Post: #1

So how many of you guys are into building stuff? I'm always had a passion for machining, both manual and CNC. I'm currently trying to transition into the machining industry from the aerospace world.

Post: #2

My current business has a metal fab shop, wood shop and a stone processing facility (slab saw, drop saw, wire saw, polishing line, etc).

It makes me happy every damn day that I can build everything I need right here, and keep the machinery running by doing our own millwrighting.

We are sorely lacking fast access to a milling machine but we just have to run to the farm next door for their CNC mill. Definitely keeping my eyes open for a manual one for a good price.

Post: #3

Utilizing some rudimentary woodworking abilities, I built several pieces for the home gym I had at the time, including power cage, flat bench, incline, and T-Bat Rower.

Post: #4

Gear head here (cars) gonna try to learn to weld in the upcoming year .currently tearing down an engine for a muscle car build and ill have to do sole fab work along the way.

Post: #5

(10-31-2017 12:33 AM)ShotgunUppercuts Wrote:  Gear head here (cars) gonna try to learn to weld in the upcoming year .currently tearing down an engine for a muscle car build and ill have to do sole fab work along the way.

What type of welder do you plan on getting (and where)?

Welding is like the holy grail of repairs. I can't tell you how many times I wish I knew how to do it. Also need to get a sawzall and grinder.

Add in some cobalt drill bits and i'll be 100% equipped to deal with the classic case of BS that happens when dealing with a previous shop's f*ck ups.

Edit: I need a place to rant.

I recently purchased a dream car of mine, a 580SL Merc. Car is a sexy beast. I purchased it because it had a large collection of receipts (recent rebuild) as well as a very plush interior.

The car has been a massive mechanical basket case. I've discovered several instances where the previous shopped f*cked up and outright didn't repair screw ups. Things like broken/missing bolts, stripped threads, and more recently during the rebuild they never bothered to replace the intake manifold gaskets. I've been chasing a massive vacuum leak and now I have a lovely two day repair effort which requires a significant level of disassembly.

Nothing too difficult and technically i'm not cracking the engine, only the intake. There's just a lot of little pieces of bullshit in the way that has to be removed before I can replace these $5 parts.

I really have a low opinion of other mechanics. This was even a dealer FFS (second time i've seen this shit go down). Even on a modern car, I found an example of a vacuum line being repaired with JB Weld which then failed. I've also seen creative hacks on other vehicles where a monkey broke something and then repaired it poorly.

Cars are dangerous and it's a miracle more of them don't fail. I'm absolutely paranoid about catastrophic car failures now because of how many problems I find on cars I work on!

Post: #6

I am into woodworking and working with metal. Regarding wood, I make bows (soon and arrows) and anything I want except those things that require great precision as I don't have special wood planes, saws and woodworking table. Regarding metal, I built a non functional sword, some knives and plan to do them better next year.

Biggest hindrance to my hobby is money and climate. That means I cannot work whole year.

Post: #7

Yes! I have a small fab shop (all manual) and love dicking around with metal for good coin. I dig having the best tools for the job- they're an asset and tax deductible so I have pretty much everything you can imagine.

Laner- your business sounds pretty cool. Could you expand?

Post: #8

I dabble in most of these from time to time. My welding skills are pretty rudimentary but I've gotten pretty decent at woodworking.

I've built a standing desk, tv stand/bookshelf, and just finished a new headboard and bed frame. I fucking hate staining and finishing the shit so I have my girl do most of that.

Beats the hell out of buying shit. I could turn it into a side business too. I have posted some of my shit up for sale just to see how much I could sell it for and was surprised. However I think I'd much rather just keep working on online business and save the woods for a hobby.

Post: #9

(10-31-2017 07:22 AM)roberto Wrote:  Yes! I have a small fab shop (all manual) and love dicking around with metal for good coin. I dig having the best tools for the job- they're an asset and tax deductible so I have pretty much everything you can imagine.

Laner- your business sounds pretty cool. Could you expand?

