Built on Saying Yes: Inside a One-Man Machine Shop, 525
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How did a Facebook machinist group turn into a real customer for Hillco?
One of the things I did was post in just a manual machinist group on Facebook. And from there, uh, a purchasing person at that company out in Kansas randomly picked me up, uh uh my information, sent me an email. And at first I thought it was spam. Honestly, I didn't really believe it because they were having me sign an NDA and I'm like, I have trouble believing this. I just wasn't expecting it. And it turned out to be totally real. And so just advertising on the the Facebook group was awesome.
What motivated Leighton to turn his hobby shop into a side‑business and start building momentum?
If the sound of a machine tool removing metal gets your blood pumping, then you are Metal Working Nation. This is Making Chips, where we talk all things metalworking, engineering and design, production and tooling combined with business best practices, technology, marketing, news, and new media for manufacturing professionals. Here are your hosts. Let's make some chips.
Today we are doing uh our Gen C and C series, uh featuring up and coming shop founders and owners, and uh we have a good one today. And I'm particularly excited about this one because this is, as I was saying, The battle royale for King of the Hill. That's right. Ladies and gentlemen, in the left corner we have Mike Payne with Hill Manufacturing. In the right corner, we have Leighton Hill from Hill Co. Let's go. So Leighton, maybe that's the
well glad to be on here. It's uh I haven't done many, many podcasts before, and so this will be a cool experience overall. And uh can't wait to go through it all.
Why does Leighton love the quality of SMW Autoblok’s work‑holding solutions?
Awesome. So Mike, why don't you tell a little bit of the story of meeting them in December in December there, yeah, at Boombastic.
Yeah, we were uh yeah, so Leighton had come to Boombastic. I know uh Jen and Dustin Met him and I I I I actually met your mom. Um, I don't remember if you and I talked, but I did run into your mom somewhere like maybe in the lunch line I don't remember. She told a little bit of your story and and so yeah, it was good. That was that was a great show.
What machines does Hillco currently run and how do they support the shop’s capabilities?
And yeah, there was a lot of there was there was a lot of people in Gen C and C I would say at that show. Um I was certainly old. at the show. You
were bending the curve in the wrong direction. Right, right. Well, if I was there we would've I would have bent it with you. Um but uh yeah I am sorry I missed that. That sounded like a blast.
How did Leighton learn CNC machining through YouTube, mentors, and hands‑on experience?
So l let's uh Layton, let's hear about Hilco. Let's hear about your passion for machining. How did you even learn about machining? How did you decide to start a shop? Let's get into all of that.
Okay, yeah. So this this is really all everything started based around my dad just 'cause what he did. He uh we used to live down in southeast Kansas. We've s since moved to Missouri. But what he did down there, he was a plant manager at a place that made uh actually like pizza ovens and printing presses for shirts. So kind of an odd little odd little deal, but that's what they did. And so they had machine shops there. And uh as him doing that, he kind of just started getting into the machine side of things at home.
What strategy does Leighton use to price and quote simple CNC jobs?
Um and we had a a shop there and so he got a a lathe and a mill and you know slowly slowly worked up. And that that's really really all where it all started. I was six, seven years old at the time when I started kinda getting out in the shop more and and uh running, you know, starting off just little craftsman lathe we had. It was like a I don't know, four by twenty, one of those really old tiny craftsman lathes. But I I loved it. It was my favorite thing. I'd go out there, I'd just be turning wood on it for no reason and and it it was just fun. And so that's what I enjoyed and then uh
How can AI‑assisted quoting tools like Toolpath improve estimating accuracy?
As I got older, you know, I started to actually get up to where I was making little parts and stuff on, you know, proper machines. And none of it's ever really been a a business plan at all. It was more so a hobby. My dad would do some jobs for people here and there, but it was really just a hobby and and we had fun doing it. Um is what we filled our weekends up with. Since they're moving from there, we moved up to Kansas City and then we all those machines that we had in a a shop down there, it was a thirty or I think a thirty by sixty.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did a Facebook machinist group turn into a real customer for Hillco?
0:00–0:34
2
What motivated Leighton to turn his hobby shop into a side‑business and start building momentum?
0:34–1:45
3
Why does Leighton love the quality of SMW Autoblok’s work‑holding solutions?
1:45–2:15
4
What machines does Hillco currently run and how do they support the shop’s capabilities?
2:15–2:38
5
How did Leighton learn CNC machining through YouTube, mentors, and hands‑on experience?
2:38–3:15
6
What strategy does Leighton use to price and quote simple CNC jobs?
3:15–3:45
7
How can AI‑assisted quoting tools like Toolpath improve estimating accuracy?
3:45–4:51
8
What factors is Leighton considering before investing in a new CNC lathe?
4:51–50:53
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