Off the Cut Podcast

We're missing Zac tonight, and despite the offers to get sponsored by an AI company, we will not be replacing him with an AI clone—unless they take our F*off price. We break down the real cost of chasing perfect video B-roll, the magic of using AI for lazy infomercial graphics, why everyone insists on trying to reinvent table saw safety and how some mistakes are permanent. We also dive into the new Harvey "Dream Saw" with its proximity sensors, SawStop's aggressive new bandsaw tech that will cost you an arm and a blade, and whether you actually ne...

You won’t believe the ridiculous lengths we go to for a good shot—including Zac securing a suspicious amount of sparkly pink costume hair just to test out a robot vacuum. We cover a lot of ground, from Deric burning 6,000 calories doing yard work on the hottest day of the year in Texas, to the grim reality of completely losing all passion for a build the second it sits idle for more than a day. Zac is losing his mind, and voice, re-recording an entire 24-minute voiceover for his upcoming GameCube mod and Eric drops some serious opinions on t...

We kick things off with a well-deserved grievance about heavy-breathing audiobook narrators before spiraling into the golden age of flipping Laserdiscs and debating if 4K Blu-rays are actually worth the hassle. Don’t worry, we talk shop at some point too. Zac shows off his new 3D-printed GameCube mod. We pull back the curtain on tool reviews—specifically stacking the $500 Kreg Edge against the $1400 Festool Domino—and why the first 30 seconds of a video are literally do-or-die for your retention graphs. Finally, we wrap up with the agonizing highs and spaghetti-filled lows of custom 3D modeling a fix for a shat...

We are diving headfirst into the latest YouTube monetization panic—because who doesn’t love casually discovering that the watch-hour requirements just doubled? We also tackle the wild conspiracy theories about "stealth ads" in videos. Spoiler alert: brands aren't paying us thousands of dollars to subtly show a product in our videos; they are control freaks and bureaucratic to the bone. Zac is knee-deep in his modern GameCube mod, complete with the iconic purple shell. Eric has morphed into a caffeinated, shipping and logistics machine, fulfilling his 3D-printed glue holder orders while dealing with customers and odd expectations. Meanwhile, Deri...

We’re back and somehow Deric survived driving through the absolute chaos of Midtown Manhattan without getting a single New York honk. While Deric was out dodging rats and locked-up CVS candy bars, Eric managed to accidentally launch a full-scale manufacturing facility in his closet. His new Glue Dock went so incredibly viral that he had to nearly buy out the local Best Buy's stock of 3D printers just to keep his head above water.

We also dive into the drama surrounding the upcoming Kreg Domino clone—is it actually a Festool killer, or just a track saw...

We dive headfirst into the ongoing nightmare of managing a 63,000-person email list and how sending out a free tool list is a surprisingly great way to figure out who is actually paying attention. Zac shows off his custom clear Nintendo Switch case, and we debate if it's better to 3D print it yourself or just pay a professional to do it.

Things get a little unhinged as we confess to chopping up old, unneeded furniture projects for firewood rather than dealing with the hassle of passing them off. We also brainstorm a million-dollar neighborhood trash can...

Deric left us unsupervised this week, and frankly, it took us almost a full human minute just to figure out how to start. Once we finally got the episode rolling, we went straight down a rabbit hole analyzing the absolute insanity of financing small purchases. We navigate the murky waters of creator motivation, sharing our personal strategies for breaking through creative roadblocks when you'd rather do house chores, or watch someone do them, than edit another timeline. We touch on the struggle of maintaining a consistent channel identity while pushing for bigger, more complex projects, and rant about the...

We somehow survived the melting point of summer to bring you another round of tool talk, tech rants, and questionable homeowner decisions. Zac gives us the lowdown on the Fantic electronic screwdriver and Eric dives deep into the infuriating world of proprietary flashlight chargers. We take a hard look at obsolete tech—RIP Yellow Pages and dashboard Garmins—before venturing into the awkward social dynamics of hiring a handyman versus a licensed contractor. Do you hover while they work, or just offer the bathroom and hide? Plus, we break down why giving away free stuff on the internet might actu...