My partners and I lease 30acres of farmland in Vancouver. We have a jade quarry in northern BC where we extract 10t blocks of jade with wire saws. We truck them down to the farm here where we store them. We are building a rail line this week to move the blocks into the slab saw bay on rail - our current rail system is only 16 feet long, so we are extending it by 26'. From the slab saw we have up to 4'x8' jade slabs and it goes out the back of the bay into a polishing room with a nice little slab polisher that does the finishing. From there they either hit the sales rack or get cut down on the bridge saw into sized surfaces for products.

The metal shop keeps the machinery running and also fabricates the bases for our product lines. Mostly furniture. Typical tools - two Miller TIGS, a Miller MIG, 2 bandsaws, chop saw, drill press, a bunch of grinders, a bender.

The wood shop is much the same as the metal shop, where it allows us to do all our renovations. We built a 1000sqft showroom last month for $1200. Floor, walls, roof, lighting - the whole bit. A very high end job that our contractor buddy said was a $20k job.

Some days when cash flow is tight I am tempted to take on some fab jobs or carpentry jobs. Its a nice feeling to know that my back up trades are still good for making $6-10k a month. But my job now is awesome it would suck to go back.

Post: #10

10 tons block of jade?

Damn, I would love to have that selection of tools one day. My dream is a small forge shop.

Post: #11

I feel your pain my brother not too may mechanic shops out here can be trusted and they will fuck you over given the opportunity.

I dont know what kind of machine ill be getting .i just figured id just waltz into a pawnshop and pick up whatever they have there and wing it on a few peice of acrap untill i get decent at it.

And also the tool buying never stops.the more jobs you run into the more tools you'll need to break the bank for and the more you'll be prepared you'll be mext time you need a repair.

Post: #12

Every man should learn a Trade for his personal use. Here are the following fields every man should know.
-Basic Trim Carpentry
-Simple frame carpentry
-Basic Plumbing
-Auto Mechanic
-Welding (I wish I knew this one)
Every man should know this at least to a handyman level.

I think fine woodworking isn't very practical unless you want to customize what you own.

Post: #13

Big interest of mine and just like you OP i'm in the aerospace industry(sales) wanting to transition to earning coin and gaining knowledge & perhaps $$ in some form with mechanical/ gearhead interests.
Problem is I live and prefer to live in an apartment and other than small power tools as well as hand tools I can't do much of anything.
The shops I hit up for work are not hiring and always have the obligatory "must have x years of experience for hire".
I have a high aptitude for damn near any machine and am getting frustrated at being one-dimensional at making a living right now.

If this, too, sounds like you then I suggest keeping your nose to the ground in order to sniff out any opportunity that may pop up. Best of Luck!

Post: #14

Did someone say gear heads??

Post: #15

(10-31-2017 01:10 AM)The Beast1 Wrote:  

(10-31-2017 12:33 AM)ShotgunUppercuts Wrote:  Gear head here (cars) gonna try to learn to weld in the upcoming year .currently tearing down an engine for a muscle car build and ill have to do sole fab work along the way.

What type of welder do you plan on getting (and where)?

Welding is like the holy grail of repairs. I can't tell you how many times I wish I knew how to do it. Also need to get a sawzall and grinder.

Add in some cobalt drill bits and i'll be 100% equipped to deal with the classic case of BS that happens when dealing with a previous shop's f*ck ups.

Edit: I need a place to rant.

I recently purchased a dream car of mine, a 580SL Merc. Car is a sexy beast. I purchased it because it had a large collection of receipts (recent rebuild) as well as a very plush interior.

The car has been a massive mechanical basket case. I've discovered several instances where the previous shopped f*cked up and outright didn't repair screw ups. Things like broken/missing bolts, stripped threads, and more recently during the rebuild they never bothered to replace the intake manifold gaskets. I've been chasing a massive vacuum leak and now I have a lovely two day repair effort which requires a significant level of disassembly.

Nothing too difficult and technically i'm not cracking the engine, only the intake. There's just a lot of little pieces of bullshit in the way that has to be removed before I can replace these $5 parts.

