The New 1340GT from PM

[Havoc]

I sure wish I didn't hate driving so much. I'd love to swing by and check yours out when you're up and running. But I'll probably ask to see it when it gets to the point of actually placing my order at some future date. Feedback from my wife suggests now is not the best time for me to drop a bunch of cash on a tool I already have.

-Ryan

You can swing by anytime, i actually work for EBMUD in Oakland, so I crash on my boat in Alameda 3 nights a week.

Danny

 

[Havoc]

Glad to hear that yours is on its' way Danny. I just received an email from Matt about 20 minutes ago. Although not with a tracking number yet, he did say that he is going to prepping the mill within the next couple of days and that I should see both units on approx. Wednesday August 6th. He said it will be about a week to UT from PA so I would assume he is planning on shipping it out his door by this coming Wednesday July 30th.

As the reply by Ray concerning the business model. I completely understand what Matt is going for, quality over quantity. After reading how many others were happy with their machines from Matt and personally speaking to Matt prior to my order placement, I too decided that I would rather pay a few dollars more for higher quality machines as I am impressed with how much thought and negotiating of better parts, bearings, etc has gone into his machines. All of the tools in my shop are of higher quality vs. el'cheapo tools and equipment.

That said, my only complaint thus far has been the delay from the original time estimate communicated to me.

Mike.

Awesome Mike, which one are you going to set up first? The lathe or the mill? Here is something for you to drool over http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tld/4572865299.html

I want it.

Danny

 

[Ray C]

Haha Ray you are a "boutique supplier of high quality manual machines" I would bet a $2 bill that if you raised the prices up you probably sell the same amount if not more. If the product is sold so fast that you can't meet demand, then its priced too cheap. And if the increased price could cover more "direct"customer service, then its a win for everyone. No offense but being only able to reach you instead of QMT is an obvious problem.

LOL: A friend of mine owns a very successful liquor store -and one day, he bought a display case of cheap cigars all priced between $1 and $3. They didn't sell worth a darn and were getting stale. I told him to increase the price to $7 to $8 -and they sold like hotcakes.

I don't think Matt wants to raise prices... Truth be told, he likes supporting the small shops and hobbyists -despite the frustrations. I can't talk about the details of what goes on behind the scenes with Matt but, he has some clients that call and speak with him 2-3 times a week -and some, 2-3 times a day... That eats up a lot of his time and at some point, he cannot take any more calls during the day. Long story short, some of Matt's big customers started-out as little guys -and they continue to do good business with him. He's been in business for 15 years and my guess, is he'll still be in business 15 years from now. There's a lot to be said for that -and my hat is off to him. I can't think of too many "flash in the pan" boutiques with those kinds of longevity prospects...


As for me, I'm not doing this to get rich (LOL)... I'm semi-retired and a teacher at-heart and don't mind the hobbyist crowd. That said, he wants me to be the front-end for the business. Matt is perfectly happy working with his crew every day. He loves it -and that's no joke. When the busy times like this are over, he scours the Continents looking for exceptional value stuff. He loves tools and machines! He's like Tim the Tool Man -Times TEN! One of his dreams is to find the perfect machinery that address all the complaints that folks have about various machines... He's had prototype machines made and goes to foundries to have test-parts made... He's in hog-heaven doing that kind of stuff... Naaaahhh, I don't see Matt ever sitting in a "Boutique"... Man, does that conjure-up some comical images...



Ray

PS: Here's a few snaps of me at the marina earlier today. I was hanging upside like that for several hours all total doing some general maintenance but also taking measurements for some structural work that I will custom-build in my shop. At 55, some say I'm stupid for doing this -but man, I love all the stuff I do. Working w/Matt/Nicole/Travis, doing cool stuff on yachts (and learning a lot too) and running my custom shop. The Yacht work is extremely challenging at times... -love it. And getting custom motor mounts under a 2 ton motor... Haven't figured-out how I'll do that yet -but I will.

No more boardrooms or development labs for me. -Done with that. ... It's all about doing what you like/love doing...



PS, PS: Sometimes it's really tricky getting out of those tight quarters. It's real easy to get "owies".

EDIT: Here's the hole I was stuffed into... Tight fit and sometimes I need to call my partner on the phone and ask him to yank on my legs to pull me out.

 

[Marco Bernardini]

Sometimes there is no need to work hard to become millionaires: it's enough to invent the right very stupid thing in the right very crazy moment, and to sell it for a very reasonable price.
An example? The famous "Pet Rock". And that was 40 years ago.

 

[zmotorsports]

Looks awesome Ray. I am jealous. I hope to be out on my own full-time in the near future as well and away from the corporate BS. I too like working on a wide range of items. I currently to a lot of general repairs and over the past couple of years more and more one-off or custom or prototype jobs. The majority revolving around motorcycles but a lot for the Jeeping/off-road industry as well.

I recently got out of sand drag racing and really miss fabricating custom sand drag quads but still, the prototype work is the cat's meow. I understand about the pricing of ones products or services. This past January I upped my shop rate trying to thin my work out a bit due to the time conflict of my full-time job and my home business. Just the opposite happened, more work started rolling in.

Thanks for sharing the pics of the yacht work.

Mike.

