Nils, hope things start to turn for the better for you.

Robert,

My age and I have not had much work. I have been paying for the shop with previous profits. It can not go on much longer.

Robert, well done on securing the job, looks like your machine made short work of it.

A general question if I may.... how did you go about pricing this job? This is the sort of thing I want to start offering and am not sure of the pricing side.

Cheers
Bruce

Hi All

Like Gerald mentioned do not compete with your clients.But what if your supplier competes with you and becomes direct competition to you and if they get the project they will still hand over the difficult work to you.The jobs that are to difficult to do with a skill saw and a jig saw.

I had that happen to me. I suggested a supplier of Acrylic to one of my clients and the supplier took the business away from me. The bid the jobs below cost. The supplier was part of a company that makes Acrylic.

Nils, have you thought about a website upgrade?
Unfortunately, business seems to no longer beat a path to our doors, but we must instead seek it out.
My area has more work than qualified people to do it, but if no one knows you exist and are capable of doing the work.....

Darren, funny you say that. A guy that helped me from the Vectric forum only sells on the net. Said that he tried the local scene and found that online sales is where it was at. He was from Texas.

in my opinion...and zillon others....the net is where we must be to make more sales....the palace where it's happening !! :p
;)

I rarely do a thing, without consulting my best employee first. I trust his opinion tremendously. Perhaps you've heard of him...I've nicknamed him Google.

Dear Bruce !

Aaa....the pricing "wall"...every one "hates" !!
What I came to with time is some scale allowing me to start some basics.
I will not disclose the prices I charge, not I want to keep does "secretives" it only make sens as it is a "recipe" to each individual costs !

Basically, I start be calculating the linear inches needed to be machined.
2.5D is one price and 3D is about....that, 2½ to 3x more !
Then, I add programming fees & charges, if they apply as some have their own CAD models.
Then, there's the CNC programing fees ( G-code generating) and all other fees that can be involves and/or ask for.
Set up fees
In shop intervention fees
dost collection "assle" fees
Tools fees ( resharpening or new )
Tooling ( other then spindle / router bits )
.....and on, and on.....till you cover all cost.
Make a margin on all those extras your comfortable to ask for ( in this day & age of economics, lean fees the only way to ask for.....greed will lead you to....well....left out ! ).
Bear in mind, each and every individual has a perception of cost, meaning, find stratégic quesitons to understand what you "prospoet" client is willing to pay for what he's asking for......I know, I know....some will only ask for a quote and will not disclose how fare their willing to pay, but....that life quoting :p !!...

Will Bruce...and others.....Hope my time sharing this will give some basic "business" guidance to some new venture....or veterans :rolleyes:.....

All the best.....and never be afraid to ask....never assume as most know, assume can mean....:
When you assume what a customer whants......you will inevitably make an "ASS" of "U" and..."ME" ( U= the client, ME= you, the seller) !

Bonne chance to all...later ;)

Update on the door panels commissioning !!

The old say still rules.....never push further than....what can be done....it will inevitably....bite ya !!

Her's some for those bites happened while burning some "midnight oil" trying to achieve a promise to deliver this morning !! :p

Touch probe "glitch" !?!
Attachment 15390 , Attachment 15391

Loosing a bit.....to loos :o :p
Attachment 15392

Loosing....my concentation.....colling wrong steps ( look at the 2 right gouges)
Attachment 15393

Enjoy your day...
Cheers ;)

That's the machine's way of saying, " I am clocking out for the day" :)

..;)

Thank you Robert, appreciate it!

Nerver too late
 

a little over due I'd say.... :eek:

Attachment 15544

Attachment 15545

;)

How long have you been running those?

Overdue for some logos and a number as well.:)

Tom.... It's my 2nd change in 7yrs !
But yrs don't mean nothing, hrs of usage or better, length would be the way to say :eek::p
And that is something I have not accounted :rolleyes:

Al...
I've gave up serial when many yrs ago, way back when I lost the race for #21 or 27 for not being ready in time :o
I could of requested #100 when it came....but, since (#27 out)....I've gone with the though...why and what's the diff ??!...
I'm still around, faithful and honored Gerald ( and all of those who came to help back then.....which, irony, many had / have serial, but are no longer active here) ....
( and I'll stay around till my beast...or this group.....dies !)....hopefully, not any soon :)
Later ;)

Robert if you have one of those chinese spindles you can get the number of hours off the VFD. That's about as close as I could get to figuring out the hours.

Sorry...been using a porter 7518 since day one :p....rebuilted a few times ;)

Oh well, it was worth a shot

Hi Robert
Long time no see, if you are using Mach3, in the operator menu you can take a look maintanance hours.
Bonne journée

Although, I can assure you guys this is no reflection since my last rack change, here's some "fun" numbers....

Attachment 15558

;)

Laser attachement ?!
 

Lurking with the thought of adding / buying a laser attachment to add this capability to my great blue beast !

Anyone has some though or better, some experience with this ?
So fare, I've only found this.... (http://www.ebay.com/itm/Focusable-8W...-/231769470441 ) but, I have to say, I have not spend much time researching on the subject nor searching for various type available !!

Tks ;)

This will be interesting to watch. I just got a lazer from Darkly Labs. Works good, just a little low power. Only 4 watt.
Darren Salyer built one as well.

There is some laser discussion with links towards the end of my build thread.

Where have I been? I'm missing out on all this good stuff. Where's my laser?��

Darren....did you ever moved forward with the laser on your machine ??

No, I actually got a blacktooth laser. A standalone unit.

http://www.mechmate.com/forums/showt...t=laser+cutter

This guy put a laser on his machine.

We just received out Blacktooth kit from buildyourcnc.com. We won't start building it until April but I've unpacked all the bits and was pleased at how organized things were. Would love to hear any wisdom learned from the build or since you have had it running.

Darren, 40W laser !!...nice output,:eek:
Out of curiosity, have you test it's maxed out wood thickness it may cut, say with some ply ??

I've not done much, other than some test fires.
Its on my To-Do list.

Dust shoe bristle survey
 

Hi guys !!

Working on a design to update my dust shoe !!
Wondering what you guys are using as for a "soft" bristle dust shoe "skirt" ??

These past yrs I've been using a bristle a little to hard or should say "not flexible " enough and wishing to find another alternative.
I've been using this McMater Carr model #7372T12 ( cut down to +/- 1½ of bristles )and this one, occasionaly make my Z skip a few steps if it goes down on it !!
In other word, it's just not soft nor flexible friendly enough for my Z :rolleyes:

Thanks for your suggestions !!

I used the full 3" brush height and it is fine.

Personally I don't use brushes because I want to see what's going on. That's also why I made my shoe out of acrylic that rides at a fixed height about 1/4" above the materials, it has its +'s and -'s.

It's a known factor....having shorter bristle makes them a little more stiffer !!

Since I need ( should say I want @_# ) a new one, I'm seeking / hoping to "test" ( or like !!) some of this softer bristle as some other we can see on the web ...but not divulging suppliers sources ;0( !!?

My first attempt at a shoe used bristles from a cheap broom hot glued into pockets around the perimeter of the shoe. Worked and gave me the ability to change to firmer or softer bristles. (The brooms ended up being a bit shorter :rolleyes:)

I ended up using Ez-Flex flexible strip brush. Was spendy but went in without any problems. I cut grooves in my dust foot. Made the groove somewhat narrower that the brush, pressed it into the groove and finished by adding a little super glue.
http://sealeze.com/ind/ezflex2.html

Robert,

Reading the first few pages of your thread, really got me jealous of your workshop.
So many machines/tools yet tidy.