Well after sitting idle for four years (billet parts)

RiverDave

RiverDave

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So I grew up machining when I was a kid.. later I went off to be an injection mold maker and after a few years got into sales of rapid prototyping (SLA etc).. Anyhow I have had these machines my entire life and will be teaching my kids how to machine etc..

It wasn’t a big deal because I kept them in my garage and had a phase converter etc.. well four or so years ago I got a shop in Havasu and moved all my machines there to free up my garage space, and then I purchased a surface grinder just because I always wanted one.. A friend of mine had a running machine shop and he passed away.. :(. His favorite machine he did all his prototyping on was this Haas VF 2 that’s loaded.. 12,000 rpm through spindle coolant, probe you name it it’s got it. So when he passed I bought it because I didn’t want to see it go down the road. . this would pretty much complete my little hobby shop.

And so it sat for four years and I never even so much as turned the surface grinder or the CNC on..

Well my lease just renewed and the rent went up so now I gotta put these things to work to justify the extra expense.

I prefer smaller custom the more complicated the better style jobs but am pretty much open to anything..

What would you make? We can make just about anything and if it pencils I’m not scared of buying a machine for a job.

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Not that it matters but my shop compressor took a shit the other day and I was just getting ready to buy another one when my wife suggested I go on marketplace to find a used one to save some money..

Well it had the opposite effect because a guy had this Quincy screw for sale right here in Havasu..lol. She shoulda just let me goto the hardware store. I always wanted a nice screw now I got one. 🤪

Probably a little overkill for what we are doing but now we got room to grow.

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And here I was, proud of my “hobby shop” for having welders, a bender, band saw, drill press, shop press, etc… :ROFLMAO:

Bunch of older buggy beadlocks out there needing some love with fancy new rings… Maybe there’s interest there?
 
This whole process of getting this place into fight shape has been one step forward two steps back for the last month.. blew a belt n the old compressor, ordered all new belts.. blew an airline in the shop (pvc), replaced the airlines.. compressor was still running on one belt and before the new belts even arrived, compressor cracked the head (now it’s junk), bought a compressor.. and on and on and on but we are finally up and running 100%.. got Eddie down here whom is a master on CNC etc..

Currently making a bunch of soft jaws for some parts that Eddie wants to make.. super high end stainless steel belt buckles with custom hand stitched leather etc.. gonna be a 400-500 belt when he’s done I’d bet..

I have a couple of projects lined up for some boat parts that I will take us all on the journey of designing and making.

My inserts for this Mitsubishi cutter came in today! Pretty stoked on that.

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Rockwood said:
And here I was, proud of my “hobby shop” for having welders, a bender, band saw, drill press, shop press, etc… :ROFLMAO:

Bunch of older buggy beadlocks out there needing some love with fancy new rings… Maybe there’s interest there?
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That would be a little large for the envelope of a vf2 but I’m not opposed to looking at it because there’s ways I can do it, as well I got some friends with larger machines right around the corner.
 
RiverDave said:
That would be a little large for the envelope of a vf2 but I’m not opposed to looking at it because there’s ways I can do it, as well I got some friends with larger machines right around the corner.
Click to expand...
New software these days would make it easy to start with a basic pattern design per segment, then measure a wheel’s beadlock ring bolt pattern and rescale it to fit between the bolt holes.

VF2 is 16” Y axis? Probably shaving it suuuper close.
 
RiverDave said:
So I grew up machining when I was a kid.. later I went off to be an injection mold maker and after a few years got into sales of rapid prototyping (SLA etc).. Anyhow I have had these machines my entire life and will be teaching my kids how to machine etc..

It wasn’t a big deal because I kept them in my garage and had a phase converter etc.. well four or so years ago I got a shop in Havasu and moved all my machines there to free up my garage space, and then I purchased a surface grinder just because I always wanted one.. A friend of mine had a running machine shop and he passed away.. :(. His favorite machine he did all his prototyping on was this Haas VF 2 that’s loaded.. 12,000 rpm through spindle coolant, probe you name it it’s got it. So when he passed I bought it because I didn’t want to see it go down the road. . this would pretty much complete my little hobby shop.

And so it sat for four years and I never even so much as turned the surface grinder or the CNC on..

Well my lease just renewed and the rent went up so now I gotta put these things to work to justify the extra expense.

I prefer smaller custom the more complicated the better style jobs but am pretty much open to anything..

What would you make? We can make just about anything and if it pencils I’m not scared of buying a machine for a job.

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Start a GD.COM product line, job shop market is tough right now.
 
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