks about something new he learned last week. The company recently purchased a Datron single flute ball end-mill, which was new to him. He says the science and physics that go into choosing an end-mill he finds fascinating. (30:50)

Zach says Bantam produces all the major parts for its desktop CNC mill in-house. The company has two large Mazak machining centers for production. He says only the motors and screws are outsourced. (32:20)

Zach says that the company is running 6-8 weeks behind on fulfilling orders for their machine due to COVID-19. The company’s workers been challenged to practice social distancing while on the production line and performing R&D. (33:15)

Zach says that anyone interested in Bantam Tools’ desktop CNC mills can find out more on the company’s website at bantamtools.com. The website features helpful videos, as well as product information. The company is also active on social media. The current waitlist for the new desktop CNC mill is five months. (35:25)

Question: Do you have a product you have been thinking about prototyping?

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What is Fair?

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By Lloyd Graff

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ nearly over-the-hill starter Clayton Kershaw makes more money in a year than the entire Tampa Bay Rays team that battled them in the World Series. So does their star outfielder Mookie Betts.

It isn’t fair, but neither is life.

Tampa Bay’s unknown star Randy Arozarena, who arrived in Tampa in August from the St Louis Cardinals’ minor league system, makes approximately 1% of what Betts makes, but he outplayed him in the series and set records in the preceding playoffs.

Prior to October, the highlight of Randy’s life had been jumping off his fake boat along the Mexican Coast four years earlier, grateful to be alive after fleeing Cuba. Being captive in Cuba wasn’t fair.

On Monday night, I watched the movie version of Michael Lewis’s masterpiece, Moneyball, with Brad Pitt possibly making his greatest performance as Oakland Athletics GM Billy Beane. Beane had the guts and smarts to defy baseball convention by rebuilding a Major League Baseball team on the cheap, with players he felt had been valued unfairly.

Arozarena, the lowest paid Tampa Bay Rays player

Beane bought into a thesis that veteran baseball people rejected, almost out of desperation. He sought after players who the scouts and talent evaluators overlooked, using a statistical analysis most people were ignorant of at the time. He signed players if they had the ability to produce runs and get on base with walks. His success changed the game, yet still today star players like Bryce Harper sign 13-year contracts for incredible sums and lead their teams nowhere.

I think business is a lot like baseball. It is a team game, and one elite star cannot make a team into a winner even if they are great year after year like Mike Trout of the Angels, a perennial losing team.

In the machining business, a company may invest in state-of-the-art CNC equipment, paint the floors, install perfect lighting, put in a million-dollar washer and chip disposal system, yet continually lose business to a resourceful newcomer who has 1998 CNC lathes and cam screw machines.

Billy Beane loved players who had funny batting stances or threw submarine style. The bottom line was finding hitters who scored more than the opposition and finding pitchers who could get outs. If they looked funny doing it, all the better; they would be undervalued.

A machinery dealer is taught from puberty to look for dirty, unloved equipment. Cleaning is cheap.

Tampa Bay lost to the Dodgers this year, but they did knock off the Yankees, who have the highest payroll in Major League Baseball.

The Steinbrenner family certainly thought that wasn’t fair.

Question: Do you think this election will be fair?

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Ep. 100 – Looking back on 99 Episodes of Swarfcast

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By Noah and Lloyd Graff

Today is a special occasion. It is the 100th episode of Swarfcast

A lot has happened in our lives since the podcast began two and half years ago, and today we are going to look back at how the show reflected the world as it evolved.

Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or your favorite app.

 

 

Main Points

Noah talks about the podcast’s second episode, recorded in April of 2018, in which he interviewed Miles Free, Director of Industry Affairs of the Precision Machined Products Association (PMPA). He plays a clip in which Miles discusses how tariffs on metals punish American factory workers and consumers. He also talks about a Chinese law (at the time of the interview) that said any foreign company in China is required to have a Chinese partner that has full access to the company’s technology. Miles says China was relaxing this law for foreign car companies. (3:00)

Noah shares thoughts about Episode 86, in which he interviewed Mike Micklewright, Director of the Kaizen Institute. Mike enthusiastically says that reshoring is happening, but he would not provide specific examples. Lloyd says he keeps hearing about the reshoring trend from machining business owners who are quoting jobs against China, but he has yet to see much proof of it actually happening yet (See Clip Below). (5:45)

