How I Made It: Walter Minehart

Walter Minehart is a mechanical engineer and machinist at one-man shop Minehart Machine.

Source: Walter Minehart

I grew up in Minnesota on four acres on what used to be a farm. So, I was always around tractors and farmers and learning about mechanical systems. I was always interested in mechanical stuff and interested in tools.

When I got into high school there was a great robotics program and I got really involved in that. That was my first exposure to a machine shop. It was manual mills and lathes and welders. It was a really nice high school shop. I ended up being captain.

Schools should have more shop classes. Corporations should get their machines into schools — it should be a race to see who can get the most machines into schools.

I knew I wanted to go to school in California. I got into Cal Poly and came here in 2019 to San Luis Obispo.

What got me into the CNC world is Cal Poly’s machine shops. Haas donated quite a few machines, so we had a lot of toys to play with — five-axis stuff.

Micro-Vu, the CMM company, does a great job of getting engineering interns. That was my first machining internship. I learned a lot about production and prototype work and how those transition into each other.

I had the misconception that, while I love manufacturing and machine shop stuff, I was never going to make as much money as I would in an engineering role. And then I went to Micro-Vu and learned that's not true.

I discovered Aerocrafted when I graduated. It’s run by Tres Clements. He has a really broad machining engineering background, and he's been really inspiring. When I was working for him, I did a lot of machining — the rapid prototyping cycle of design, machine, implement. I was mostly on aerospace contract engineering projects. He's been super encouraging as I start the shop and is a great mentor.

I really value hands-on work and having control over my time. I love to work, but I don't love nine-to-five work. It's not the quantity; it's the ownership and the flexibility. I'm gambling a lot — the upside is high, but the risk is high.

I have a 1,000-square-foot space and a Brother Speedio S1000X1A 2021. I definitely want to grow with that machine and get to where I'm getting everything I can out of it before I get something else.

I really enjoy the rapid turnaround, low-quantity prototype work. That's usually aerospace, medical and energy startups, at least in California. I really enjoy those parts because they're usually complex geometries and engineering-driven.

It's cool as an engineer to understand the whole process and go back to customers and be like, “I think this alloy might not make sense,” and have that conversation.

Having a mechanical engineering degree and starting a machine shop, for me and the work I like to do, is the perfect in-between because I understand the application and purpose of the design decisions and also understand when I can push back and save a customer money.

The biggest challenge is the uncertainty, especially starting out. I'll have good months and bad months, so weathering that storm and being emotionally stable enough to keep running a business through that.