421stroker Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 Well, I'm going to buy a mill and a lathe and was wondering what some of you thought I should make. I already have a few ideas such as, flywheel lightening, radiator line coolers, kickstarters(maybe), and stator plate mod. Let me know if anyone has any ideas and if anyone would be interested. I know a few people on here already do this type of work such as boonman and bdbanshee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evil Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 drag grips, foot pegs...hmmm i lost my train of thoughts so with the mill, can you shave heads down for guys ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boonman Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 Are you going CNC or Manual? if it is CNC, you can talk to Dan at Alloy Specialties, Stan from Dune Devil, there is alot of peeps doing things for our bikes. Dave from Noss machine..... Ron from Banshee Worx.... the list goes on and on..... The possibilities are endless. I use all manual machines. We are a job shop. No production work.... Don't need NC machines for what we do. It all depends on what you want to do. But, I am sure that all can attest that it is a tough business to break into. Make sure your pockets are deep untill you get off the ground....... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cotton eyed Joe Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 Make sure your pockets are deep untill you get off the ground....... My dad started the machine shop when I was 4. We do it all, or atleast try to. Fab, production, prototype, maintanence, design, etc. Over the last 2-3 years we've spent something like $25K+ in just maintanence. When I started DDI I kind of figured I wouldn't need to buy that much. WRONG! Even after 26 years, I still didn't have the tooling I needed to work aluminum that way. In this business there is so much involved, its overwhelming. I've been doing this for over 10 years now, and I still have to ask my dad to show me how to do something everynow and again. If your just buying a lathe and mill to tinker with, and you don't have to depend on them to pay your bills, thats cool. Its kind of a better way to do things, than to be sitting there wondering what the hell you're going to eat that week after you've spent $500-$1000 on tooling that can be hidden in your hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
421stroker Posted February 6, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 They are both manual. I am in a vocational machine trades class. I'm always making stuff for my banshee. It's only like 1800 for the mill and 2500 for the lathe. Theyre not that nice but they would do. I'm just trying to figure out if I can make enough money doing small jobs to cove the loan payments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boonman Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 You may, but remember, tooling is retardedly expensive. And with manual machines, it will take you forever to be making production runs of parts like an in line cooler that may take 10-15 minutes to do on an NC machine, will take you an hour or two in a manual machine.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DUNEDEMON Posted February 6, 2004 Report Share Posted February 6, 2004 What if you just started out simple? like mass production of bungs for a-arms where the ball joint threads in? carrier housings for honda style swing arms? relatively simple stuff in chromoly for some one building theese parts or for your own? Just an idea- once the set up is done you can blow through some material if you find a buyer. Delring a-arm bushings, tie rod sleeves, brake line / shock resivoir clamps, custom whip mounts. I'm just thinking out loud - small parts you could make from local suppliers scrap / misc cut stock so you're not buying huge pieces of material thus keeping the initial investment (read overhead) down. Talk to some local shops, see if there is a demand for the stuff and let that be your bread & butter, then get into the more intricate fancy time consuming projects. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
421stroker Posted February 7, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 Thanks a lot those ideas are great. I don't think loan payments on 5 grand would be that much. Boonman-By tooling you mean endmills and carbide inserts or what. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wheatchex Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 421: Buying the machines is only part of the set up and usually the least costly. Tooling is where you are going to need lots of money although you could start out with the bare minimums but you will find that you will need specialized bits, clamps, vises, dividing plates, collets, drills, measuring tools, grinding tools, etc. to become efficient with your time if you are starting up a shop. It's not that you can't do these things, it's just be prepared to be spending a large amount of money. Stan is a great person to ask questions as he's gone through and going through the same things as you. I'd suggest CNC machines if you are going to spend the money. You can do a lot of things with CNC that you can't manually. Wheatchex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holyman Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 If you're still in vocational, the best thing to do is build relationships!!! My welding instructor was the greates guy. As it turns out, any time I need any equipment like welding stuff or anything else for that matter, all I have to do is ask or go by his house. The guy has everything!!! I wanted to buy a hige TIG welder and all that stuff when I was in school but now I'm glad I didn't. 20 years later the used stuff I would have bought would have been 30 years old by now and would be so outdated, it wouldn't be worth anything. Plus I would have spent tons of money storing it and moving it and all that stuff. And that's only a welder. Machine tools require much more upkeep and soooo much more tooling. Even scrap carbide milling bits are worth alot of money. I can't image what they cost new. So a couple cases of beer or a pizza or a box of donuts goes a long way when you want something done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dlnoss Posted February 7, 2004 Report Share Posted February 7, 2004 I would also recommend CNC equipment if it's in your budget. You can spend a ton of money on tooling to get a manual machine to do some of the stuff that a CNC machine will do without that tooling. Tapping heads, rotary tables, boring heads are examples. Not that you don't have to buy tooling for the CNC also. Auctions can be a good place to buy tooling. You can buy some small CNC equipment pretty cheap. Haas has a mini-mill in the 30K-40K range and a CNC toolroom lathe for around 20K without a turret. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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