Lloyd says that tariffs didn’t result in the immediate return of work from China, but they planted the seed for companies to analyze their relationships with Chinese suppliers. He says the pandemic dramatically changed how American businesses see working with China because it made the supply chain much less reliable. (7:15)

Noah plays a clip from Episode 72 with Daniel Hearsch, Managing Director at Alex Partners, a global supply chain expert. Daniel gave his best and worst case predictions for the impact of COVID-19 on the manufacturing economy. Back in late February when the interview was recorded, Daniel felt in a best case scenario American businesses would feel pressure for 4-5 months, with the stock market also taking a hit and the government providing some intervention. However, he also describes a worst case scenario, where people don’t take the threat seriously and the virus spreads, leading to further shut downs and slowing of business in the longer term. He seemed to be predicting more of the best case scenario in the interview. (8:50)

Lloyd discusses his feelings about doing business internationally in 2020. He describes it as being incredibly difficult due to travel restrictions, even between the US and Canada. Noah relates that Graff-Pinkert has had several deals fall through because it is so difficult to cross the border to inspect machines. (11:30)

Lloyd provides a counterpoint, saying that Graff-Pinkert also sold several Davenports screw machines to Chinese companies who were in a rush to receive them. He says that the fear of deteriorating international relations may have contributed to their sense of urgency. (12:20)

Lloyd says that for him, one of the most interesting guests on Swarfcast was Aneesa Muthana, owner of Pioneer Service Inc. a CNC shop near Chicago. (Episode 33). Aneesa provided a unique viewpoint as a Muslim woman in the machining business. We play a clip where Aneesa talks about diversity in her company and how she selects the most qualified candidates instead of placing limitations on herself and her business. She says she tries to make the environment of her company a welcoming environment for a diverse workforce, which has helped her employees thrive. (12:50)

Lloyd and Noah expand on the topic of diversity and how the podcast has not been as diverse as they would have liked. They wonder whether this might be a reflection of the machining industry itself. Noah shares that regrettably few women and African American guests have appeared on Swarfcast. He suggests it is something that the podcast may try to rectify in upcoming episodes. Lloyd shares his impression that the inclusion of women in machining is more of a concern to machining business owners than the inclusion of ethnic or racial minorities. (15:30)

Noah describes his process for selecting guests for the podcast. He says he looks for people with interesting stories who have something valuable to teach the podcast’s audience. Lately, Noah says he has looked at how the show’s content can provide practical benefit to listeners. He talks about a recent episode with Mike Campo of Firetrace, which addresses how to prevent machine fires (Episode 98). (17:30)

Noah talks about another one of his favorite interviews from Episode 80 and Episode 81, with Chris Voss and Brandon Voss. Chris, a former FBI hostage negotiator, and his son Brandon, apply hostage negotiation techniques to the business world. In the clip, Chris says that part of a successful deal is making sure a counterpart feels as if they have made a great deal. He says it’s important to play the long game with negotiation, to keep customers coming back. (18:15)

Noah plays a clip from another one of his favorite interviews, Ari Meisel. Ari calls himself an “Overwhelmologist.” He talks about time management and automating one’s business as well as other parts of one’s life. Ari talks about how he distinguishes “owning a business” versus “owning a job.” Ari feels every business owner should strive to be replaceable. He says business owners run a businesses with their ideas, not their hands. (20:10)

Lloyd says he learned a lot from this particular episode and from working with Noah, who attempts to use a few of the principals Ari describes. Lloyd says that he respects Noah’s discipline when enforcing a work-life balance. (23:00)

Noah talks about some of the recent changes to the podcast. He has started making seasons with specific themes. Also he now asks the same question to every guest about what they learned last week. (23:50)  

Noah asks Lloyd what he learned in the last week. Lloyd says he has learned (or relearned) that people actually want to connect with him. The day before he and Noah recorded the podcast he reconnected with someone from a men’s group who he had not spoken to in over a decade. Lloyd also received a phone call from someone who read a recent Swarfblog Lloyd wrote on aging. He had never met this person but was pleased and astonished to learn how his words had resonated with the man. (24:45)

Noah says that one of the reasons he enjoys recording Swarfcast is that it might make a little difference in someone’s life. He feels if the show can entertain or teach listeners something new he has made a small impact on the world.

