Traditional Machinist Confronts the Future of the Trade | Autodesk Fusion Shop Talk with Abom79

Step inside the world of third-generation machinist Adam Booth, better known online as Abom79. In this episode of Shop Talk with Jonathan from Autodesk, Adam shares his journey from growing up in his dad’s manual machine shop in Pensacola, Florida, to expanding into CNC machining, content creation, and product development.

You’ll hear how:

🌱 Adam went from cleaning chips in his father’s job shop to falling in love with manual machining
💡 Growing up around industrial repair, general machining, and job shop work shaped his skills and mindset
🏠 He transitioned from the family shop to a home shop, which became the foundation of his YouTube channel
🏫 His long-form, detailed videos evolved into educational resources used by colleges and technical schools
💻 The feeling of “being left behind” by CNC pushed him to learn Fusion 360, CNC mills, and a CNC lathe with the help of Kevin from ‪@MechanicalAdvantage‬
⚙️ He’s now using CNC to support custom projects, customer work, and branded products like his drill indexes
🚶 Adam also gives a walking tour of his shop!

Along the way, Adam and Jonathan discuss:

⚙️ The manufacturing scene on the northern Gulf Coast, including job shops, production shops, and government contract work
✈️ The influence of the Naval Aviation Museum and Blue Angels on Adam’s early fascination with engineering
📚 The industry-wide challenge of a skills gap and lack of new talent entering machining

If you’re a:

💪 Manual machinist wondering how to step into CNC
🧑‍🎓 Student or apprentice learning machining techniques
🤔 One-person shop owner thinking about upgrading your capabilities
⚙️ Or just a fan of old iron, shop tours, and real-world machining

…this episode is for you.

Chapters:
0:00 – Welcome to Shop Talk!
1:13 – Who is Abom79 and where is he based?
3:52 – Discovering the local manufacturing scene
7:21 – Joining the family shop & falling in love with machining
9:28 – Transition to the home shop & YouTube
12:00 – Building an educational YouTube channel
19:38 – Learning Fusion 360 with Kevin (Mechanical Advantage)
22:53 – Reverse engineering & metrology tools
22:57 – Full shop tour (manual & CNC)
31:15 – Why Adam will always keep manual machines

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