We’re back at it and diving into the most polarizing topic on the internet: how to pronounce tool brands. Whether you’re Team Blum or Team Bloom, we've got thoughts. We also debate the merits of hiring out chores—is paying the neighborhood lawn guy or a dog walker worth the money, and more importantly, do you actually tip them? Because tipping culture is the wild west of financial gratitude.

Then, we share our favorite life hacks. From gamifying grocery bagging to showering efficiently and extracting every microscopic drop of toothpaste, we’re out here trying to save...

Grab a seat and a cold drink; you’re right on time. We're back in the shop and diving straight into the usual chaos. Deric is healing up nicely from his surgery, sporting a fresh medical-grade WWE championship belt and plotting some 3D-printed accessories. Meanwhile, Eric takes us on a trip down memory lane to recount the sheer terror of meeting a girlfriend's dad at fifteen—a man who casually challenged him to a duel with a piranha tank. We’re also tearing into the ridiculousness of AI straight-up gaslighting us over car parts and pitching a million-dollar app concep...

We are thrilled to report that Deric is back. He’s fresh out of the hospital after an emergency surgery. While he was stuck in a hospital bed eavesdropping on a mysterious old lady who woke up with a broken hip, Eric has been watching the charred remains of his neighbor's house get picked apart by a ServPro investigation team. We've got some serious concerns about local construction safety after Eric witnessed a roofer being dangled by his ankles over a three-story drop just to staple down some Tyvek wrap. We also dive deep into the underbelly of scammy ma...

With Deric out sick, Eric and Zac are left to hold Off The Cut together on their own, which goes about as smoothly as expected. This week, they talk course launches, woodworking content, Gorilla Glue, CA glue storage, and the chaos that happens when the tech guy is missing.

Eric also shares a trip to the Cincinnati Zoo where he watched someone ignore every survival instinct and pet a cheetah through the fence. Naturally, that leads to a deep dive on zoo animals, manatees, Joe Exotic, blue whales, buffets, travel, and why the whole world needs to...

We're breaking down the unspoken rules of hobbies—like why rolling up to a hockey game with white gloves or carrying a pristine, scratch-free skateboard automatically makes you look like a total noob. We vent about the absolute misery of video editing software when it inexplicably pauses your render at 12% for days, eating up 40+ hours of troubleshooting to no avail. We also dive into the absurd hoops you have to jump through to set up online courses and battle anti-piracy browser blockers

Plus, there's nothing quite like waking up to your neighbor's house engulfed in flames , forcing yo...

Welcome back to the shop, friends. We're kicking things off with the bizarre mystery of the YouTube algorithm—specifically how a 40-minute, 10-out-of-10 stinker of a garage upgrade video miraculously resurrected itself after a long Memorial Day weekend Deric scored a 16-speed Central Machinery drill press at a yard sale for 30 bucks, which naturally leads to us brainstorming how to custom-paint it like a WWII bomber. We debate the dreaded "puzzle moment" of a project—that soul-crushing point where you solve the complex part and instantly lose all motivation to finish the tedious sanding. Grab a cold beverage, ignore the...

We're back and diving straight into the harsh realities of creating content when the algorithm clearly prefers confirmation bias over the actual, frustrating truth. Zac gives us the rundown on a speaker build that required way more technical tweaking than those viral DIY videos ever admit, and we debate if the new Kreg joinery tool actually has what it takes to dethrone the Festool Domino, or if we're all just victims of influencer marketing.

We also swap notes on the absolute best ways to handle door-to-door salespeople, the mystery of Carhartt's transition into high fashion, deep pour...

We’re diving headfirst into the latest woodworking drama: Kreg's new "loose tenon joiner" and whether it actually has the precision (and the legal clearance) to dethrone the almighty Festool Domino. Zac is currently trapped in sponsor approval purgatory with his next video, leading us down a rabbit hole of agency contracts, vanity URLs, and why DIY foam speakers actually sound surprisingly good if you throw a subwoofer in the mix.

We also debate the questionable merits of car audio upgrades, the sheer terror of filming DIY repairs in your driveway while your neighbors judge you, and wh...

