©2024 MakingChips – Equip and Inspire Manufacturing Leaders
By Jennifer Dubose
Why Manual Machining Still Matters and How to Fuel the Next Generation of Machinists | Ep. 545
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We spend a lot of time asking where the next generation of machinists will come from. Ethan Crane was working in building supplies. A trip to a machine shop for a project turned into a receiving job, and a look around the shop turned into a new ambition: I want to do that.
His first classroom was a little Harbor Freight bench lathe a coworker brought in. Ethan spent his lunch breaks making chips, then went home to study machining textbooks and watch videos. Nobody had to convince him that manufacturing was cool. He was already hooked. But even after he started making parts, he wondered whether he deserved to call himself a machinist. Did it count if he wasn’t running a CNC? If his parts went into farm equipment instead of an airplane?
That question stuck with me. Recorded live at IMTS, Jason and I chat with Ethan about manual machining, learning the trade, and what makes someone want to keep getting better. Surrounded by some of the most advanced equipment in manufacturing, we’re talking with a guy who loves turning handles and feeling a tool cut metal—and has plenty to say about why that work still matters.
We get into the decisions shops make every day: when a job belongs on a manual machine, when it’s time to move it to CNC, and why an unexpected repair at the front door can be worth taking on. Ethan also shares what it means to make parts for the same kinds of farm equipment he grew up around, then see those parts become something that goes to work in a field.
The conversation gets just as honest about our responsibilities as shop owners. We say we want people who are hungry to learn. What happens when they show up? Are we giving them consistent training, opportunities to progress, and a chance to understand why their work matters—or leaving them waiting for someone to have time?
Ethan is still learning, and he’s willing to let people see it. His videos show the work, his enthusiasm, and sometimes the part that took three attempts to get right. There’s something in that for anyone trying to bring new people into this industry: what looks routine to an experienced machinist might be the very thing that makes someone else say, “I want to do that.”
What’s Covered in this Episode
- (0:00) Jason Davis guest hosts, and it’s the first IMTS for him and Ethan
- (1:15) Ethan’s path from building supply to the machine shop
- (3:46) Why the best new machinists keep learning after clock-out
- (5:26) Move into high-level machining with DN Solution
- (6:37) The first cut on a manual machine and why it hooks you
- (9:20) The first Bridgeport, machining history and what WWII industrialization took
- (11:37) How we decide what runs manual and what runs CNC
- (13:42) The integration between ProShop and GroundControl
- (20:37) How shop owners can find and fuel the next generation
- (24:53) Always be hiring—don’t wait until you need somebody
- (26:02) Let new machinists see the finished product
- (27:16) Increase spindle uptime with the Hennig WorkFlow automation system
- (28:07) Why we believe manual machines still have a purpose
- (32:13) Walk-in repair jobs that turn into customers
- (34:26) Seeing where your individual components end up is rewarding
- (35:02) You don’t need to make aerospace parts to be a machinist
- (36:35) Social media advice: keep it simple and make it cool
- (41:15) Ethan’s challenge at IMTS: find every manual machine
Resources Mentioned
Connect with Ethan Crane
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