Hey guys

I need a bit of advice. And seeing all the knowledge floating around this form I'm sure many of you can help.

I have a real good paying day job but my passion / hobby is in metalworking. I have a small shop setup in the Tulsa area with a 4 axis bed mill and a 14 X 40 manual lathe. I have developed a fair amount of talent in programming and operating my cnc mill along with the lathe I own. I would like some input on ways to make money on my investment. Surely there are people / companies in the area that could benefit from my equipment and services on a part time bases.

Any input is welcome and appreciated

Thanks
Brian

Most large companies wouldn't touch you, the reason being that you are viewed as a maybe 'parttimer'.....not something that large companies want to give as a reason for work not being delivered on time.

So, your best bet is to find a small startup that needs your skill set, but can't afford a full-time employee.

The other market is helping the DIY....which requires alot of handholding and explaining.....

Good luck...let us know what you decide to do.

Another option is to find a nitch product to make. it just can't be parts for corvettes... www.vetteorama.com but something similar mustangs, harley's whatever. look around on the forums for stuff that you are into, lurk around and see what the people want that nobody is making and make a couple and sell them for a fair price, that covers materials and some of your time. on a lot of my parts i don't make to much on my time, but my materials are covered and i don't sell tons of parts so it doesn't require too much of my time. But the money i make is a lot more than if i was just making parts every once and again for the shop down the street that needs a widgit made once every three months.

Good one Austin...you must be in MN.......I didn't mention the niche market for a reason...personal reason.....it's something I'm looking at......

My old man told me once, and over the years I have found it to be true.

“If you get a piece of metal and turn it in to a Can Opener you can sell it for 10p. If you get the same piece of metal and shape it in to something “arty” you can charge a lot more for it. It is the same piece of metal, and the same amount of work, just more profit…”

Jason

With the mill and lathe you could open your door to just about anything from a farmers hitch pin to an aerospace widget.

From Oologah.

Did someone say Widgit? :)

As I'm a retired machinist, with a nice machine shop in my garage, I have more work than I have time! I agree with the nitch-market, and all you need to do is be creative!

Go into your shop, start building little mini things out of aluminum or stainless, and sell them on eBay, you will be amazed how fast they sell!

If you have CNC production machines, you're way ahead of the game, and can really make some honest cash!

For instance, if you were to take a brass plate 1/4" thick by 4" square, and write a G-code to mill out a Maltese-Cross with Hook & Ladder like the firemen use, it would sell like wildfire! The sams size plack can be made for a number of religous artifacts!

The sky is the limit!
Remember, it's like the lottery - If you don't play, someone else wins!
So get off your butt and be creative!

WidgitMaster

Did someone say Widgit? :)
WidgitMaster

Eric, do you have your threads setup so that it alerts you instantly whenever someone types 'Widgit'? :D....widgit widgit widgit sidgit widgit.....!!!!!! :p

LOL!
No, I just found it during a scan of new posts! :)

WidgitMaster

i've never tried to sell my stuff on ebay, i always worry that it won't do as well as i would like. of course most of my parts are of the custom order variety. this spring i will be making a run of stock parts that i will probably post a few on there though. its an item for the corvettes that has been requested several times and i am pretty sure it will do alright there. hope so anyways, because i will have to buy more tools to produce it. i am hoping to sell enough that i can buy one of those fancy mini routers from eric.

Go buy a few CNC machines and finance them, you'll learn real quick how to make money! When your back is against the wall on those payments you'll figure a way make 'em.

i've never tried to sell my stuff on ebay, i always worry that it won't do as well as i would like.

Hey, what are you afraid of selling on e-bay for. Make 5 parts and stick them up there. If they dont sell you wont have lost much and you'll have gained experience. Its not like you milling something to sell on e-bay out of gold and re-mortgaging the house to finance it :eek:. Make one part and stick it up, when it sells use the money to make two parts and stick them up, when they sell make 4 parts and stick them up......etc etc. If its just embarrasment (Are you making adult toys?...only kidding :p ), your not using your real name as your seller id on e-bay anyway, so just dont tell anyone your trying it (Except us here ;) ), and if it doesn't sell you never have to tell anyone. But dont give up if it doesn't, make something else and try again, and again, and again, and again, and.........Good luck whatever you do m8. :)

I agree the only hard bit is trying to workout what to make, the ‘how to’ can be all sorted out one at a time, has you go. The advice people like WidgitMaster give is priceless and for free. With people like that trying to help how can you go wrong…

Jason

Thanks for the thoughts guys.


After the holidays I will check back in but for now:
HAVE A GOOD NEW YEAR!!

Brian

It also helps to be extra sexy, like this guy. hehe. Hats off to you WidgitMaster! You are an inspiration to us all.:)

i love to see such remarkable men

.... Hats off to you WidgitMaster! ... :)
Kinda looks like he "sold the shirt off of his back" to get into the cnc machining business.
We better start buying what he produces so he can buy it back! :)

Seriously, "find a need and fill it" or "build a better mousetrap".
His indicator holder is handier than than a "sleeve on a shirt"!
Of course, he might not care about that shirt stuff.

