Hi all, I'm Matt and I run a small waterjet shop in AZ. Like Ascend, I've leveraged Xometry for a good bit of work. I've followed along for a while and gained a lot of insight and help from the videos - thank you so much for putting them out there! Prior to owning my shop I was in Procurement & Sourcing for 10+ years. Electronics, aerospace, and semiconductors. If you have any questions about the mindset of the various responsibilities in a Procurement & Sourcing department, please don't hesitate to ask.

Hi everyone — glad to be here. My name is Vasilis and I’m based in Greece. My professional background is in Mechanical Engineering and Quality Management, and over the last period I’ve been working seriously toward a long-term goal of building my own Precision CNC Workshop. Right now, I’m still very much in the learning and preparation phase. I’m developing my knowledge in GD&T, CAM, tooling, metrology, process planning and machining fundamentals, and I’m planning to gain hands-on experience on a small CNC before eventually moving toward more capable equipment. In parallel, I’m developing a manufacturing/quality management system called PMOS, focused on technical definition, reverse engineering, measurement control and process structure. What attracted me to Machine Shop LaunchPad is that this community seems very close to the path I’m trying to follow. Seeing someone build a successful garage-based CNC business from the ground up is particularly valuable to me, because I’m much more interested in learning from real-world experience. I’m here to learn, ask questions, exchange ideas, and hopefully build some good relationships with people who are already a few steps ahead of me. I’m especially interested in hearing about the early stages: machine selection, tooling, quoting, finding the first customers, mistakes you would avoid if starting again, and what actually matters when turning a small workshop into a sustainable business. Looking forward to getting to know everyone and learning from the group.

Working on my 1st machine for my New company. been telling my self for 10 years i want to start …. so i am doing it. i am likely going with a syil for 1st machine just due to price X7 or X9. Have my own IP to work on and build up slowly and will do Job shop as well. oh ya Grant system Sucks to navigate !!

Part two of marketing and strategy is live. This ones a huge one as this involves 100% automated token AI systems to generate leads with no intervention. Get ready 😵‍💫

Federal Contracting "Navigating PIEE / SPRS / DIBB Part 2 is now live in the Federal Contracting section.