Born with no intention of becoming a machinist, Greg Knight says he was drafted into “indentured servitude” at age 16 when his father started a Brown & Sharpe machine shop in their garage. Despite his initial distaste for manual labor, fate had other plans for the psychology, philosophy, religion, and sociology majo...

I imagine playing basketball if I have trouble falling asleep. I envision the basketball rolling delicately off my fingertips while shooting a free throw. March is a wonderful month for me because the NCAA tournament is taking place and great basketball games erupt over three straight weekends.To add to the smorgasb...

How My 80-Year-Old Business StartedYesterday, March 5, was my father Leonard’s birthday. He was born in 1917, the youngest of four–a younger brother had died at four years old.From everything he told me, it was a malfunctioning household. His dad, Louis, who I never met, told him often that his wedding day was the w...

Today we’re running a podcast that I guested on in September of 2024 called “Networking and Marketing Made Simple.” The show focuses on how LinkedIn can be used to grow your business. It’s hosted by Scott Aaron, who for the last seven months was my LinkedIn coach, an experience that is already paying dividends in ou...

Do you know what President Trump’s basket of tariffs is supposed to accomplish? Do you think they will work for the country? Will they be good for you? How about for me?Well I have my doubts. So yesterday I tried to find out by talking to a few of Graff-Pinkert’s most successful customers, who happen to be some of t...

Dave Polito is my Star CNC guru.He’s always been there when I’ve had questions, whether I was asking about a 1999 Star SA12, or a sweet SV38R located in Asia, or the ever flummoxing Siemens control on an ECAS-20.Dave is the owner of Quality Machine Tool Services, the Star distributor for Illinois and southern Wiscon...

My guest on today’s podcast, Anthony Davis, told me that since age 10 he and his brother knew they wanted to join their family business, Global CNC, a tooling manufacturer for CNC lathes and mills.Today at age 23, Anthony runs the company alongside his 25-year-old brother, Alexander, and their 84-year-old grandfathe...

Today’s podcast guest is Travis Erickson of Precision Components of Oxnard, California. Precision Components runs Tornos CNC Swiss lathes, specializing in producing custom mil-spec contacts primarily for the aerospace industry. Travis and his father handle all of the company’s machining and quality duties and employ...

Once I flew to Germany for an INDEX multi-spindle deal that was stolen out from under us the morning after I arrived. I laid in my hotel bed swearing at the ceiling for a few minutes and then called a friend who happened to be our best European INDEX customer. Hours later, I was on a plane to Spain to inspect two di...

It takes tremendous balls to start a machining company from scratch. And, maybe a little extra chutzpa to start a shop that primarily runs cam screw machines making millions of parts for automotive.After 23 years working in job shops and running a small farm, Karl Drasgow cashed out his 401K to found Drasgow Inc., a...