I really have a low opinion of other mechanics. This was even a dealer FFS (second time i've seen this shit go down). Even on a modern car, I found an example of a vacuum line being repaired with JB Weld which then failed. I've also seen creative hacks on other vehicles where a monkey broke something and then repaired it poorly.

Cars are dangerous and it's a miracle more of them don't fail. I'm absolutely paranoid about catastrophic car failures now because of how many problems I find on cars I work on!

I think that's modern life in general. My our be amazed how many chancers and Cowboys there are looking after people's kids on a daily basis in the ski industry.

There's not that many people who take pride in their work anymore. Doing so makes you stand out and guarantees future business.

Post: #16

Great stuff guys. One of future plans is to build my own workshop at home. I want to get a manual mill and lathe, maybe a small CNC machine, and room for composite fabrication.

Post: #17

Can someone make a gate for a manual transmission?

Post: #18

I ended up indirectly inheriting a bunch of my grandfather's old tools, including some antique wood planes (had a great-uncle as a coffin maker) and a shopsmith: table saw, bandsaw, disc sander, drum sander, lathe all in one tidy package.
Recently got a chainsaw and chopped up some trees blown over in a windstorm.

My car's catalytic converter needs replacing, which I got on amazon sale for $80 (usually $470!). Its weird as the exhaust manifold is also part of the unit and naturally the manifold end comes off but not the exaust end is rusted on. Could take it to the shop my father favors and have them do it for $200, or figure out how to chop it off and reattach the new one. Then again some local fellas my grandfather went to have treated me very well and I could see what they'd charge: already looking at spending some $$ anyway as I need a tire put on and the oil plug loosened.

I'm also having some fun with the Christmas season and my 3d printer.

Post: #19

Its a simple job to switch it out if you can get your hands on a welding machine (and your handy with it) . Chop it off with a saw and weld the new one on.you could also use clamps but id have more of "piece of mind " with it welded.

Post: #20

Moving out soon.ill be in need of furniture and instead of scouring to find a decent table i figure i can make one myself outta wood.gotta get a hold of some power tools first cuz all i got are tools for automotive stuff.

Any tips on making a wooden table? perhaps some sort of hidden storage compartment underneath?

Post: #21

I'm a classic car restorer. Have my own successful business in the South East of the UK.

If you have any questions on car restoration, welding, panel beating/ making or painting ask away. I also do mechanical work on proper classic cars- I.e 1940's to 1970's cars.

Will post a few pics of car restoration if you're interested.

Post: #22

@ Guitarman Please post pics.

Im building a nova drag race car and it needs some rust repair on the left side of the car and the trunk pan.

At what point would you walk away from a car thats too rusty?

Post: #23

(11-27-2017 11:06 PM)ShotgunUppercuts Wrote:  Any tips on making a wooden table? perhaps some sort of hidden storage compartment underneath?

Depends on what your going for. You can use a router to carve a tongue-and-groove onto the sides of the board, or just slap some legs on a chunk of MDF.

Also depends on the size of your hidden storage compartment. If you want something that could hold, say, a pistol you could make it out of 6x6 studs, but cut out a section down to 2" in the middle so the table top is shaped like an N:

side view of entire table
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|__|//////////////////|__|

Front view of individual center slats
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| |_____________| |
|__| |__|

And you take the bits you cut out to make the insert. Probably have to paint dowels to look like knots or something to hold it in.

Post: #24

I dabble in autobody and paint. Not a master by any means but I have done some very presentable work over the last few years. I'd be happy to answer and questions or point anyone to some good resources.

Post: #25

I like fixing, tinkering, and restoring various things. Definitely not a master of anything, but I do all my own mechanical repairs on my vehicles, have restored a couple of record players, dabbled in wood working/refinishing, most recently fabbed up a drawer for my studio desk to hold a MIDI keyboard.

Looking at a potentially very involved repair on my truck in the near future. It's been losing oil for a while and there have been drips on the ground below the engine for a while. Replaced the oil pan gasket and now the drips are gone but still pissing through oil (even worse than before actually). So I think I'm starting to narrow it down to maybe bad piston rings burning off my oil. If that is actually the case I'm going to need to pull my engine apart to fix it. Damn.