So much for "retirement" :)
Good luck, Pres

Brian,
My advice is to find some local machine shops that farm work out. Take some pictures of your setup and maybe some sample parts you've made. Show some enthusiasm and interest in your work. I've had people with home shops come to me with nothing more than "hey dude, heres my number. Send me some work". Yeah, right. Remeber, you're selling confidence. If I'm not confident in your ability to deliver on spec and on time I'm not going to risk it.
When you get a job, don't be afraid to ask for COD otherwise you could be waiting months to get paid. Act like you mean business. Get your state and federal tax permits and pay your tax when due. You don't want the IRS breathing down your neck.
Good luck!
Ken

Hey, what are you afraid of selling on e-bay for. Make 5 parts and stick them up there. If they dont sell you wont have lost much and you'll have gained experience. Its not like you milling something to sell on e-bay out of gold and re-mortgaging the house to finance it :eek:. Make one part and stick it up, when it sells use the money to make two parts and stick them up, when they sell make 4 parts and stick them up......etc etc. If its just embarrasment (Are you making adult toys?...only kidding :p ), your not using your real name as your seller id on e-bay anyway, so just dont tell anyone your trying it (Except us here ;) ), and if it doesn't sell you never have to tell anyone. But dont give up if it doesn't, make something else and try again, and again, and again, and again, and.........Good luck whatever you do m8. :)

Despite the user/vendor agreement they all (many IMHO) shill their own auctions to ensure a minimum "sold price". No risk to your reputation or market, only the fee cost...

Despite the user/vendor agreement they all (many IMHO) shill their own auctions to ensure a minimum "sold price". No risk to your reputation or market, only the fee cost...

Im not sure what your point is?

Not being rude, Im just not understanding what your trying to say. That you shouldn't' sell on e-bay because you will have to push up your own prices?

I thought on ebay you could put a reserve on your item? Also, I usually just 'Buy it Now' from a sellers shop instead of bidding, and it seems there are a lot of sellers now who dont put items up for bid, they just straight sell....

How is the fee worked out on e-bay, is it like PayPal...a % of each sale?

Were you saying its good or bad to sell on ebay?

i am not afraid to sell on ebay, i just think that since most of my parts are custom made, i really would stand to gain much by doing anything there untill i have an item for sale that is going to be a winner. the corvette comunity is pretty tight nit, and i am already a supporting vender on the forum. so being able to post my items there for sale has been working just fine. although it is smaller scale than i would like. the new item that i will be comming out with soon should really do well. at least on the forum it will do well... i may need to keep searching for that elusive item that i can make in my shop, sell for 5000% profit and get more orders than i can handle before i put anything on ebay, but we'll see.

I think you under estimate the eBay buyer!
I have been making and selling on eBay for over a year now, and I have even sold my scrapped parts and setup pieces! All you have to do is take a good picture of the flaw, and write a good explination for the flaw! People don't mind things that are flawed or damaged as long as there is no deception and they know about it up front!

I have successfully found a set of profitable and easy to manufacture items, simply by trying them on eBay! My biggest problem is meeting the demand, as I don't have any CNC machines! The profit from the Items I have sold on eBay has all gone into buying accessories for my shop, which is now very well equipt for a home based Machine Shop! Shoot for progress, NOT perfection, or you will never get off the ground!

Eric

Great ideas guys. I would say if you can make some money reinvest that money into bigger and better machines. A lot of times you can pick up machines where freight would be your biggest cost. Also guys I had a stupid question. I cant find where to post a new thread. I have questions about my new cnc machine I just bought.

Another approach is to take the small jobs that bigger places don't want. I have a few jobs that I make over $100/hour on because I can do them quickly and efficiently where a larger shop would struggle to make $40/hr. The job is typically $1000 (or less) but I can usually run it in one day. Larger shops are not interested because it there isn't enough money so they either pass or bid too high to get the job.

For example, I have a local company that buys a retail part and needs one single hole drilled into it to adapt it to their products. The cycle time on my mill lets me run ~100 parts per hour and the entire job is done in an afternoon. My wife helps me by picking up the parts from the customer, then unpacking the parts, and delivering them back to the customer. To run ~400 parts for ~$1000, she has about 4 hours of driving and we both spend about 5 hours standing at the machine. We also have a fast turnaround time of a few days.

Large companies do not bother to compete with my flexibility on small jobs like this. They would pay a delivery guy/gofer, pay for the company vehicle, pay another guy who might setup the machine, some operator to run it, the inspection guy to check the parts and generate the report, someone in accounting to do the paperwork and invoicing, etc. And they would quote the job with a several week lead time because they would wait for other higher paying jobs to be completed before starting on this little one.

There's lots of silly buzzwords for this like "focus on your core competencies". Don't try to compete toe-to-toe with a big shop on their terms. I can adapt almost instantly, run parts over the weekend or during the evening after my dayjob, and give a customer what they ask for within days instead of weeks.

Also guys I had a stupid question. I cant find where to post a new thread. I have questions about my new cnc machine I just bought.

The only stupid question is the one that wasn't asked.

Top of screen in blue bar, click 'Forums'

Scroll down to find the area that your question is appropriate to and click to go into it.

Slightly below top blue bar on top left of screen is a blue button marked 'New Thread'.

Click it and write in your post. The title of your post will be the title of your new thread....so pick it carefully! ;)