They Get It for $3…I Quoted $18. How Do You Compete With That? | The Impractical Machinists 38

It’s been a weird year for a lot of shops, and we ended up talking about all the stuff you only bring up with other machinists. In this episode, the guys compare how things have been going in their own shops — slower months, surprise rushes, work coming back from overseas, and the kind of quotes that make you shake your head. They swap stories about tariffs, reshoring, customers chasing the cheapest option, and what it actually looks like when parts hop between countries before landing back on your bench. There’s plenty of real shop life in here: first machines, castings that needed rescuing, side projects that turned into lessons about global manufacturing, and a lot of “yeah, same here” moments. It’s just an honest conversation about what’s been happening in the trade — nothing fancy, just the real day-to-day most machinists will recognize. Chapters: 14:58 Titan Gilroy, Titans of CNC's Boombastic Show 26:41 Manual Machining vs. Jumping Straight to CNC/Five-Axis 36:00 The Success of Lakewood Machine & Tool 1:00:55 TARIFFS 1:22:21 Instagram Q&A Connect with Ian Sandusky on LinkedIn (  / ian-sandusky-3a223227  ) or learn more about Lakewood Machine and Tool at https://lakewoodmachine.com/ Instagram:   / lakewoodmachine   Connect with the hosts on Instagram: Patrick Mcclintock: IG:   / job_shopper_tn   or PM@Job Shopper TN Cameron Graves: IG:   / machiningiscool   or PM@Machiningiscool Bradley Thomas: IG:   / marvelmachining   or PM @marvel ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 🔔 Subscribe, Rate, and Review to never miss an episode. Your feedback helps us bring you the content you love! Drop your comments or topic ideas in the forum here: https://www.practicalmachinist.com/fo... Or listen to our podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts! 📍 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7g0wFLl... 📍 Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Practical Machinist is the largest and most engaged #metalworking community across the web. With more than 200,000 registered members and 400,000+ social media followers, Practical Machinist is the easiest way to learn new techniques, get answers quickly, and discuss common challenges with your peers. Visit Practical Machinist today to join the community and start connecting with your peers. Become a Practical Machinist member (https://www.practicalmachinist.com/) Like us on Facebook (  / practicalmachinist  ) Follow us on Instagram (  / practicalmachinist  ) Follow us on Twitter (  / prac_machinist  ) Follow us on TikTok (  / practicalmachinist  ) Connect with us on LinkedIn (  / practical-machinist  ) #machining #podcast #cncmachine