Pat Foreman was 18 years old when someone told him he'd never be able to afford a CNC machine.
So he quit. Walked out. Called a sales guy on his way home. Three days later, he had a mill sitting in his parents' garage.
No family shop. No machining background. Parents were teachers. He learned everything from YouTube and Google.
In this episode, Pat walks us through the whole story: stumbling into a machining class that turned out to be a jail diversion program, calling 1-800-HAAS with $300 to his name, and setting up his first mill in his parents' garage. He talks about the day he crashed a probe while drinking at work during COVID (yeah, really), and how that mistake turned into the ProbeHalo—a product that sold 400 units in two hours and has now moved over 10,000 pieces.
We get into the real stuff: running a shop from home, never answering the phone, not knowing G-code, not owning a lathe, and still making it work. Pat's brutally honest about the yayhoo jobs he used to take, why he doesn't care if his machines sit idle, and how he's built a business around having free time instead of chasing growth.
This one's for anyone who's thought about going out on their own, anyone who's been told they can't do it, or anyone who just wants to hear how someone figured it out without following the traditional path.
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Or listen to our podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxzIM06jyJCYTCMGUQLgKXNtpq-HqvV2Q
Connect with the hosts on Instagram:
Patrick Mcclintock: IG: https://www.instagram.com/job_shopper_tn/ or PM@Job Shopper TN
Cameron Graves: IG: https://www.instagram.com/machiningiscool/ or PM@Machiningiscool
Bradley Thomas: IG: https://www.instagram.com/marvelmachining/ or PM@Marvel
Thanks for listening!!!
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