Our podcast team is taking a short break to enjoy Labor Day weekend with our families. In the meantime, in keeping with the international theme of Season 4, we hope you will listen again to the podcast we did with Graeme Sinclair, owner of Parish Engineering, a machine shop in Melbourne, Australia.
Scroll down to listen to the podcast.
On today’s podcast we interviewed Graeme Sinclair, owner of Parish Engineering, a prominent precision machining shop in Australia. Graeme has been in the machining business for 60 years, since he served his apprenticeship at age 14.
In the interview, Graeme discussed the challenges faced by machine shops in Australia verses the rest of the world, his eclectic taste in CNC machines, and his passion for the game of squash. Sinclair explains that one reason he has many different types of equipment is that automotive companies have shut down their operations in Australia, meaning a lot of high volume work has disappeared.
Scroll down to listen to the podcast. Or listen on your phone with Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts,or your favorite app.

Main Points
Graeme talks about being a long-time fan of Today’s Machining World. He used to receive the printed copy of the magazine before it went digital and enjoyed sharing the printed articles around the shop. He talks about Lloyd offering him screw machines in the past. (2:40)
Graeme speaks about Parish Engineering, which was created by Mr. Parish in 1932. Parish ran turret lathes and single spindle cam screw machines such as INDEX B60s. In 1968, with no one to take over the company, Parish sold the company but remained to train others. Graeme joined the company in 1972 but was laid off in 1975. In 1980, Graeme returned and bought the company with his brother-in-law. His business partner retired in 2010, leaving Graeme and his daughter as the current owners. (4:30)
Graeme describes the company as a screw machine job shop with 28 CNC lathes and several vertical machining centers. The company owns Citizen, Star, Mori Seiki, Tsugami, Nakamura Tome, and INDEX machines. Graeme says he prefers Citizens for Swiss work. (6:00)
Graeme says the company made parts primarily for the automotive industry when he assumed leadership in the 1980s. It still does some automotive parts, specifically for the Ford Ranger, because the gear shift is made in Australia. Forty percent of the company’s current business is making pneumatic couplings and air fittings for track braking systems. The remainder of the company’s business comes from contract jobs. He says he is pretty sure the Ford Ranger is assembled in South America, South Africa and Thailand. (7:00)
Graeme talks about growing up in Melbourne, Australia, and how he got into the machining business. At 14, he left school because his parents were very poor and began an apprenticeship in fit...