What machine business have you operated?

Jake2465 said:
I would agree. That is also what makes it difficult to make a viable business out of machined parts. Especially if similar parts are already available on a massive scale by China. I was once told by someone that China has become the manufacture of the world. Their bread and butter is pumping out cheap parts at cyclic rates, making cents on the dollar per part. So, there is little hope in competing with that monster because customers only have loyalty to the cheapest seller.
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Not exactly correct, one may have products produced there to very high quality if that is a requirement, this approach will save you little with a product that has limited sales in the USA.

If you can design a $50,000 small lathe that can be manufactured and sold for $4900.00 to the roughly 1000 people that will buy such a thing here in the US you have struck gold, do it, I look forward to the result.
 
Jake2465 said:
So, the answer seems to be that niche or product that would be considered boutique in nature is the way to go. For the folks that have taken the time to reply, thank you. I think this is insightful and makes sense. A lot of strategy has to go into making sure whatever is made cannot be commonly available with tight margins acting as a barrier to entry.
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Artisanal door hinges made from the remnants of 12th century bronze swords, relocate to Seattle for this.
 
David Paulson said:
I came from the plastic injection molding world but i thought this was for hobby interest machining
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It pretty much is. There are vendors on this site, but yes it pretty much stays in line with the website name :). This was more to see if any members have ever done a weekend business or something like that to help pay for the hobbies they like so much. As an example: I am working on my helicopter project. I expect it to cost me close to 25K by the time it's operational (which is dirt cheap when comparing to what they normally cost). I could take large portions out of my paychecks each month to pay for it, but if I found a way to provide value to others with the same equipment that supports my hobby, then my helicopter could get done just that much sooner. Possibly from five years down to three. Seems like a win win to me!
 
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I often wonder how much income is generated by some of the more front-line YouTube personalities. And I don't mean that in any sort of derogatory way -- they are a mainstay of my evening entertainment when I'm not in my shop.

In terms of a win-win situation though, that would seem to be a good fit. You do your own thing, in your own shop, on your own time. No shipping, no returns, nobody comes to your door. And people give you tools and free things! (Yes that's a very simplistic look at it, I know there is much background work that must go into maintaining a channel and providing constant content.)

It's not a thing I would succeed at, I'm too thin-skinned to survive, but I do wonder about it. Anybody know?

-frank
 
francist said:
It's not a thing I would succeed at, I'm too thin-skinned to survive, but I do wonder about it. Anybody know?
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Interesting question. I found this calculator that more or less breaks it down:

https://influencermarketinghub.com/youtube-money-calculator/

I watched a lot of NYC-CNC to learn Fusion 360. Autodesk was not as far along in the video tutorials as John was, so I chose him as my go to source for Fusion help. Good thing too as my mill came as a CNC from the factory.

This Old Tony has many good instructional videos with his manual mill and lathe along with a bit of humor thrown in.

mrpete222 has a massive collection of instructional videos that could take someone from total novice to machine tool warrior.

Abom79 does tons of stuff with lathe work. It was through his videos that I taught myself how to use a 4 jaw and get a part to run concentric within minutes.

All of these YouTube guys have helped me along a great deal because I do this alone. None of my friends are into machining. They are consumers, not makers.
 
Jake2465 said:
This was more to see if any members have ever done a weekend business or something like that to help pay for the hobbies they like so much.
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I retired at 45 from an engineering position. Best move I ever made. I now have what you might call an industrial level hobby machine shop. I live in the country where machine shops are few and far between. I make enough income to buy tools and toys, but I'd never survive on the income. I also have a fairly extensive cabinet shop. Again I'd starve on its income but a set of kitchen cabinets a year along with a couple of pieces of custom furniture keeps me in spending money. A bit of custom sawing with my saw mill helps too.
I'm as busy as I want to be, if I was in a different position I could advertise and be busier. I have a group of people that come on a regular basis knowing I'll get them out of a bind and back farming or drilling or building.
The odd job is boring, if I think its a waste of my time and their money I tell them.

Greg
 
I think also alot of the public has no idea that broken parts can be made or they have been too use to throwing things out and buying new. For myself alot of it has been to some way let people know that there equipment can be repaired and machine shop services are available. I ll knock on farmers doors to introduce myself and quite often the reaction is that they are surprised there is still someone doing it. They have said to me they have taken something to the city only to be told it just isn t worth it for them to make the one part and the old guy with the skill to do it is semi retired. Mind you I don t have a hundred thousand dollar lathe with 36 inch swing that needs to make bigger dollars. I Still think a maintenance repair shop can make a go of it. I am aiming for this. They are getting few and far between as it seems to be all about production and cnc with your operators vs. Machinists. Quite often I ll get some work out of that farmer even if it is just a shaft or a bushing to help his aging equipment.
Another thought on the hobbyist. When you compare a hobbyist to someone that say makes a living a hobbyist has the ability to explore and take on challenges that one in a shop may never do. They Gain knowledge over time without the pressure to produce so they can go about it in a manner to understand and not worry too much about making a mistake and we all know making mistakes can be one of our best teachers. Take a look at some of the work done by seasoned hobbyist. Stunning and because there is true interest that comes from within they are constantly intrigued by the machining world and are like sponges seeking more knowledge. Someone in a shop grinding it out may have lost that attitude and more interested in the clock and when the day is done!
 
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