new business

[motorcyclemac]

Hey All...

I can't remember if I told ya'll or not but I will now. I am taking my hobby to business status. I had assaulted many of you for info on mills and to get CNC or not. Well I did buy a mill ...a Bridgeport Series 1 2horse Vari-speed. It has DRO and servos. Nice machine. The trip home in the U-haul was uneventful ....my brother and I make great riggers...or spiders..not sure which... We had so damn many ratchet straps it couldn't have moved an inch. And....to whom ever it was that suggested that I connect the mill to the rear bumper ...good call.

Anyway... I have been bustin my hump getting my shop set up. I have been rewiring the whole shop to make room for more amp draw and to accept my new rotary converter. I just dropped a painful amount of cash on a 7.5 horse phase converter.. I am looking at installing a new three phase motor on my lathe. The increased capacity of the rotary will allow me to run all my machinery on one converter. nice.

I have a new air line system in the works.. New water separators and all new 3/4 inch copper lines. I am putting in a lot of quick connects and short whip hoses every where. I hate hoses crawling about on the floor.

Next is assembling my new Plasma Cam machine. I had to have one of these. I end up doing so much fabrication that it will pay for itself in no time. Making tail light brackets and gussets ...and various brackets is just the job for this machine. I am excited.

I took a home equity loan to start my business. My wife is just grinning. I made a list of all the stuff I had to get up to speed with regard to power ..air...machines...tooling... Long story short...she is getting a boot outta writing checks. She is amazed how it is that when I have the cash I can get a LOT done in a short order. Now...I just have to get it all done asap in that I have several jobs pending. A few of which will damn near pay back the bank.

This working for myself thing is not new. Having the cash available to do EVERYTHING as it should be and perfect the first time...is. I have made do with improvising and shoestring budgets for ever. This spending money thing is a hoot. Now...nearly time to start paying it back.

I will shoot some pics of my shop when I get all the details done. It is coming together very nice. I haven't worked in such a well stuffed shop since my old tool and die shop days. I have a buddy wrapping up the details on my web site. I'll keep ya posted.

Mac.

[rbregn]

Congrats!:cool: When I get back to the states I plan on doing the samething after I decompress!

[IOWOLF]

Good luck,where are you located?

[Dawai]

I'm squirting primer today for rigid sheetmetal.

Have you noticed the price of motorcycles dropping? Probably cause Jessie James is not on tele anymore?

I keep waiting on the fad to fail and all the doctors and lawyers to sell thier bikes for .01 on the dollar like they did their SUVs and gas guzzlers in the 70s. Most the younger generation don't remember that I guess cause they all bought big SUVs for the family nowdays. History can be a cruel reminder to read. Of course deciding on whether to buy your kid milk or gas money to get to work is a very good teacher too.

Have you signed up for vendors licenses from the mains suppliers yet?

[Ken_Shea]

Good for you Mac,
Yes, I agree, when time and money come together at the same time you can get a great deal accomplished, in your case this was by design but still true.

Keep at it!

Ken

[Dawai]

Ohh how I long for a climate controlled paint booth.
Wearing medical Scrubs to keep the fuzz down. I am soaking wet. My primer is on the metal thou and right.

Good luck on your motorcycle shop. Post pictures.

Where are you?

[Ken_Shea]

Buck up David, next you will be wanting a face mask with fresh air :D

[motorcyclemac]

Good luck,where are you located?


In Western Washington near a little burg called Ferndale. I think every state has a 'ferndale'. I will be shooting some pics on the finished product. I spent all of today diggin a ditch across my driveway. Every part of my body feels beat. IT was only 50 feet ...but it was all gravel on top...and pit run on the bottom...it was WELL packed. Sheesh. Not fun. Let the blisters begin. That was for my telephone line and Cat5e line for computer to my shop. I used to be on dialup but I had to take the dump for high speed connection. My house is a thousand feet from the county road so that really limited me on who could provide my internet. I landed on using Hughes satellite. So far I love it. It is expensive per month but it is my connection and I don't have to share it with my neighbors. Most of the time I have a good solid 1.5M with no speed change. I have 4 computers on my little network and it provides good speed to all of them.

David..I have noticed the motorcycle price issue. This chopper thing has to die soon...OCC pumping out 100K bikes and all the other folks selling 30K-50K stuff to non riders. I have been on two wheels for over 20 yrs and never had the urge to own a chopper. I have had HD's and I like em fine. But the front wheel need not be in another zip code. I am a sport touring bike guy. I like the functionality of the ST bikes. Good bags...wonderful winter protection and plenty of ability to handle. I ride for about 10 months of the year depending on severity of the winter. I have to have a real bike with a real functional faring. I am ok with HD Electraglides and that will prolly be my next bike. My current bike is a Kawasaki Concours. IT is nearly 20 yrs old and still serves me well. Perhaps after my shop business gets well under steam then I will look at a bike...till then this one is paid for.

I am going to give this shop my all. I have to be successful. I have too much on the line to fail. Not to mention my current employer and my job HAVE to go.

Watch this space for pics.
Thanks for the encouragement
Mac.

[Davek0974]

Wow!, that original post certainly had a buzz of optimism about it :-)

It makes a nice change to hear of someone going for it big time and having the work waiting to be done is a massive boost.

It sounds like you have it sorted.

I wish you good luck in the future Mac.

[Your Old Dog]

Go for it Mac! Everybody should try it once. Just remember that most of those who succeed do so with "passion" more than any other asset such as high powered engineering degrees or business acumen. The land is full of financially poor but well educated people. Passion will get you where you want to go.

Please keep us posted, as someone else here said, it's a hoot for some of us to see someone go for the roses. Just try not to trip over the nay-sayers :D