Question: What’s your favorite episode of Swarfcast?

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Hard to Find a Good T-Shirt

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By Lloyd Graff

One of life’s mysteries for me has been the scarcity of great t-shirts.

I am not a clothes hound. My dad liked clothes. He had his suits tailor made by unintelligible Italian tailors who held pins in their mouths while they were talking. Once, he took my brother Jim and I to pick out suit fabric. We inspected bolts of luxurious fabric for our own future custom suits. I remember picking a ridiculous brown plaid. I rarely wore the suit. It never really suited me because it had padded shoulders like my father favored, to make his slender frame look more like a weight lifter’s physique.

I still have that plaid suit in my closet. It is one of the few physical items I ever kept from him, not because I like the garment, but because it was so him. I still gaze at it often, because it has so much meaning for me after all these years.

I receive several apparel catalogs every day. I seldom buy much because I hate returning stuff and the items hardly ever look or feel nearly as good as in the picture. I hate buying pants or socks, sweaters, shoes, or underwear. But I have a weakness—t-shirts.

The t-shirt is very “in” today, with many musicians and movie stars wearing them for dress. I wear mine every day as a single layer, or under a fleece or sweater. I guess I have a collection. I pare it down from time to time, but a t-shirt is the first article of clothing I choose each day. I want it to feel right. It has to be all cotton and soft. I never want to feel a seam.

I prefer Pima cotton, preferably from Peru. Some days I desire a little heft, but usually I search out the lightest, airiest jersey I can feel. The difference is maybe a fraction of an ounce, but I can assess it immediately when I lift it a centimeter.

Generally my t-shirts have no message and never a picture. I do have a shirt from a high school reunion that is not Pima cotton, but it has been washed so many times it now almost feels like it. I also have a beloved Powell’s Book Shop t-shirt from Portland, Oregon, which used to be America’s biggest bookstore before Amazon destroyed the genre. It is an ugly pea green and I adore it.

I still own several t-shirts made by American Apparel of Los Angeles. The company had a rather salacious reputation for risqué advertising and the predatory behavior of its founder,  Dov Charney, but they made feathery t-shirts for men. 

The perfect t-shirt in Pima cotton

The top of my tee collection however is held by the A-list shirts sold in The Territory Ahead catalog. They use Peruvian cotton, they run big, the colors do not fade over a decade, they sell both short sleeves and long, and they do not have pockets. They make them up to XXL and also in extra long.

Sadly the company went bankrupt a couple years ago without warning. When Territory went bust, I was truly depressed for a few hours, then I began to search for a replacement. I couldn’t find one. All I could do was hope for its return from the dead.

It finally happened several months ago. When I saw the announcement on Google I called the purchasing company, J. Peterman Outfitters of Cincinnati, and gave them my name for when the t-shirts returned. With the first sighting, I ordered one of each of the five colors they started with. Sadly there were no white or black, which were my favorites.

They were delayed, but they finally arrived.

They were good—very good. Yet not quite as light and airy as the Pimas of 1999.

It’s life.

We get used to disappointment. 

Perhaps only original Jays Potato Chips are as wonderful as they always have been.

But I’ll take it. They do still fit me—to a tee.

Question: What is your favorite t-shirt?

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As Old as You Look

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By Lloyd Graff

My high school class has a Yahoo group to connect with classmates from yesteryear. It is usually dormant except for an occasional obituary notice.

Yahoo recently announced that it is abolishing such groups, perhaps because Facebook has made them an anachronism. The notice has awakened our group. An old friend of mine volunteered to rejuvenate the internet group on Google, which has brought out thank-yous from around the country.

As each person pops up on the Web, I feel a sense of relief that they are still alive and lucid. Sometimes it is a spouse or friend who joins the group for a now-deceased member of the class of 1962. It is sobering to watch the names appear and wonder why some do not.

One of the tough things about the COVID-19 pandemic is realizing that the virus almost selectively kills off older people. For most young folks, it is an annoyance. The unlucky or sick or terribly obese are its targets from ages 30 to 60. From 60 to 75, you probably fare okay if you started out healthy. But over 75 it is truly a scourge, and that is where I will soon reside.