We’re back in the shop (and the dentist's chair) this week. Zac’s sporting a brand-new crown, while someone else is apparently gaining 15,000 followers by pretending to be him. Deric got a whole ten-cent payday from Facebook monetization, and we dive deep into the absolute absurdity of the iTunes gift card scam—seriously, who is buying 100 Katy Perry singles in 2026? We also explore the dark side of 90s pop lyrics, realizing that some of our favorite radio hits were secretly about crystal meth and cocaine.

Between debating why Brita filters are for "weak people" and the soul-c...

This week, we dive into the frustrations of "dumb" machines and the realities of DIY projects that turn into total replacements. Zac vents about his CNC snapping bits and its lack of "intelligence" compared to modern 3D printers, while Eric recounts his sweaty adventures installing a Tesla charger in a hot attic—complete with a surprising win at the hardware store checkout. The guys also discuss the "lipstick on a pig" dilemma of home repairs and how a creator’s haircut is the ultimate timeline for how long a video actually takes to produce.

Got questions? Email us a...

Zac and Deric are flying solo this week! While Eric enjoys some time away, the guys get into the weeds on Zac’s new course (it’s like launching a whole new channel) and the gear grinding feeling of switching between tasks. The conversation drifts all over the place, much like that old Dodge in the driveway—from cinder-block furniture in early lofts to the dream of forklift-powered home elevators.

In this episode:

The Content Grind: Why a single course module can take 35 pages of voiceover.

Social Sprints: The breakdown of why YouTube notifi...

We finally solve the mysteries of the universe—or at least the ones involving aluminum cans and why your garage door is trying to kill you. We dive into the "uncanny valley" of AI-generated emails that try just a little too hard to be your friend, and why Eric would rather do drywall every day than ever touch rubber gym flooring again.

If you’ve ever wondered about the surface area to volume ratio of a White Claw versus a standard beer can, or why an HVAC technician wants you to watch a video on his iPad, this...

This week, we’re officially declaring a boycott on Bubly—they took away our little tab greetings, and frankly, we’re taking it personal.

Once we cool off, we dive into Zac’s latest Steam Machine build, the logistics of launching his new course, and the wild world of fake email addresses. That naturally leads to Eric confessing his life of crime and getting detained by the police in 7th grade over a Mountain Dew Xbox 360 giveaway gone wrong. We also try to solve Eric’s bathroom renovation design crisis (to Shou Sugi Ban or not to Shou Sugi...

Let’s be honest, half of this episode is just us battling the machines.Eric finally figures out why his gigabit internet is crawling (spoiler: mesh networks are liars), and Zac drops some serious cash on a Wi-Fi 7 router only to realize it sounds like last Thanksgivings turkey in the dryer on perma-press. We also dive deep into the current state of AI—from how “tokens” actually work to why chatbots confidently overlook some Apple products and how MacBook Pros that smell like rotten eggs, are to be expected.

We help Zac workshop a name for his upcoming...

We are back for Episode 210, and despite the technical gremlins trying to take down the live stream early on, we made it through. This week, Deric is back from Hawaii with a harsh reality check about trying to edit video on an airplane. Zac is deep in the trenches of filming his new console modding courses and discovering that recording voiceovers might actually be a form of physical torture. Meanwhile, Eric is buried in work and debating the ultimate woodworker's dilemma: do you build the custom dressers, or do you just swallow your pride and buy them?

...

Eric and Zac try to hold down the fort while Deric is soaking up the sun in Hawaii , and predictably, it ends with Eric's internet dying and a desperate pivot to the aftershow.

Before the total system failure, the guys actually covered a lot of ground. Zac breaks down the absolute necessity of negotiating everything from your Adobe subscription to a root canal. Eric shares his nightmare week ruining a walnut desk finish and the agonizing awkwardness of sitting half-naked in a dermatologist's office. Plus, we discuss Airbnb pricing hacks , the death of WorkbenchCon , and why Staples...

We challenged Deric to keep up an Irish accent for the whole show, he didn't even last three seconds. We kick things off with a reality check on the recent windstorms that turned our backyards into obstacle courses and honest landscapers into price gouging armies. 

