They pay you handsomely for this I imagine.
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What machine business have you operated?
- Thread starter Jake2465
- Start date
I mentioned earlier about sharpening knives. Had a few to do and everyone likes pics. Also taking a few drills with me to see someone about sharpening drills. A glass company. They Do alot of aluminum extrusion so taking three drills. All different angles 110, 125 and 135. The 110 has a lip angle of 14 the 135 has 9. All four facet grind. I m just mickey mouse really in a small town. Nobody is doing it though. Anyways here are some pics.
It just another way for something to be steady. Where I am there is no production whatsoever. Six to Eight week rotation with the knives. I got my foot in the door on more than one occasion with some drills. Do I make much off of them no but it has led to doing actual machine work being in contact with them doing the drills. Doing what I can to,get up and going. Moved out here over twenty years ago as a machinist after a vacation. No one around but me so Trying to figure a way so the sharpening came along as I know it s going to take years and alot of of dollars to be a full rounded machine shop.
The sad part down under is that as the old engineering shop owners retire they can not sell their businesses and end up auctioning off all the plant and equipment, I am going to a such auction on Tuesday. In Australia we are loosing the ability to make anything. I remember my father who owned an injection molding shop said to mum he can buy new pellets from China cheaper than he could re-grind.
I worked in my Dad's job shop for a while until he passed in '92 and he felt the same way. I was 27 and full of energy ( insert young and dumb) and always ready to make a buck. We kept a large inventory of boat trailer parts on hand and I'd repair trailers on the side of the road for $35/hr + material. We once had an older gentleman wanted me to sandblast the burnt food out of his pots and pans (Alzheimer's). Most folks were broke or really cheap but they were always willing to barter. Besides cash I got paid with a shotgun, gallons of moonshine, fish, random tools, vouchers for pizza at the local restaurant... One guy paid me with 50 lbs of shrimp to bore out a heavy u-joint for his net winch, that was a good day!
The most valuable thing I took away from there besides a tremendous amount of experience was learning that Dad was right, never open on Saturday.
I live in a fairly well heeled small town, it is 1/2 Sq. miles in area and full of homes built in the mid 19th century. I went to High School with a guy whose parents owned the local hardware store, he runs it now. When I had my own shop I would often go there for simple items, one day whilst there he trots a homeowner up to me and says this guy can make the 1875 door parts that you are looking for. He has a sample, an elaborate cast iron lever with a square blind recess in one side, a square shaft with threads on the corners of unknown size and a cast bronze face plate that the shaft passes through with all manner of fillets and radii.
I ask, "does it need to be exactly like this?"
"Yes exactly, can't find these anywhere"
I ponder the work involved.
Tell him "$250.00 each"
He says "You are an a**hole, I can buy a entire new door for less at HD" and storms off.
I tell the store owner that he will be back.
Lo an behold a month later he calls and asks if the price is still $250.00, I have been searching for a month and can't find parts that match.
Me "No $400.00"
Him "You said $250.00 at the hardware store"
Me "I did but that was before you called me an a**hole"
I ask, "does it need to be exactly like this?"
"Yes exactly, can't find these anywhere"
I ponder the work involved.
Tell him "$250.00 each"
He says "You are an a**hole, I can buy a entire new door for less at HD" and storms off.
I tell the store owner that he will be back.
Lo an behold a month later he calls and asks if the price is still $250.00, I have been searching for a month and can't find parts that match.
Me "No $400.00"
Him "You said $250.00 at the hardware store"
Me "I did but that was before you called me an a**hole"
- Joined
- Dec 27, 2017
- Messages
- 340
I live next to Wright Patterson AFB. There are likely around 100 machine shops in the area. Because of that, I believe having my mill up and running really does not add much value to the local economy (basically no one cares, they have plenty of help already). Also, the competition would be a lot higher and that means tight margins. I picked a bad town to live in for a machining business
.I do like the idea of producing parts or components that are intended for hobby use and perhaps start on eBay or one of these selling sites that has a lot of traffic. Profits there are not as good because for all the traffic they charge around 13% of the final sale. But, one thing that is good is that it gets the product out there and visible to the general public. I don't think eBay or Amazon is a good place for permanence. They just charge too much to sell on their platforms, but say, a couple years to get public awareness out, I think it's hard to beat. It gives opportunities for the seller to put website business cards in the boxes when shipped to customers and so on with the intention of making a transition to a personal eCommerce site.
See, people don't understand what all it takes to produce something like that. The guy was probably thinking he could get it by paying you 20 bucks or something. It's for situations like that and others that I am not fond of providing a service to individuals. I have heard from folks that deal with individuals (not businesses) that say people are usually cheap. Of course they don't care if the poor guy at the shop works all day and only makes 10 bucks or whatever it is. Just as long as they get a deal and can brag to their friends about it
.When I first got my mill, I was eager to learn how to work it and learn about machining parts. a few months in I decided to help someone I knew that asked if I could help make some parts. I guess he helped run some kind of hydroponics graphics thing and they needed a way to hold pins with a fixture. I thought at first that it would be easy enough and I was offered $50 to pay for the materials and to see I could come up with something. Well, long story short, it took me way longer than I thought and the fixture needed to hold something like 10 pins and could only hold them in the ends and this and that. The first prototype did not work as the water resistance tended to knock the pins off of the fixtures when the operator dunked them in the bath. I found out that they were expecting me to come up with a perfectly engineered solution on the first go and they got annoyed because that did not happen. They result is that they basically did not come back to me and I never heard back. I made nothing off of that and If I recall, it took me something like 17hrs of work to try and get something they could use. Since then I have had a few friends come and ask me if I could make stuff for them. Most of the time I tell them no because they usually are only asking me because they don't want to spend any money at a real shop. I guess I feel like that is not a good reason to ask a friend...
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