help all of us new to site but was wondering

[artrans]

Hello all my name is art I am a small business man for 17 years in automotive transmissions. But it is clear that of late business is bad and I was thinking with all the talent I see here and I am sure many of you are having issues as well. Any ideas about what to do to make it though this troubled period. So I though if we had an engine build problem we can among all of us work it out well lets make believe we have an engine problem and get some ideas out there that may help some one. I am sorry if I am over stepping in any way ???

 

[Cedge]

Art
I can sympathize with you. It's going to stress all of us before we come through on the other side. I don't see anything in your idea that oversteps, but I'm also not sure what you envision. You might have to get the ball rolling until we get the idea.

Steve

 

[rake60]

Art I don't see anything wrong with your question.

If you have the machine tools to do model engineering, an alternative income is at your
finger tips. It is the reason machinists have the most secure jobs.

When economy is at it's peak the world at large wants to upgrade to the newer, faster, stronger
equipment. That requires new parts to be manufactured by machinists.
When the economy is poor, the machines in current use require replacement parts for break downs
and regular maintenance. Those parts are made my the same machinists.

On a home hobby scale the rules do not change.
For an example, I made a fan shaft for a small greenhouse last spring.
The material cost me 59 cents and actual machine time was 23 minutes.
My invoice was for $45 and the greenhouse owner was very pleased!

Now I wouldn't go off making making blade adapters for lawnmowers, where liability issues may
come into play, but it's not too hard to turn a few simple machining skills into a viable option
for income in hard times. Just use

 

[wareagle]

Here's my thougts on the economy... People are hurting everywhere. This means that the luxuries will be going away. New cars every two years, year, or whatever will be one of those luxuries (just look at GM). In your line of work, you are poised to see a potential increase in business because people won't be able to make that new car payment and will be forced to fix what they have. A good friend of mine runs an auto repair shop in our little town, and his business has picked up in the past couple of months.

There are other factors there as well. Reputation is a big one, and affordability is another. If you have a bad rep, then you are hosed. If you charge too much, then you are hosed. And if you have a bad location, in other words if you are in the middle of nowhere or your customers face a high likelyhood of being robbed, then things will be tougher.

This a brief take, and there are certainly many other things at play. You may have to supplement the income, but I think if you can stick it out that you may see brighter days ahead. I certainly wish you all the best!!!

 

[jack404]

I have to agree with the folks above..

i went to the range today and picked up two small jobs for people

instead of buying new they are looking to repair

the drop in the dollar here and the increase of price for anything imported or overseas owned ( nearly everything)

means people will be watching the pennies a lot more

i am awful glad i got my machines when i did as they have all gone up by about 25%

tooling i'm still getting ( mainly tool holders) but making a lot myself

i doubt i'll be making money from my engine attempts but small parts for the chinese machines is looking real good

best of luck to us all!!

cheers

jack