Zac gets brutally honest about his latest project: XPS foam panel speakers. After being bought into the YouTube hype, he discovered that without a subwoofer and a $200 microphone, they sound less like high-fidelity audio and more like a musical birthday card.

Meanwhile, Deric shares how he turned Gemini AI into a...

We are bleeding money this week. Eric accidentally spends over $600 on just three sheets of walnut plywood after dealing with a breathless customer service rep. We also dive into Eric's new standing desk build, Zac’s genius idea to 3D print cages for power bricks, and why a $1,000 office chair might actually be worth it. Zac reveals the 3-point suspension system for his "Invisible Foam Speakers" and his plan to package the 3D printed jigs into a mini-course. Plus, we debate the physics of powering a gaming PC by pedaling a bike and share the only acceptable way to sa...

We are investigating a potential crime ring in our own Patreon after the same person wins the giveaway... again. Are we rigging it? (Legally: No. Comically: Maybe). Zac explains why he is gluing foam insulation to his wall to create "Invisible Speakers" and why Fusion 360 thinks every piece of wood weighs 2,000 pounds. Deric opens up about the anxiety of a video release and shares the painful stats behind a 1.2% Click-Through Rate disaster. Plus, we debate vocabulary on social media, why sanding dust feels like it gets into your soul, and the absolute nightmare of installing 175-pound rolls of rubber...

We are kicking off this week with a massive confession: Eric accidentally stained... you know what, you'll have to listen to find out, it's just too good.

We also debate the legal ethics of telling your lawyer you are actually guilty of jaywalking, pitch the concept of the "YouTube Olympics" to see which influencers can actually back up their skills live, and discover the terrifying reality that Olympic Curling is self-refereed. Zac shares his ultimate crispy baked potato hack, Deric talks about his emotional next build video, a toy chest for his new niece, and we break...

We get deep in the weeds of YouTube strategy this week, debating whether ThumbnailTest.com is actually better than YouTube's native A/B testing tool, and why creating "composite" thumbnails is the ultimate creator hack (even if they look ridiculous up close). We roast the lazy corporate use of AI—from terrible automated meeting recaps to unsolicited "improved" thumbnails that magically add fake tool walls to our shops. Plus, we discuss a $10,000 Roomba-style air purifier, the great AI data center RAM shortage that is turning PC building outrageously expensive, and Zac’s secret to recording voiceovers: giving a private TED...

We are breaking down the "AI Lottery" theory—the idea that AI multiplies who you already are (so if you're a bad creator, you'll just be a 100x bad creator). We also confess to our "Photoshop Stupidity," specifically the years spent searching for fonts because we didn't know how to stroke the text. Eric shares his "Honda Fit Mystery," where an alarming "Boing" noise was diagnosed by Google Gemini in seconds (possibly saving him a trip to Zip Bros), and we debate the new YouTube AI disclosure rules: Does cleaning up a messy background count as "faking reality"? It’s ju...

We are diving into the cult of "Gridfinity" to decide if it’s actually the ultimate organization system or just a hobby that eats up 80 hours of print time to save you 4 seconds. We also share our (possibly unethical) Amazon return hacks to avoid shipping fees, discuss the "Infinite Filament Glitch" on Maker World, and debate the controversial topic of Drill Clutches (do they actually work?). Plus, Eric explains why he refunds customers without asking for the product back, and we break down the difference between filming a "Documentary" (Project Video) vs. an "Interview" (Talking Head).

Got qu...

Zac is back from exile (vacation), and we waste no time launching a conspiracy theory that the "Shop Sounds" podcast is inflating their giveaway numbers. We dive deep into "AI Psychosis" and the Mandela Effect—debating whether the seahorse emoji ever existed and if the Fruit of the Loom logo actually had a cornucopia (it did and Zac will fight anyone who says different). Eric shares his nightmare of trying to cut concrete expansion joints in his shop (creating an "atomic bomb" of dust), and we discuss "Exploding Tree" and “Frozen Fog” weather warnings that sound fake but are terrif...