Lloyd in front of his childhood home in Chicago

I swing between the acceptance and rejection of age. One of the most objectionable aspects of Zoom and Skype is that I get to see myself as others see me. I find it different than looking in a mirror in the morning. I expect to look a bit haggard then, and the mirror usually confirms it. But Zoom allows other folks to inspect the configuration of your neck, unless you pull a Pelosi and cover up with a colorful silk scarf. They can see your hair thinning and the expanding sag under your eyes. And maybe they detect the occasional search for the perfect word that used to flow without effort.

But the really weird thing is that on a good day I can ignore all that baggage and feel 35, not 75. I want to go out and shoot baskets. I see no reason why I can’t run six miles before work. And my voice has the timbre of youth. 

I do have the privilege of continuing to work and write a blog, which most of my classmates have chosen not to do or have been forced by ailing health or arbitrary bosses to stop doing—unless they are running for President.

Acknowledging my age to myself is awfully scary. I do it, though, every day when I run through my morning prayer ritual and remember friends and family, many of whom died at a younger age than I’ve already attained. The upside for me is to consider that I probably was scheduled to die 12 years ago when I somehow survived a heart attack that is lethal for most people.

Now I get to be what people used to think of as old. I get to wade in the lovely illusion of youth. I daydream of the swish of 10 straight 3-pointers rotating off my fingertips.

Life is strange. I relish it. I cherish it. It’s an amazing privilege to be able to dunk at 75.

Question:  Do you feel younger than your age?

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Ep. 99 – Machining a Successful Product for 160 Years, with Howard Smith

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By Noah Graff

Today’s Show is part one of a new season in which we’re talking about companies that produce their own products. Our guest is Howard Smith, owner and CEO of Wilson Bohannan, a 160-year-old padlock manufacturer.

Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or your favorite app.

Main Points

Howard talks about Wilson Bohannan’s products. The company makes brass key padlocks with stainless steel shackles, as well as other locking devices. The padlock business is still the company’s most important product. The company began in 1860, making padlocks for railroad cars. At the turn of the century, as the railroads were consolidated, it turned its focus to utility companies and heavy industry. Its products are designed for extreme weather conditions—freezing cold, wet, desert, etc. The locks range in size from an 1-1/4” to over 2” wide. Howard says the locks vary in security, from a “glorified seal” to sophisticated highly secure locks with computer chips in the key and lock. (3:30)

Noah asks if it’s possible to break locks by shooting them with a gun like in the movies. Howard says it’s possible to engineer a lock that when shot with a gun collapses the mechanism and the casing around the key barrel to stop it from breaking. He says that Wilson Bohannan actually won a customer who shot a magnum rifle at one of the company’s locks but was unsuccessful at opening it. (6:45)

Howard discusses the company’s computer chip locks. The chip in the key and the lock talk to each other, allowing the owner to change the combination via computer or cell phone. (7:25)

Howard talks about the history of Wilson Bohannan. He says the company was founded in 1860 in New York by Wilson Bohannan and his son Todd. He says it was a good time to start the company because from the 1870s to 1930s it was the Gilded Age of America, when manufacturing had few restraints, regulations, and taxes. (8:20)

Howards explains that Wilson Bohannan was his wife’s great great grandfather. He started working at the lock company 47 years ago in the accounting department. He is the 6th family generation of owners, and his daughters are the 7th generation. (9:00)

Howard discusses how locks have stayed relevant and how they have changed over the years. He shows Noah a few of the locks the company makes such as a cable lock, a shrouded lock that has a component around it that protects it, and an interchangeable core padlock. (10:20)

Howard Smith, owner and CEO of lock manufacturer, Wilson Bohannan

Howard states that while innovations like computer chips and bluetooth have kept locks relevant and added functionality, the mechanical components remain the heart of the products. He says that computers can be hacked and magnets demagnetized, but a quality mechanical lock will still require a key, giving the analog components an advantage over other technologies. (13:50)

