Apparently, I cracked a tooth late last week. I finally got in to see the dentist, and he confirmed that the tooth was indeed cracked and set up an appointment with an endodontist for a root canal next Monday.
Yay. 
Apparently, I cracked a tooth late last week. I finally got in to see the dentist, and he confirmed that the tooth was indeed cracked and set up an appointment with an endodontist for a root canal next Monday.
Yay.
In reply to tester (Forum Supporter) :
I think I'm in denial about one of those myself.
Very disappointed to learn that most of the local machine shops have gone out of business.
Those that remain are at least three months behind and raising prices rapidly.
Puts a real kink in my plan to rebuild the Spitfire 1500 engine.
It's not lack of work killing them, much more, ah, cannot state it, undoubtedly be considered too political despite only being an accurate observation.
In reply to RichardSIA :
Don't know about the political aspect, but when I was looking into a career change a few years back, starting pay at machine shops was pretty well matched with fast food, and pay didn't go up very much with experience.
eastsideTim said:In reply to RichardSIA :
Don't know about the political aspect, but when I was looking into a career change a few years back, starting pay at machine shops was pretty well matched with fast food, and pay didn't go up very much with experience.
Yea I thought it would be cool to get into CNC production/machine operating till I found out what the typical pay was.
eastsideTim said:In reply to RichardSIA :
Don't know about the political aspect, but when I was looking into a career change a few years back, starting pay at machine shops was pretty well matched with fast food, and pay didn't go up very much with experience.
They've been becoming rarer and rarer for probably 50 years.
In reply to eastsideTim :
Frankly, it's been an issue for some time... Not really political, just what's been happening to the workforce. There has been a shortage of skilled trades workers in this country for quite some time now and machine shops need qualified machinists. I live in the largest city in my area of the state and i have to travel 30+ miles out of town to get machine work done. All the local shops have closed.
By the time I started looking into it as a career, enough places had closed that this was not as much of a concern, but it also seemed like machinists were at the mercy of local economies, and in addition to crappy wages, may have to pick up and move to somewhere else multiple times in order to keep their low paying jobs. I suspect decreased demand made them more "disposable", but now that supply has dropped to match (or be lower than) demand, wages and benefits should be going up to match, and that doesn't seem to have happened yet. I also wonder how many "machining-adjacent" fields have just gone in house with their work.
On a more personal note, I have access to a Bridgeport (non-CNC) for the cost of transporting it, but have no space myself, and can't make the economics of renting/buying space for it work out.
In reply to eastsideTim :
Okay, so what are we talking about in terms of square footage?
Only racers/hot rodders rebuild engines these days.
Most folks just junk/trade the car, or have a junkyard engine installed. Nowhere near the demand for a good machine shop as there was 30 years ago. Which means the good ones now are few and far between, and almost always backed up on work.
These guys crack me up:
Right off the joke, "Being in a band is... I always equate it to being in a marriage, but without the sex, so it's just like a marriage."
HAHA, ahha, ha... ha.. :(
RichardSIA said:Very disappointed to learn that most of the local machine shops have gone out of business.
Those that remain are at least three months behind and raising prices rapidly.
Puts a real kink in my plan to rebuild the Spitfire 1500 engine.It's not lack of work killing them, much more, ah, cannot state it, undoubtedly be considered too political despite only being an accurate observation.
Almost all of the machine shops in my area, including the one I used to work for, have closed.
It's too much hassle trying to deal with people who want to try to haggle you down from a $30/hour effective labor rate. And most good machinists are either too old to work anymore, or know what they are worth.
wae said:In reply to eastsideTim :
Okay, so what are we talking about in terms of square footage?
For all four of those machines, plus working space, probably at least 200 square feet, if I store raw materials offsite. Problem is, without something that can be highly productive (CNC) while I am doing something else, any additional cost doesn't make sense, because I can't work fast enough to defray the cost, and make stuff for my own use. If I already had the space anyway (and 220V 3 phase power), it might be different.
Rodan said:Only racers/hot rodders rebuild engines these days.
Most folks just junk/trade the car, or have a junkyard engine installed. Nowhere near the demand for a good machine shop as there was 30 years ago. Which means the good ones now are few and far between, and almost always backed up on work.
Engines don't wear as fast as they used to. Fuel injection and better lubrication technology saw to that. Seems like there are multiple videos out there of people cracking open a 200K LS, pulling it apart and seeing good crosshatching, re-gapping the rings, tossing the engine back together(sometimes reusing old bearings), and putting ungodly amounts of boost to them.
mtn said:They've been becoming rarer and rarer for probably 50 years.
