Snap-on

[Monster]

Need to change the thread title from Snap-On to "Mill Off".

[Monster]

for machinery I'm buying second hand and keeping costs down (I have an eye for a deal and I know what I'm looking at).

What equipment do you already have and what do you want to get before you open (in priority of course) ?

[DanStokes]

Sounds like a plan. The bonus is there is only one person to answer to!

Not so! My Dad was self employed all his life (he was a realtor) and you have to answer to everyone who walks in the door - and you don't know what will satisfy them. From watching Dad I determined to never be in business for myself. That said, many find it extremely rewarding so it's all in what you like.

Be careful in setting your prices! There are folks who will think that if your prices are low then that's what you're worth. I can see knocking prices down a little (say, $100/hr) but make it clear that it's a "Grand Opening Special" or some such - that they're getting a special bargain.

Again, best of luck.

Dan

[Loren]

Is basically what I'm doing now.

My experience: The money is in doing business with larger companies getting them out of binds, and personal connections are everything. For that you can get away with beating competitors on price because you're making money still if you're working steady and efficient.

More of my experience: Walk-in customers will take you down with their tendency for not knowing what they want, low-balling on price and believing they should get an hour of chat time at you for every hour of billable work...they bring you beer money and a social life you'll miss by not having co-workers but you have to call that your break/hobby/personal time, keep a realistic account of it, then get back to real work or you're heading your business for failure. That's a big difference from being the Snap-On man where taking time to yak with people is vital...as a self-employed mechanic or machinist it'll kill you.

[JRoberts]

I don't know down there at the bottom of the world but up here good machine work is hard to come by and expensive if you do find it. Are you thinking of automotive machining or general machine work? Both are in high demand here.

My observations as a user of such services:

1) I'm a bit spoiled as we had an EXCELLENT machinist at the shop at EPA and he had equipment at home where he'd do stuff I needed done. I was able to describe to him what I needed and he'd make it happen, usually better than my concept. Wish I could find a guy like that down here. Sadly, Lennie's dead now.

2) A lot of guys, whether general or automotive machinists, think they're God's gift to the world and act like their - um - stuff - don't stink if you catch my drift. This does not make me want to use their services more than once. If you're going this way remember to be humble and helpful. Add in some time (read $$) for engineering if necessary but keep a friendly attitude toward the public. That little job today may well lead to a BIG job tomorrow as each customer has some influence over others.

3) Buy equipment carefully and wisely. I have a friend in Wisconsin who has an AMAZING automotive machine shop but he's never invested in crank grinding equipment - says it just doesn't work out as a business decision. So you need to make those kind of choices based on the business and not on what you might LIKE to have sitting there. The big word in that sentence is "sitting". Same in general machining - who can afford the floor space for a scraper even though you can pick them up pretty cheaply here in the US?

Whatever you choose, best of luck to you!

Dan

Dan, you are not alone. I guess that is true with a lot of trades now-a-days. A friend of mine and I were talking about this very thing not long ago. If you need good machine work done any more it is hard to find a place, or person, to do it.