Parts Department

Hosted by Justin Brouillette & Jem Freeman

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Episodes

191

Latest episode

Aug 2026

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About the show

Justin Brouillette (Portland CNC) & Jem Freeman (Like Butter) discuss CNC machines, their product design and manufacturing businesses, and every kind of tool that they fancy. Show Website - https://dept.parts

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60 recent

September 1, 202651 min

190 - Zero point plywood

Jem closes $19K in sales via text message while Justin battles shipping errors and imperial tape measures (slam?!). Justin shares CNC de-tabbing tricks, discuss auto-chucks with torque sensing for the pencil sharpener, and debate customer service boundaries. Jem admits he's avoiding his robot cell safety project while Justin celebrates finally killing Text Expander with SnipSnip Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic luv for iMessage sales process accccoutnabilitbudddy Systems daddy Detabbing on machine tutorial Measurements --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

August 25, 202657 min

189 - Just the two budgies

Jem hits the dream product mix with 16 deliveries in one day while Justin codes at coffee shops and preps for baby number two. Justin built a free Mac app that previews CAD and G-code files in QuickLook. Assembly guide workflows, and Jem's massive new speakers that are taller than he is. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Budgies Mac CAD Preview mini-app Rake - Tip of spear Prompt fatigue New Likebutter Assembly Guides Blum hinge models? yessss Fusion MCP --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

August 11, 202649 min

188 - Steel dreams and spider screams

Justin cuts 4140 steel for the first time for PDX CNC products while Jem battles venomous spiders and pallet racking inspections. They discuss organizing shop kits with gridfinity bins, Airtable's uncertain future, local file storage versus cloud chaos, and surviving wildfire smoke. Plus: Christopher Nolan's massive IMAX camera and the eternal struggle of documentation. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Steel! Work Safe Airtable bought for 8x less than top value Super Smoky Big Summer Movie this summmmmer FU Assembly Bins - video? Google Search Console - Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube now! Tool-tags.com --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

August 4, 202657 min

187 - Is this your vasectomy app?

Jem and Justin compare sales swings and shop chaos: a robot-cooked sander, a $15k sanding head quote, and high schoolers quality-checking parts before they ship. Plus network tinkering regrets, blowing nine million tokens in one sitting, Fusion file manager grievances, and the debut of a very questionably named app. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic No quoting, still hitting target ꘎ Custom Robots "Focused" product dev UniFi thoughts ꘎ Blew all my tokens, again ⠄ Help Scout MCP on Claude Infra-tinkering time suck ꘎ Crawling back to Lightroom ꘎ Robots on the cheap cheap ꘎ Shipments getting stuck Fusion operation note SnipSnip --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

July 21, 202648 min

186 - Slashed Shopify by 99%

Jem’s wiped out after installing seven sculptures in a single day, while Justin’s machining a 65-inch timber spear gun and fighting the ShopSabre’s Y-axis overheating. They talk Shopify bill wins, Justin’s new private dashboard app, GitHub issues, packing-station kiosks, voice notes, and the surprisingly good iOS 27 beta. Plus AR headphone daydreams and why documenting warehouse workflow is still the hardest game. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Jem's bender Two-year comparison Shopify Bill ꘎ $15 vs $1500 Fangs + Stops experience with Speargun Shopify recovery Unifi upgrades FU PF at LB? Arbitrary AR Desire ShopSabre issue Fulfillment organization question Flag to edit, make a note Rake - backups New Siri --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

July 7, 202654 min

185 - Rearranging racks at midnight

Jem and Justin trade toddler war stories before Jem confesses he'd rather tear down 4.5m pallet racking alone at midnight than hire anyone. Justin reveals his June sales cliff after a domain migration tanked Google traffic, hitting Profit First distributions hard. They also riff on the Obsidian exodus from Notion, breaking up with Cursor for Claude Code, and why rearranging the shop is happening before finishing new products. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Migrating away from Cursor ꘎ We have become a tech company ꘎ Obsidian rollout ꘎ Recovering migration hangover Finishing reorganization on woodshop The deep thinkings and feelings of lean The internet never forgets - outro song --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

June 30, 202648 min

184 - Everything's an (AI) Hammer

Jem and Justin chat about the World Cup's surprisingly warm reception in the US, Jem's Kitta Parts Builder getting a 3D preview upgrade (doors that actually open), and a FedEx API build that finally came together. Justin shares how Shopify's AI flagged a 430-pound weight bug before support did. They close on a real Profit First curveball: what do you do when a big deposit lands early? Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic World Cup Double shifts at Butter Like Butter Kitta Parts Builder Update - 3D Henry Holsters - overhead camera? Is it 430 lbs? Recommended: Unsolved mystery of Lorem Ipsum PF oversize conundrum ꘎ Dispatch improvements ꘎ --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

June 16, 202646 min

183 - Hoarding unfinished projects

Justin makes himself a 5-axis trophy and a quick YouTube shop tour and tests his Gimbel CoolantClear. Jem survives a short production week down a person, rants about builder POs and spirals into late-night Rhino scripting with Cursor. Plus bot orders, prototype hoarding, and the emotional weight of unfinished projects. Also, sea shanties. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Dispatch is a mess, need a LEAN makeover, how much do I own other people's jobs, fuck it I'll just do it myself, max capacity yet still no money left, brain overwhelm and other stories. ꘎ Rhino script intervention needed... ꘎ Fast Shop Tour - PDX CNC ALL 5 AXIS video FU: CAD models available We are not agreeing to your PO terms Roderick on the Line Ep 628 All hoarding is emotional... But the real weight on me is the hoarding of my own unfinished projects --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

June 9, 202648 min

182 - Droppin' drawers & doors

Justin migrates from Squarespace to Shopify (finally!), accidentally nukes his navigation menus with AI, and drops $1,200 on used Lista cabinets. Jem wraps up 10 months of robot programming, ships his first four-shelf new robot sanding programs. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Migrated the Blog! Lost my menus Big Ass CNC CRO Skills skills skills ꘎ Caveman AirShop Updates Door BT40 Tool Tag Tower Autodesk visit - MCP --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links

May 26, 20261 hr 10 min

181 - Please vibe responsibly ft. Justin Gray

Justin Gray joins Jem and Justin to talk vibe coding, from NASA open source to CNC tool library nightmares. They riff on AI security traps, why machinists need GitHub, and the chaos of managing 400 tool holders. Plus toddler nostril emergencies and why pie charts are almost never okay. Watch on Youtube DISCUSSED: ✍️ Comment or Suggest a Topic Justin Gray of Justin Gray Labs - formerly of Toolpath Justin's Vibe Kit - https://justingraylabs.com/store/vibe-coding/ @JustinGrayLabs NASA project - OpenMDAO.org Tell us about your shop, machines, and plans? Tool libraries https://latenightcommits.com Vibe coding Vibe coding is the next abstraction (assembly to programming langauge now to AI coding) How do you feel about it? Does it have a bad taste? Supply chain attack Liberated Let your Fusion posts - auto-update? --- Profit First Playlist Classic Episodes Playlist --- SUPPORT THE SHOW Become a Patreon - Get the Secret Show Review on Apple Podcast Share with a Friend Discuss on Show Subreddit Show Info Show Website Contact Jem & Justin Instagram | Tiktok | Facebook | Youtube Please note: Show notes contains affiliate links. HOSTS Jem Freeman Castlemaine, Victoria, Australia Like Butter | Instagram | More Links Justin Brouillette Portland, Oregon, USA PDX CNC | Instagram | More Links