Yeah, it's funny how a trend that's been going on for as long as most of us have been alive is suddenly the fault of whoever is in power at the moment or the culture of the times when it inconveniences someone.
In reply to eastsideTim :
Ah, so roughly the same floor space that a Mercedes SUV might occupy. Of course.
Local machine shops did a lot more than just Ford and Chevy.
Farm country, so lots of tractor work and you do not just pop down to Summit or Pick-N-Pull for those. Near Lake Tahoe, so lots of marine engine work as so many do not drain the block completely before winter. Frost cracks are common so the good internals need to go into new blocks. Good machine shops do a lot more than just engines too.
I've offered to work for free a few days a week just to be able to get my own engines done.
No dice, owner of the machines cannot hire enough mechanics for the service work and is too busy turning wrenches to set up a new guy on the engine machining tools.
Tried to see about buying the tooling from one of the shops I used to have work done at.
Not for sale, the owner is slowly dying of Diabetes and his son does not want to continue.
So I expect the machines will be for sale in a couple of years. Maybe I will be able to buy some of them.
Does not help me now, and even if I did buy them I would have a learning curve.
There is another full shop about two miles away that closed, owner has dementia, seems no young folk are interested to take over.
This is not good, general/automotive machine shops are more important to a robust economy and getting things done than most folk realize.
dculberson said:mtn said:They've been becoming rarer and rarer for probably 50 years.
Yeah, it's funny how a trend that's been going on for as long as most of us have been alive is suddenly the fault of whoever is in power at the moment or the culture of the times when it inconveniences someone.
Four shops close in less than a year in a rapidly growing area and it's a long term trend?
Really?
Must be a location thing. We are eaten up with machine shops.
RichardSIA said:dculberson said:mtn said:They've been becoming rarer and rarer for probably 50 years.
Yeah, it's funny how a trend that's been going on for as long as most of us have been alive is suddenly the fault of whoever is in power at the moment or the culture of the times when it inconveniences someone.
Four shops close in less than a year in a rapidly growing area and it's a long term trend?
Really?
Yeah. The rapidly growing part is probably the reason why, unless it is rapidly growing with people who race exclusively old engines. If the area is rapidly growing, that would imply that there are jobs there... I'm going to guess that those jobs are not for machinists, unless they're in-house machinists that doesn't have retail operations.
Seriously, who uses a machine shop anymore? It is basically hobbyists, and that isn't enough to support them, or companies that have brought it in-house. It is like a blacksmith in the 1950s or 60s.
Sure, there may have been some things that have happened in the last 18 months that were the proverbial nail in the coffin, but to blame it entirely would be extremely near sighted.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:Must be a location thing. We are eaten up with machine shops.
Looks like it is a location thing, and Richard's small town just doesn't have it. If he drives to Reno or Carson City, he'd be in decent shape.
As originally stated, there is NO lack of work for auto machine shops in this area.
Those that remain have all the work they can handle and then some.
Demand is GROWING, not shrinking, labor is their issue.
Discussing the why of "Labor" and fixing that is where it gets "Political".
If I book an engine NOW I may get it back by the end of this year.
Certainly not just hobbyist, lots of maintenance task for business, farm equipment as already mentioned, heavy equipment of many varieties.
When I had my tools up and running I even had a fancy Coffee House bring me brewing tools to modify for the latest fad in weaker coffee.
I have a vertical mill and 13" lathe but they are not suitable for refreshing engine blocks.
In reply to RichardSIA :
They are suffering from the same problem that all trades are. The school system spent 40 years telling kids that the only answer was to go to college. They believed them.
Another issue is, many of the trade schools aren't training machinists, they are training CNC operators. That's what local industry needs so that's what they sponsor at the schools.
Toyman01 + Sized and said:In reply to RichardSIA :
They are suffering from the same problem that all trades are. The school system spent 40 years telling kids that the only answer was to go to college. They believed them.
Another issue is, many of the trade schools aren't training machinists, they are training CNC operators. That's what local industry needs so that's what they sponsor at the schools.
I'll just leave this here. This is not political.
https://www.mikeroweworks.org/
I had a conversation with my VP about kids and education expenses. My plan is to divy up whatever I have four ways. If you're going to get your medical degree(s), well that dollar amount is what you get. You're going to be a plumber, well enjoy the big check. My only reservation is if we have a discipline issue.
My VP literally said "No way, I told my daughter if she didn't go to school I get a Corvette"
Our 19th anniversary should have been yesterday. I miss my life and the person I was 16 months ago. They were a lot better than the pile of crap I am now.
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