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  1. J

    Part coming out eliptical

    depending on how much stock you are removing you could be reliving stress I would send them out to be stress relived you would be surprised how little it takes to distort parts like that I have many jobs that go for stress relief before we even touch them
  2. J

    Reamer Suggestions

    I would bore the holes given the close tolerance required a carbide boring bar is cheaper than a custom reamer and you can adjust for size, reamers can be iffy and they will follow what ever hole you drill so the +/-.0005 spacing could be a problem
  3. J

    Fighting back against big company requirements

    I have to fill out stuff like that once a year for some customers, I do it only because I get enough work from them to be worth my time, as far as the manuals I got copies from other customers made a few edits and done so not a big deal. I did have a customer that wanted me to carry special...
  4. J

    How does your 2024 look?

    I have been doing this for 39 years and if there is a way to predict the future I have not found it. To be honest I would not consider a move like that until after the election, this country is a mess right now. In all the years I have had my shop I have not seen a worse year , things we should...
  5. J

    equipment age vs productivity and repairs?

    I have 3 ma I have 3 4 axis Fadal machines we run every day, one is as old as 1998 and cranks out good parts all day long. I do not do any high volume production or complex molds so tool change time or high rapid movement and feed rates mean little to me. It depends a lot on the kind of work...
  6. J

    Customer changing delivery date on existing PO

    One thing I learned over they years is do not let a customer walk all over you and if they do you need to drop them. A good customer should be more than willing to work with you if you are a valued vendor. I have had this same thing happen to me, never for so long but anyway I explained it to...
  7. J

    Coolant mix guide: brands and practices (asking if it exists, not offering advice)

    I have tried dozens and dozens over the last 38 years, yes many will give you free samples to test with. I have had people in here raving too then they tell me oh you also have to add this chemical and that chemical. Nope I should not have to add anything at all, I use 4776 ND from CLC...
  8. J

    Any suggestions on cutting small and thin parts from 304

    My question would be if you are making a knife you actually want to cut something with why 303 or 304 stainless those are not great choices for knife material at all they will not hold an edge.
  9. J

    Training in the workplace

    In my experience bring in some one with a bit of mechanical aptitude even if it is working on cars and training them from the ground up has worked the best. I have brought people in from the local trade schools and seems like they were trained in 30 year old tech like laying out holes with and...
  10. J

    Aqueous Parts Washer Detergent - Aluminum Safe

    I use laundry detergent in my tumbler , in fact the cheapest stuff I can find it does a great job. I tried Dawn but it foams way too much and that dampens the action of the media. I get no residue but I do wash the Aluminum parts in Dawn and hot water anyway I had a customer even ask me what I...
  11. J

    Crap work from a "high end" Chinese prototype shop

    No surprise there , I lost a ton of work to china but it did not last long, the customer came back to me after getting not only garbage but the company in china actually changed materials without telling the customer. The customer noticed a huge reduction in tooling life on the parts so had the...
  12. J

    Tips for saving money on tooling for small jobshop?

    If you are using the tooling for manual machining it can save money, well it used to but forget about it for and CNC work. The cost of things like endmills have come way down in the last 10 years it is simply not worth it, if you do not find a shop that can put perfect finishes on the cutting...
  13. J

    Should a machinist do quoting for the owner of company?

    Umm I am not sure where you came up with those numbers I bet not a single person in here that has started a shop spent anywhere near that amount to get started.
  14. J

    Help With New Customer

    You need to keep in mind a lot of these people you are dealing with may be fresh out of school and not have much real world experience. I have had to deal with this with engineers for many years, the ones that are willing to listen are well worth a bit extra time on your part you can build a...
  15. J

    New Shop Advertising, what did you do?

    I can tell you what I did many years ago, before the internet mind you. I looked in the phone book or the old Thomas register and found companies in the area I thought might be large enough to be sending work out. I contacted those companies asked for the engineering department or the tool room...
  16. J

    Small Shop Contract Advice

    35 bucks an hour they are either lying about the price or getting them made in china period and walk away from ANYONE asking for more than 30 days payment. I tossed every single customer out that tried to do that and it was the best move I ever made. If you are in this to make money then screw...
  17. J

    Partial Shipments

    I used to do that now and then but stopped I also did it with new customers to get a foot in the door. I found that it was just not a great idea, better to charge what you need to charge, your goal is to make money not to make a purchasing agent look good. If I am asked to do a rush job or a...
  18. J

    RFQ - What am I doing wrong?

    I would not touch that part as designed and if I had to guess you will not even find anyone to quote it as designed. First question is these are set screw dimples and you have a +/-.0004 tolerance not to mention the radial tolerance, seems a bit extreme, If you designed this I think you need to...
  19. J

    Customer requesting discounts / price matching

    In my experience don't do it, this guy is price hunting, there is zero loyalty there, he will pull any work that he can get done for a nickle less. I have been burned in the past from this, I even had one guy asking me to compete with prices from China which of course I did not know about till...
  20. J

    How hard is CNC Machining?

    There is a huge difference between a CNC operator and a machinist I can train a seal to operate a CNC machine with a few fish and 10 minutes of my time depending on the part he will be running. A skilled machinist takes years to master in fact it is a never ending learning cycle but to be some...

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