creative machine funding ideas

master53yoda

how can i argue with your logic , fact is you are still correct i have taken very little of what you mention into any real consideration .
but lucky for me my tooling costs are negligible . i do have the ebay and paypal fee's factored in , but not things like the heat , luckily that is cheap as i burn wood i dont have to buy .. but i ignore the little it does cost because i use the firewood purely as exercise that i dearly need .
the electric ... well lets just say for the time being its free until the power company decides to replace the meter like they was supposed to 3 years ago when i paid for the new meter .

but even if we ignore all of that you are right ... i am still working to cheap . i cant argue or justify my way around that .
but , once i take all of my out of pocket expenses off the top i am happy with what i am making here .

i get the benefit of both being able to fund my mill and i get to help keep a few more old antique obsolete rifles shooting , that actually pleases me more then the money .

as to my drawings ... well you managed to hit on a subject that does concern me , my only hope here is that i make my little chunk of money before someone with a cnc does this to me .
if it happens before .. eh chalk it up to win some lose some
 
bosephus said:
master53yoda

as to my drawings ... well you managed to hit on a subject that does concern me , my only hope here is that i make my little chunk of money before someone with a cnc does this to me .
if it happens before .. eh chalk it up to win some lose some
Click to expand...

An alternative approach is to take your drawings to a CNC shop and have them make you [x-quantity] and then sell these dies at a fair market price.
 
another little update

some very good news ,.. while i have not approached my over all goal yet i have managed to very nearly fund the mill itself .
i am close enough now that i am giving some very careful consideration to calling precision mathews and putting a down payment on a mill to be sure of getting one from the the next batch due in .
things went along quite a bit faster then i expected .

some might not see this as good news , but i have gotten past the initial rush of selling die's as fast as i can list them , things have reached a nice steady even keel .
and that works out much much better for me .. i will still meet my goal in a reasonable time frame , and it no longer feels like actual work .

over all this has been a learning experience for sure and a positive one at that ... although for a few weeks there it was feeling an awful lot like a job instead of a hobby .
but im past that now .... and yippppy im getting a mill
 
nice to hear of your success!!!
i would agree with master53yoda about not giving the prints out!
that's your hard work- don't give it out for free!
 
bosephus said:
another little update

some very good news ,.. while i have not approached my over all goal yet i have managed to very nearly fund the mill itself .
i am close enough now that i am giving some very careful consideration to calling precision mathews and putting a down payment on a mill to be sure of getting one from the the next batch due in .
things went along quite a bit faster then i expected .

some might not see this as good news , but i have gotten past the initial rush of selling die's as fast as i can list them , things have reached a nice steady even keel .
and that works out much much better for me .. i will still meet my goal in a reasonable time frame , and it no longer feels like actual work .

over all this has been a learning experience for sure and a positive one at that ... although for a few weeks there it was feeling an awful lot like a job instead of a hobby .
but im past that now .... and yippppy im getting a mill
Click to expand...
Great news. That didn't take very long at all. Thats what happens when we focus on the solution rather than focusing on the problem. I love it! Go back and read your first couple of posts in this thread just so you can see the transformation in your attitude over the past few months. It'll be an eye opener! Congrats!
 
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xalky

it wont be much of an eye opener, lol , i surely was in a bit of a funk . this project has helped in more ways then just funding me a milling machine .
it has helped my entire attitude .

my attitude has sucked for the last couple years , the worst part is i know why it has been bad but i was to busy being lost in negativity to wack my self in the head and do something about it.

at around my 40th birthday i had to make a hard decision to stop working at an actual job due to some health concerns , this was a pretty hard blow to take after 22 odd years of bouncing around heavy equipment and being a productive member of society. i am afraid my ego did not like facing the prospect of what to me looked like facing the next 30 plus years of being a useless lump .

this has done quite a bit to drag me out of that bad spot ... and i do feel i owe everyone here a large thank you for the support and encouragement , i doubt i would have gotten anywhere without it .

so thank you everyone
 
This has been pretty cool. Going from down in the dumps in Dec. to being in a position to order your mill in March. Now you get to feel the sense of anticipation and the excitement of getting that new mill. Now that you have the formula to succeed I can't wait to see what you come up with next. That mill will always need more tooling and now you have some ideas that will allow you to afford it. I love it when a plan comes together!

Regards
Darrell
 
bosephus your experience here is heart warming. Not only is this site a friendly place for all of us to receive and share machining experiences, but now it seems that due to the friendly interactions here you have found new strength to find ways to be productive again..and above all feel good about yourself. I am proud to be a member and wish you nothing but all the best.

David
 
well guys i think i have come to a conclusion .

in the matter of two weeks or less i will have met my goal ... so a big yippy for that .

i have been holding off till the last minute on calling pricision mathews and getting in on the expected order of the pm25 machines
just in case something shows up local ... i am in the rust belt after all , used bridgeports and clones are plentiful . so something might very well show up in my price range .
in the end though i see a shiny new pm25 in my garage .

and having met my goal i also have funds enough to buy a vice and a few other things i will need to start making chips .
so its time to put some thought into that now as well .

now as to my little die making endeavor .

the employee's here at the shop have been grumbling .. murmurs and rumors of an impending strike over long hours and a looming spring shooting season abound.
tempers are flaring , certain corporate secretaries have been hiding death threats and dynamite in my lunch pail
the postman has been sneering at me in a discomforting way , i suspect that is due to his increased work load from all of these small flat rate boxes .


maybe things are not quite that bad , but its soon coming to a time when i pull down the shingle , close the blinds , lock the doors and hang up the out to lunch sign .
turning this into an actual business is not for me , i do not say this lightly . i have put a lot of thought into this over the last few weeks and quite simply it is not what i want to do.

the long and short of it is , i want this to be something i enjoy .. a hobby . i want to wear my tools out from making things not money .
and if i continue on with this endeavor i fear it will change from something i enjoy to...... work .
and that is where i draw the line , i enjoy the hobby to much to let it turn into work .

now that i have very nearly met my goal i do not have a need to do it anymore ,but i'll be danged if it isnt hard to put the brakes on something once it has started .
there is a little voice in the back of my head telling me i am wrong for coasting to a stop
 
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