Tom Heath wrote:It seems like the design is where the money is.
I do CAD work.
1
2
-
Feb. 14, 2011 3:59 p.m. SVreX SuperDork
-
Feb. 14, 2011 4:03 p.m. 93EXCivic SuperDork
Depending on what you are machining, tooling cost could add up quickly. Just a bit of random advice don't get Craftsmen taps. They are about the most useless things ever.
-
Feb. 14, 2011 5:25 p.m. SVreX SuperDork
Thank you. I'm familiar with tooling costs.
Craftsman taps.
-
Feb. 15, 2011 11:28 a.m. motomoron HalfDork
I've got a machine/fab shop for my own use and most of it was paid for by a a relatively simple very small niche service:
I hotrodded skateboard trucks for slalom and downhill racers - precision 8mm axles, longer, stronger kingpins, spherical pivots, widening, narrowing, dual-wheel conversions, restoration of vintage trucks, one-off stuff.
Eventually it became just a huge pain in the ass. As my actual day job career progressed I started doing less and less side work.
It's important to draw a distinction between being a machinist and a repair shop - machinists don't do anything that's not called out on a drawing. It's a totally binary process of making what's on the print, to the defined tolerances.
They don't do the stuff where a guy comes in holding a bunch of greasy car parts and says: "I'm a-trying to put this-a-hear blower on this-a-hear Oldsmobile motor - ah needs y'all to put a few holes here and make me up a bracket to hold this...umm...(gestures)...up about right here" "I brought some pieces of metal you can use too"
When you explain that there's 3 hours of design work, 45 minutes of setup for each of 6 parts, and 5-1/2 hours of machining time and that the job is going to be $900, they crap ~your~ pants, curse and leave.
I have manual machines w/ DROs, MIG, TIG, gas and plasma, press, bender, shear, brake, and all the ancilleries. I have space, plenty of dry compressed air, a blast cab and parts washer, hoists, lifting tackle and rigging gear. I can make stuff and paint.
Subsequently I'm deluged with friendly requests to engineer, machine, fabricate, weld and paint stuff in exchange for "dinner" all the time. I either do huge jobs for free for friends 'cause they're friends - or just say no.
