Home Shop Masochist?

[DICKEYBIRD]

I just finished a paying job for a friend/client and picked up the most recent Village Press magazine to read while having a snack during the shop cleanup.

Funny, I was shaking my head over how much time was spent and how much agony was endured finishing the job as I looked at the cover. I thought "Man, the magazine name ought'a be "Home Shop Masochist" or "Practical Masochist!" ;) As usual, I figured I'd be finished in one weekend of focused work. HAH! I started last Sat. afternoon and just now finished this afternoon. I do have a "real" job that keeps me out of the shop Mon thru Fri but I never figured it'd take this long to finish.

The job was making 12 venturis and spraybar adapters for a model airplane engine that my friend imports & sells. I made a batch 2 yrs. ago, drew them up in CAD and took copious notes so all the finicky setups would be easier the next time I needed them. I still spent a ton of time setting up, verifying everything and sharpening up the form tool needed to make the ID cut. I tell you, it's depressing! I'm done but I prolly made less than minimum wage. I MUST be a masochist.;)

Here's a pic of the finished job.

http://i57.photobucket.com/albums/g227/DBAviation/NRVenturis6-21-09.jpg

[Quetico Bob]

That is art! Surprised it only took a week of evenings. Calculated, I usually make 1-3$ per based on time, but I’m just starting.

Supposed you could have save a huge amount of time with CNC, but that’s what I would call masochist…..let the bricks fly.

Pushing buttons is easy:p , manually, that is some amazing work.

Cheers, Bob

[mochinist]

That is art! Surprised it only took a week of evenings. Calculated, I usually make 1-3$ per based on time, but I’m just starting.

Supposed you could have save a huge amount of time with CNC, but that’s what I would call masochist…..let the bricks fly.

Pushing buttons is easy:p , manually, that is some amazing work.

Cheers, Bobpushing buttons after you have modeled/drawn the part, programmed it, verified the program, uploaded it to the machine, set up your tools and machine xy zero points, nervously run the part the first time, make any adjustments that need to be made to get the part into tolerance, and then you can hit that easy button to hit.:rolleyes:


Anyways nice parts:cool: most people dont understand why stuff like this cost so much when manufactured in a small scale like 12 or so parts.

[Alistair Hosie]

I am sorry you didn't make a decent wage ,but these things always can be done cheaper if not China next door .During this recession things are bad but your workmanship is beautiful.I take my hat off to you I wish I had a tenth of your skills.kindest regards. Alistair

[Boucher]

Very well done. Things allways have a way of taking longer than initally estimated. When it is your real job you ultimately have to get it right. In my previous business we needed to bid a job for an Engineering firm that we were friends with and had done other work for in the past. We didn't want this particular job did the estimate and multiplied it by 3. We got the job and the price worked out about right. The kind of dumb things that added unforseen cost. The engineer surveyed in the well location and staked it. He checked all the legal setbacks etc. and never looked up. It was under a major electrical power line. As a result, we were late starting but completed on schedule. The Engineer was gone on vacation to Mexico. So his final inspection was a couple of weeks late and they tried to enforce the contracts penalty clause as if it were our fault. We decided that the 3X normal estimate was about right when dealing with Engineers.

Doing things for friends took another turn. I decided that if they were a good enough friend. I would do it and gift the item to them. If I did it for pay the potential was ther for dis-satisfaction on both sides.