Very large 1-person manual shops - is this unusual?

I have a one man job shop and I don't advertise but plenty of work seems to find me. I am known to be able to tackle jobs in the area that most no one else will touch, or for the really big jobs that outsize everybody else I am kind of Like wgnrr1. I only have one big lathe a big mill and a big surface grinder, but I pretty much never do repeat jobs so I don't need a bunch of machines setup for particular tasks. I am adding a Large HBM to finish out my machining abilities. I am renovating a large old barn and will be moving all my shop stuff into there as soon as I get it done, then I will probably look at expanding my capabilities again. I really enjoy the repair and one off work and I hate turning jobs away because I don't have the machines to do them.

Damien W said:

What's that about tapping machines?
Did you make small battery-operated Sammy Davis Juniors?
He was already small to start with.

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Sammy Davis, like Fred Astaire, tapped and died. Heyoooo

dkmc said:

Blatant plug:
I am also a 1 man shop.
I think I have some unique points of view in the industry. I am seriously considering 'moving' into the present century, and aquiring a -new- VMC.
Hurco VM2 to be exact. I have never delivered or shipped junk parts. It wuld be great to find 2 (more??) guys that have machining ability, and train them in the bushiness. I know there are young men out there that are natural machinists, they just don't know it, or they're too busy playing 'playstation'....And NOT getting any exposure to manufacturing in school. I bet there are kids that are into 'tuner cars' out there that would like to make parts for their cars, but there is no shop class...anymore...

I would be very interested in networking with any other 1-5 man shops and trading work or projects.

Email me:
[email protected].

dkmc

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This my exact experience. There are not less than 2 generations lacking that exposure. Aside from one man shop, they're queued up to be apprentices. Most, not surprisingly are women (the original type) mid-20's on up. They bring projects, and often comment "guys are so lame......". There's always a laugh when I point out the obvious. It's Rosie Riveter all over again, and they adore that persona.

smallshop said:

Interesting....I've always felt a bit out of place with my "business" philosophy here in So Cal. After reading most of these posts i've come to realize...I was right after all.....(maybe just residing in the wrong state)

Thanks guys, great thread.

Ted

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Yup. I'm in Missouri after 52 years native CA. Moving enabled outright purchase of self standing, foot thick brick walls, zoned M1, loading dock high, forklift ramp, 3 roll up doors (6 docks, hard to explain), 15.5" ceiling, no columns, 6500 sq. ft. and a bit of surrounding lot to park my 'fleet'. There IS weather here, have collected most pieces for hot water radiant heat in cast iron radiators.

Did have to replace entire roof (higher cost than building). But equivalent to sq. ft costs at SoCal home then 2005, were null in 6-1/2 years. Right here, same thought comes to mind, "hmmm, Lets's see; rent or buy, hmmm?".

I still think it was the most perfect building in town, zoning, a fairly busy street, awash with undiscovered customers, and nice to look at - built 1898. Buying what was barely a fixer upper saved tons on property taxes.

South Bend used to have a goodly number of those shops, mine included although mine was not so large. In the past few years though, they are all gone, mine included. Needed to get some surface grinding done recently and finally had to figure another way to do it.

I used to get a few guys that would hang around the shop....now they can be time wasters ,but I found they could also be source of free labour for a job where you needed someone else ,often for a few seconds in an hour.............I also had a couple of guys on tap who were retired from work with injuries and pensions.....experienced guys who appreciated cash for a couple of days assembling a machine or a maintenance job where the customer demanded two men for safety reasons.

Interesting old thread.

I like the simplicity of just me. I've had employees and it's not something I'm excited to repeat. I've got a couple 20" manual lathes, a 4" HBM and a bridgeport plus press brakes, 350 inverter MIG and 350 TIG welders. I like the mix of work that finds me because I have those machines. I have a couple nice CNC mills, a nice 10" chuck CNC lathe and a kinda beat big 16" chuck CNC lathe with a C axis and live tools. The CNC's make products that are my primary source of income.

I had a few more machines than I do now. I got rid of a few to make sure I didn't end up a dead machine museum like so many other one man shops are. I wanted room to do forklift donuts. I wanted space to tear into a big project. I wanted space to safely store and organize pallet racking filled with product.

I know a shop/owner that has machines packed in like cordwood and only a handful that run. Little aisleways you have to turn to your side and shimmy through to get to different areas. It's like productivity's worst nightmare. Huge shop packed so full you can barely use any of it. Seems impressive at first, but then it sinks in that none of that "good stuff" can be used.

smallshop said:

...or it could be....the work just dried up...

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Unbelievable example of such occurrence, St. Louis Babbit in Los Angeles. Roughly 2 years ago, probably if not more 90 year old shop.
Work mounted in machines, materials in the saw, toolbits near the grinders, drawings and paperwork everywhere. Most of the machines and lots of the tools now at work elsewhere.

anchorman said:

As to the topic at hand,
I'm totally jealous of anyone who has that kind of space and equipment. I'm working on getting there slowly, but I think I am going to have to marry a very kind, rich, woman before I do.

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How about mine? Everything but rich. Can build aircraft electronics, read a mic and digs running Monarchs.

Could be the owner made a ton of money and would rather spend time in his shop with not wishing to have problem people in his shop.

Some guys just like collecting machinery ,and are in a situation of owning a large building and yard,and not needing even minimum hourly rate to survive.........I was in a similar situation up to two years ago,when I got in a panic the govt was going to change the capital gains tax exemption...anyhoo ,it was the height of the plague ,and I wasnt thinking straight-so I sold out and scrapped many tons of machines..................I still get customers asking about this or that.......I redirect them ,and the cry is always the same "Nooooooo...they charge 300 DOLLARS AN HOUR !!!!!!!!"