Howard says that Wilson Bohannan has an extensive R&D department, which is focused on continuous improvement so that its products remain relevant. He says that the company remains competitive by gauging what customers want by going to trade shows and by tailoring products to individual customers’ specific requests. For instance the company had a customer who needed a lock for an irrigation system. It had another customer in the oil business who needed a shackle lock with a loop to keep leaded and unleaded gasoline separated. (15:40)

Howard talks about Wilson Bohannan’s facility and the machines used to manufacture its products in house. Every component of the locks is manufactured and assembled starting with the raw materials at the company’s 40,000 square-foot factory in Marion, Ohio. The company employs around 70 people, working three shifts, five days a week, and can make just about any lock on its machines.(17:35)

Howard says that outsourcing components, even to other US companies would compromise the integrity of Wilson Bohannan’s products. He says keeping everything in house protects the products’ quality and allows the company to make products to order. (18:40)

Howard refers to Wilson Bohannan as a job shop because it tailors its products to the specific needs of customers. He says making products to-order helps the company avoid the expense of having to buy and store large lots of component parts and allows it to produce custom products more quickly. For certain parts that require larger volumes the company has a Tornos MultiAlpha multi-spindle and two EPIC Hydromats. (19:30)

Howard says Wilson Bohannan considers itself as a small business, making just 5,000 locks a day. He says Master Lock makes hundreds of thousands of locks per day to stock retail stores like Lowes and Home Depot. Howard says Wilson Bohannan tried selling locks to Lowes and Home Depot in the 1990s, but it was not a successful business model. (21:25)

Howard describes the evolution of the lock making business. He says that over 100 years ago there were hundreds of lock manufacturers in America, and 40 years ago there were around 30. He says that in the last 10-15 years, everything has changed. Now there are around five padlock makers in the US. Most of these companies mass manufacture and widely distribute their products, whereas Wilson Bohannan has always built custom locks, which enabled the company to stay successful. (23:30)

Howard says that the company doesn’t worry about intellectual property theft. Instead, it focusses on reinvesting in talent and equipment, and maintaining a good company culture.

Howard discusses how Wilson Bohannan remained a family owned business by buying out its early stockholders. Today, just three family members run the business, Howard and his two daughters. (27:10)

Howard says he is excited about the current reshoring of American companies and the improving infrastructure in the US to revitalize its manufacturing sector. (31:00)

Howard says that Wilson Bohannan has not considered buying out other lock manufacturers. He says it prefers to grow its business through technology and innovations. (31:45)

Howard states that he is not in the business just to make money. He says he has no interest in ever selling Wilson Bohannan. He says he is proud of the company’s identity as an American made business where the focus is on building something useful that benefits the lives of employees and customers. 

He says that Wilson Bohannan will represent the State of Ohio at the Made in America Showcase at the White House (Oct. 5 this past week). (32:40)

Howard says he worries about the future of America, especially with the current political climate and the pandemic, but he still remains confident that things will soon improve because of the entrepreneurial spirit of American businesses. He says he hopes that soon people will feel safe walking around again and being neighborly with each other. (35:00)

Question: Do you lock your door during the day?

 

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What it Boils Down To

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By Lloyd Graff

This was a good year for applesauce. My farmers market guy, Mr. Hardin from near Kalamazoo, selected a bushel of apples, Honeycrisp, Mac, Fuji, Cortland, Jonagold, Gala, and a few Golden Delicious. Risa and Noah’s wife Stephanie peeled them, Noah and I sliced them up, and then we boiled them into the applesauce which will never last until next October.

Applesauce is a ritual for us every year. It’s a punctuation mark for the end of summer. College football is a mess, back to school is back to chaos, but for apples in the Midwest it has been a wonderful year, though not for the orchard man who relies on farmers markets to get a decent price. COVID-19 has crimped the crowds. Markets where I go in the Southern Suburbs of Chicago are drawing half the normal attendance because of fear and masks and a general fatigue.

But nothing deterred us this year. The ritual of making sauce was more compelling than ever in 2020. We aren’t the only ones. Ball Corporation, the famous jar maker, is painfully short of lids for the canners. People are searching the Web from eBay to Etsy to find extra jars and lids, and it is generally fruitless. Even plastic containers are short for winter storage.

I don’t think it is so much that folks fear shortages or think they will save money. It’s the participation in a yearly ritual, performed as a group with family and friends, that attracts people.