We made it to Episode 200, and we celebrated by... getting rid of Zac? With the third host "exiled," Eric and Deric take the wheel to discuss the absolute nightmare of installing ceiling fans on 18-foot vaulted ceilings—including the terror of "lean-to" ladders and why "Integrated LEDs" are the worst invention in lighting history. Eric discusses his new "Mail Slot" plywood storage rack that magically fits behind a garage door rail, and we nerd out on YouTube strategy: why "scheduling" a video is actually a trap, and why clickbait titles are becoming boringly literal again.

Got questions? Em...

We are on the brink of Episode 200, but first, we are going to commit international hot dog crimes. We discuss the genius (and legality) of a "Hot Dog Arbitrage" scheme involving Canadian Costco memberships and a 53-foot trailer. We also dive into the nightmare of small business bookkeeping, why we lie about our invoice numbers to look more professional, and the struggle of using AI to write video scripts without sounding like a cheesy late-night infomercial. Zac reveals his insane plan to cool his PC using literal winter air from outside, and we debate whether we should start selling...

We are kicking off the new year by discussing our "resolutions"—specifically the struggle to actually finish a project before starting the next shiny one. We dive deep into the economics of injection molding vs. 3D printing (shoutout to Travis from ⁨@ShopNation⁩ and ⁨@PrintFarmAcademy⁩ for the breakdown) and debate whether scripting our videos too heavily is actually killing the fun of creating. Things get heated when we switch to fast food: from Zac's traumatizing Burger King experience to the absolute rage caused by digital menus that change while you are trying to order. We also discover "Mexican Sushi," debate the pronun...

We are closing out the year by debating the ethics of selling 3D printed "dragons" at craft fairs and discussing when a maker business should graduate from 3D printing to injection molding (the "MVP" strategy). We also dive into the reality of "Outlet Mall" quality, we suspect that brands are manufacturing intentionally worse products for discount stores. Plus, we break down the legendary Van Halen "Green M&M" rider clause—it turns out it wasn't about being a diva, but a genius safety check—and we set our "F-Off Price" for working with brands that have wronged us.

We are wrapping up the year with the ultimate Showdown, a March Madness-style bracket to crown the absolute best power tool brand. We randomly assign brands to defend, forcing us to make passionate arguments for tools we might actually hate (looking at you, Powerfist). We debate whether a "lifetime warranty" is actually a scam, why Powerfist is the worst name in marketing history, and we accidentally discover the most inappropriate mascot in sports history. Plus, one of us gets disqualified for using AI to write their debate points 🫢

Got questions? Email us at offthecutpodcast@gmail.com

J...

It is finally time for the "Sawdust Showdown!" We turn the podcast into a Jeopardy-style trivia game where Eric and Zac battle it out over categories like "Getting Drilled" (identifying tools without logos), "2xForefathers" (woodworking history), and the surprisingly difficult "Hand Stuff." We also debate the best way to store ratchet straps (and whether the retractable ones are trash), is there an "exit strategy" for content creators, and share why we are terrified of signing contracts that let brands own our face forever.

Got a question that you want us to answer? Send us an email at ⁠⁠offt...

We are getting into the holiday spirit by discussing the beauty of "flat presents" (checks from grandma) and our secret strategies for dealing with terrible "throwaway gifts". However, the holiday season also brings out the scammers, so we dive deep into the sophisticated text and email scams currently plaguing creators, including a convincing Meta "Blue Badge" trap. 

We also geek out on AI tools for YouTube thumbnails, debating whether "Gemini Nano Banana Pro" is a good name , and share our best tips for finding actual PNGs on Google Images without getting virus-bombed

Got a question t...

We are still recovering from Thanksgiving, which means we have strong opinions about leftover turkey and the tragedy of store-bought pies with lackluster crusts. We also dive into the questionable ethics of returning Black Friday impulse buys, debating whether it's okay to screw over a giant corporation versus a small creator. Last, we break down the art of the "listicle" video—how to take a boring project like a desk upgrade and turn it into engaging content by gamifying the process.

Got a question that you want us to answer? Send us an email at ⁠⁠offthecutpodcast@gmail.com⁠ <...