Live from the floor
Shop-floor updates & manufacturing guides
Finished parts, in-progress builds, shop tours, and live streams from the EmoryMfg floor — plus the technical guides our machinists write between jobs.
From the blog
All articles →Sourcing
CNC Machining in Jacksonville, FL: A Buyer’s Guide for 2026
How to source CNC parts in North Florida without paying for shipping mistakes, long lead times, or programming you didn’t need. Written for engineers, buyers, and shop owners.
April 21, 2026 · 9 min readRead the guide
Tooling
Tool & Die Shops Near Me: How to Actually Evaluate One
Five questions that separate a real tool & die shop from a CNC shop that owns a press. Maintenance plans, EDM capability, die history, hardness, and steel sourcing.
April 7, 2026 · 7 min read
Welding
MIG vs TIG vs Stick Welding: When to Use Each (Honestly)
A working welder’s breakdown of which process actually fits your part — by material, thickness, fit-up, cosmetics, and what failure looks like in the field.
March 17, 2026 · 8 min read
DFM
The DFM Checklist We Wish Every Customer Sent With Their Drawings
32 things we check before quoting a part. Wall thickness, draft, fillets, tolerance stack-up, threads, datums, and the silent killers that turn $200 parts into $2,000 parts.
February 25, 2026 · 11 min read
EDM
Wire EDM vs Sinker EDM: Which One Your Tool Steel Part Needs
Through-cuts vs blind cavities, surface finish, electrode cost, and the hybrid sequences real die and mold builders use. A buyer’s guide.
April 29, 2026 · 6 min read
Sourcing
How to Read a CNC Quote: Setup, Cycle Time, and Margin Explained
A line-by-line breakdown so you can compare CNC quotes apples-to-apples and spot the shop that’s about to lose money on your job (which usually means a bad part).
April 24, 2026 · 7 min read
Finishing
Anodizing, Plating, and Powder Coating: A Buyer’s Guide to Surface Finishes
Type II vs Type III anodize, electroless nickel, black oxide, powder coat, and passivation — with dimensional growth and what to actually put on the drawing.
April 14, 2026 · 7 min read
Operations
Lights-Out CNC: When It Saves You Money and When It Burns Cash
Bar feeders, pallet changers, probing, and the math of unattended CNC. When lights-out doubles capacity for free — and the parts you should never run that way.
March 29, 2026 · 8 min read
New floor posts — finished parts, in-progress builds, shop tours, and live streams — publish straight to the top of this page.