The Graffs gathered for traditional applesauce making.

When I was growing up, the biggest sign of fall was pulling out the football, corralling a group of guys, and heading to the park for an afternoon of touch football. Three on three, maybe four on four, counting “one one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand” before you could rush the quarterback. We used to play on the street to add a little zest to the game. Parked cars were part of the challenge. Sorry to pull age, but Fortnite is pretty hollow next to catching a high spiral between a Chevy wagon and a Mercury convertible.

If you were religious, you had the fall holidays to miss school. But this piece is about the secular rituals that separate the seasons.

Today, people barbecue all year round. Growing up, the barbecue began in June. It was a charcoal affair. Kingsford did not own the market then. A mushroom was just a toadstool, cauliflower was for boiling, and propane resided at country homes. 

The finished product.

But even then, my mom made applesauce in October, and we loved it. It was demonstrably better than Mott’s, with its preservatives and possibly even corn syrup (I can’t bear even saying the words). It’s the ritual of it, the sacred event that you took for granted until you got old enough not to take any yearly event for granted.

Thanks, Mr. Hardin. The apples were superb this year. But the sauce won’t last past March.

Question: What are your sacred rituals?

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Ep. 98 – How to Prevent Fires in Your Machine Tools with Mike Campo

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By Noah Graff

On this week’s episode of Swarfcast, we’re talking about preventing fires inside of machinery. Our guest is Mike Campo, Midwest Regional Sales Manager with Firetrace International, makers of fire suppression systems and solutions. Fire suppression systems keep businesses, people and equipment safe by automatically detecting and suppressing fires in high-risk equipment, like CNC machines, vehicles and wind turbines.

Mike says that machine tools are most at risk for fires when running oil based coolant while unattended. Suppression systems aim to hold back the fire, helping to mitigate the damage and allowing time for emergency personnel to respond.

Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts or your favorite app.

Main Points

Mike shares his background. He has been in the fire protection field for 43 years. He began his career in the engineered fire systems business, protecting data centers and telecommunications centers. He eventually went on to work at Firetrace International, a fire suppression system manufacturer that specializes in protecting critical small environments like CNC machines and wind turbines. (2:50)

Mike talks more about the niche market of working with what he calls micro environments. He says that the Firetrace system is designed for small enclosures, not rooms or spaces where there are people, such as a residential structure. (3:40)

Mike says that sprinklers are a valuable type of fire suppression for structures and are often mandated by local fire codes. He says Firetrace works heavily with the wind energy business to help protect wind turbines, which have structures that do not lend themselves to using sprinkler systems. He says that though an insurance company or local ordinance may instruct a business to purchase a fire suppression system for specific equipment, there are generally no official laws requiring a machine shop to install fire protection systems on its machines. (4:45)

Mike says the biggest risk for fires in machine shops occurs when machine tools are running unattended using oil based coolant rather than water soluble. (8:40)

Mike says that machine tools running oil create an oil mist that can ignite. Mist collectors can help evacuate some of the mist, but any kind of activity that would cause a spark in the oil mist such as a broken tool or failure of an oil pump, could lead to a violent fire. (10:50)

Mike says fires often occur when machining titanium, stainless steel, and aluminum because a lot of friction can occur, which can lead to broken tools. (12:10)

Mike explains that various Firetrace fire suppression systems correspond to different sizes of machine tools. Different volumes of space inside the machines require different amount of chemicals necessary to suppress fires. Larger machines necessitate larger tanks. (13:40)

Mike describes how the Firetrace systems work. A man in Great Britain developed a thermoplastic tubing that could hold pressure for a long period of time. Initially this technology was applied to create a fire suppression system for engine compartments of farming equipment. When pressurized, the tubing becomes a linear pneumatic heat sensor, so that if the tube comes into contact with high heat or flame, the tube ruptures, releasing the pressure that is holding down a piston in the fire protection tank. It releases and then dispenses chemicals to control the fire. (16:00)

Mike points out that Firetrace’s system “only works when it fails,” meaning that it will only go off only when the tube loses pressure. Thus Firetrace systems should not produce false alarms or go off when they are not supposed to. (18:00)