 

[Ray C]

Looks awesome Ray. I am jealous. I hope to be out on my own full-time in the near future as well and away from the corporate BS. I too like working on a wide range of items. I currently to a lot of general repairs and over the past couple of years more and more one-off or custom or prototype jobs. The majority revolving around motorcycles but a lot for the Jeeping/off-road industry as well.

I recently got out of sand drag racing and really miss fabricating custom sand drag quads but still, the prototype work is the cat's meow. I understand about the pricing of ones products or services. This past January I upped my shop rate trying to thin my work out a bit due to the time conflict of my full-time job and my home business. Just the opposite happened, more work started rolling in.

Thanks for sharing the pics of the yacht work.

Mike.

"Corporate BS"... Aint that the truth! Things were good in the R&D world up until the late 90's. Engineers and physicists pretty-much called the shots and we declared when a product (or technology) was ready for prime time. It rapidly changed in the early 2000's and the model changed to "Tell designers in India what to do/make", "sell it as soon as it seems to work", "collect maximum money from customer up front", "sell it with a flashy website" and live by the motto that "saying sorry later is easier than taking the time to make something that actually works". -And of course, dealing with multi-millionaires with temperaments of a 2 year old became the new challenge of R&D professionals... And putting-up with the PMP wanna-be minions who thought they were going to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs... LOL! The last 1/3 of my career was tainted with that bad taste -and there ain't no going back now. Wouldn't trade my new life for all the money in the world...

Mike, keep at it... If you know how to fix things or make things work, you'll get there. Sooner or later, the bubble of consensual delusion will pop -and people/business like yours with flourish. I see it happening already. There are obstacles, but I see it happening...


Ray

 

[zmotorsports]

"Corporate BS"... Aint that the truth! Things were good in the R&D world up until the late 90's. Engineers and physicists pretty-much called the shots and we declared when a product (or technology) was ready for prime time. It rapidly changed in the early 2000's and the model changed to "Tell designers in India what to do/make", "sell it as soon as it seems to work", "collect maximum money from customer up front", "sell it with a flashy website" and live by the motto that "saying sorry later is easier than taking the time to make something that actually works". -And of course, dealing with multi-millionaires with temperaments of a 2 year old became the new challenge of R&D professionals... And putting-up with the PMP wanna-be minions who thought they were going to be the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs... LOL! The last 1/3 of my career was tainted with that bad taste -and there ain't no going back now. Wouldn't trade my new life for all the money in the world...

Mike, keep at it... If you know how to fix things or make things work, you'll get there. Sooner or later, the bubble of consensual delusion will pop -and people/business like yours with flourish. I see it happening already. There are obstacles, but I see it happening...


Ray

Thanks Ray, I completely agree. I look at my co-workers and superiors that know absolutely nothing outside of their daily routing/job function. I really feel sorry for them because when that ONE thing they know goes away or is no longer in demand, they are screwed.

Mike.

 

[Smudgemo]

You can swing by anytime, i actually work for EBMUD in Oakland, so I crash on my boat in Alameda 3 nights a week.

Danny

Cool - I'll bring the IPA!

My friend John C works there too. I won't name names more detailed than that, but he's a hardcore cyclist and I believe drives big trucks and things of that sort.

-Ryan

 

[nickmckinney]

I don't think Matt wants to raise prices... Truth be told, he likes supporting the small shops and hobbyists -despite the frustrations. I can't talk about the details of what goes on behind the scenes with Matt but, he has some clients that call and speak with him 2-3 times a week -and some, 2-3 times a day... That eats up a lot of his time and at some point, he cannot take any more calls during the day. Long story short, some of Matt's big customers started-out as little guys -and they continue to do good business with him. He's been in business for 15 years and my guess, is he'll still be in business 15 years from now. There's a lot to be said for that -and my hat is off to him. I can't think of too many "flash in the pan" boutiques with those kinds of longevity prospects...

IMHO - raise the prices 10% - use that increase to help cover someone other than Matt to man the phone/email. All of us would be happy to pay it I bet if it means we get a warm body to talk too *at QMT*. He is not supporting that much when the phone/email responses don't happen which is exactly how this thread started and also why I went elsewhere. As for you helping him, the only way people know about you are the forums, and most prospective buyers are not forum addicts. They find him via the internet (like I did) call or email, and give up if the response sucks.

In my business the next person I am hiring is going to cost me triple what the guys sweating in the shop cost me. However this next hire is the only one that can take the phone/face time away from me all day long, and my clients will be as well taken care of if not better (as I can only do so much) I drool for the day it finally happens, you can only do so much when the person manning the customer service phone is also the boss man. After 15 years its time to start thinking bigger IMHO.

 

[zmotorsports]

Awesome Mike, which one are you going to set up first? The lathe or the mill? Here is something for you to drool over http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/tld/4572865299.html

I want it.

Danny

Sorry Danny, I never did answer your question. I will be setting up the lathe first as it will be the furthest into and against a wall. It will also require the most work as I will be rewiring the entire thing to switch over the VFD. The mill will be placed in the middle of my next bay over so once the lathe is in place the mill will be set into position. The mill will also pretty much be a plug & play with the exception of fabricating a stand to raise is about 4-5 inches.

Mike.