Mike says that Firetrace fire suppression systems target Class B and C fires. Fires are classified into four types, A, B, C, and D. Class A fires occur in materials such as wood and paper. Class B, fires are caused by flammable gasses or liquids, such as oil based coolant. Class C fires are electrical fires, which can occur in the electrical cabinets of machine tools. Class D fires are metal based fires. Those can occur when machining certain metals such as magnesium. Mike says that Firetrace’s system is not designed suppress metal fires, and the most common way to put out those fires is applying sand-like powder. He says if you see a yellow fire extinguisher next to a machine it’s probably meant to put out metal fires. (18:50)

Mike talks about the chemicals used by the Firetrace system. He says Firetrace’s goal is to have a clean fire suppression system that leaves no trace after use in the machine. (20:30)

Mike says that Firetrace is usually purchased aftermarket, though a few machine tool builders offer it as an option for purchase. (24:35)

Mike says the wind turbine business has been very successful for Firetrace. The company sees mostly electrical fire applications in the turbines. (27:25)

Mike says that the Firetrace has been very busy lately. Medical and automotive industries make up the majority of the company’s machine shop customers, while the Aerospace sector has fallen off since COVID-19 hit. (28:40)

Mike says that the cost of a fire suppression system for most CNC machines is $6,000 to $7,000.. He says that Firetrace’s systems are engineered to be simple, as they have no electrical components. Installation typically takes 2-4 hours. (29:25)

Mike says there are several competitor fire suppression systems which emulate Firetrace’s technology, as well as some others that function differently. He says that some systems that come installed on used machines coming from other countries might not be in compliance with US regulations. (30:35)

Mike talks about something he recently learned. He says COVID-19 has presented him with challenges that come when working from home. He says he has been honing is patience for working a lot in close quarters with grandchildren (who he says he loves dearly). (34:50)

Mike states that Firetrace is a simple technology, but the company is constantly performing R & D. He says although the system rarely fails, pressure leaks can present a challenge, whether it’s a leak in the suppression system or in the machine itself. (38:40)

Question: Have you experienced a machine fire in a CNC shop?

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The Healing Has Begun

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By Lloyd Graff

September 30, 2020. End of third-quarter. First presidential debate. Baseball playoffs beginning. NBA finals start. For Jews, it’s the beginning of a new year. 

Today feels pivotal.

Sometimes you can sense things are changing. The weather has abruptly shifted in Chicago. It went from summer to decidedly fall overnight. The real apple cider has come in. The sweet corn is all but gone. I plan to buy my two bushels of 10 varieties of apples this Sunday at the farmers market from Hardin Orchards near Kalamazoo. It is my yearly ritual. My wife, Risa, peels them, I slice them. We boil them for an hour and we have applesauce for the year.

Business has shifted too. For six months, the focus was on staying alive, finding the Kleenex, arguing about masks. No longer. It’s no longer about finding hand sanitizer; it’s about finding hands to feed machines. Companies are ordering stuff and requesting that it be flown in. I looked for a propane bottle for my Weber and the hardware store was sold out. This is late September.

Apples and honey, a Jewish New Year tradition

People are no longer frozen in place. Populations are in flux. New York has been abandoned. Rentals in Florida are being snapped up early. 

COVID-19 is still a real threat for folks over 60, but despite 40,000 positive tests every day, hospitalizations are half of what they were in April and May. As terrible as COVID-19 is and has been, we are getting used to it. We expect successful vaccines and effective treatments. It has been awful, and still is, but it is not the Black Death of Shakespeare’s time that killed 1/3 of the population. 

The election will happen. It will be messy and contentious. There will be sore losers. We will endure shouts and certainly litigation. People will yell fire, they will scream robbery, and we will get through it with perhaps a few windows broken.

I am happy it’s fall. I am happy that Patrick Mahomes is still invincible. I’m sorry for you if you sold perfume at Macy’s. I pity you if you rented office space in New York. I am sad for you if you were a waitress at a pancake house in Chicago. And I am truly tearful if you are 88 years old and imprisoned in your apartment, by the rules that are supposed to help you. 

But things are really changing right now, September 30, 2020. And it will get much better soon. I believe it. We will heal, if we can just live through it.

Question: Was there a winner in the debate last night?

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