My not so mini English wheel

[dobbslc]

By the sound of it something has to give, maybe stop beating yourself up with heavy machinery and take the easy road and buy a Myford

Your wheels and vices are impressive stuff indeed but not worth the stress by the sound of it.
Good luck

 

[pressbrake1]

By the sound of it something has to give, maybe stop beating yourself up with heavy machinery and take the easy road and buy a Myford

Your wheels and vices are impressive stuff indeed but not worth the stress by the sound of it.
Good luck

I think a myford would anger me far more!

 

[500e]

It is hard to walk away and not look back, have sold most of the test kit and smaller bits then you look around and stuff is still there.
Has taken me 7 years and still cant leave completely, now muddling about helping mates who cant let go.

 

[addjunkie]

It’s just a product
I’ve certainly learned my lesson

Was just talking to the Mrs that I’m desperate to close and even though it would be a crime I should stop worrying about re homing the tools and machinery and call in the scrappy

I’ve got a job and I’m doing this **** in the evenings and weekends to ….

I’m not having a meltdown on here

Be a crying shame to stop your quality work, but your health and well being are far more important. The lessons youve learnt will help you long term in what ever role you end up doing. Making things is great but making things at a profit is far more difficult than most folk think.

If you do decide to keep making stuff, double the price and add a bit! If your shutting up shop, do it quick and dont look back. Good luck what ever you decide.

 

[pressbrake1]

Be a crying shame to stop your quality work, but your health and well being are far more important. The lessons youve learnt will help you long term in what ever role you end up doing. Making things is great but making things at a profit is far more difficult than most folk think.

If you do decide to keep making stuff, double the price and add a bit! If your shutting up shop, do it quick and dont look back. Good luck what ever you decide.

Thanks
I’ve had a employed job for a year now , not involving metal work btw!

Trouble with this stuff is there’s no margin for profit. Say I actually charged low shop rate of £50 it wouldn’t work.

My lambco experiment during Covid, energy crisis the Ukraine crisis etc was a bit mad

Funnily enough steel prices for engineering steel has dropped considerably compared to 18 months ago

 

[ostosix]

Fair play, you don't do experiments by halves

 

[Brad93]

Engineering is now a numbers game, you either need lots of men, or quantity of work.

Only people that can afford to commission artisans do work for them are millionaires or huge companies that will pay anything to get a level of service.

Unfortunately not many millionaires are into metalwork, and not many companies need english wheels anymore.

Although i would argue your wheels are more akin to art than tools, so maybe they'll be worth a mint in 50 years time like a Van Goth.

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

Engineering is now a numbers game

Not just engineering unfortunately ...it's hard to compete with other countries where there is such a big differences in wages and taxes.

 

[roofman]

I have been self employed for the best part of 46 years so i can say i know what it is about regarding making a living. Currently i have 3 trucks, a cherry picker, a lock up yard, 2 full time lads, 2 part time lads too, all of this including my public liability insurance for hot works cost me 6K per month to stay afloat and that's without my wage and a slice of bread. The fella down the road who works on his own with 1 van, no yard or any insurance can stay floating for buttons each month and this is who i must compete with. 30 years ago i had 15 men and 7 trucks including a massive yard and a full time secretary and thinking back i should of stayed small with 1 van and a lad and would of been able to be retired by now. The only way to make money is keep your overheads as low as you can and anything you make becomes more profit, currently i am a prisoner on the merry go round and i cant get off without putting 4 lads out of work and a logistic nightmare off-loading all my plant and equipment. I know exactly what pressbrake1 is on about regarding "do i or should i throw the towel in"

 

[addjunkie]

I have been self employed for the best part of 46 years so i can say i know what it is about regarding making a living. Currently i have 3 trucks, a cherry picker, a lock up yard, 2 full time lads, 2 part time lads too, all of this including my public liability insurance for hot works cost me 6K per month to stay afloat and that's without my wage and a slice of bread. The fella down the road who works on his own with 1 van, no yard or any insurance can stay floating for buttons each month and this is who i must compete with. 30 years ago i had 15 men and 7 trucks including a massive yard and a full time secretary and thinking back i should of stayed small with 1 van and a lad and would of been able to be retired by now. The only way to make money is keep your overheads as low as you can and anything you make becomes more profit, currently i am a prisoner on the merry go round and i cant get off without putting 4 lads out of work and a logistic nightmare off-loading all my plant and equipment. I know exactly what pressbrake1 is on about regarding "do i or should i throw the towel in"

Thing is…you are not getting any younger, the lads working for you will know that too. You pull the plug they will be the man with a van, all you can do is be open and honest with them when you press go.

 

[Brad93]

I have been self employed for the best part of 46 years so i can say i know what it is about regarding making a living. Currently i have 3 trucks, a cherry picker, a lock up yard, 2 full time lads, 2 part time lads too, all of this including my public liability insurance for hot works cost me 6K per month to stay afloat and that's without my wage and a slice of bread. The fella down the road who works on his own with 1 van, no yard or any insurance can stay floating for buttons each month and this is who i must compete with. 30 years ago i had 15 men and 7 trucks including a massive yard and a full time secretary and thinking back i should of stayed small with 1 van and a lad and would of been able to be retired by now. The only way to make money is keep your overheads as low as you can and anything you make becomes more profit, currently i am a prisoner on the merry go round and i cant get off without putting 4 lads out of work and a logistic nightmare off-loading all my plant and equipment. I know exactly what pressbrake1 is on about regarding "do i or should i throw the towel in"

A good book, called the E-myth revisited, would argue against getting small - often people get big then it's too much stress/overheads etc, and then get smaller.
Then you find yourself in a position where your overheads haven't actually drastically reduced and you're working for almost nought.

 

[Blobber]

I have been self employed for the best part of 46 years so i can say i know what it is about regarding making a living. Currently i have 3 trucks, a cherry picker, a lock up yard, 2 full time lads, 2 part time lads too, all of this including my public liability insurance for hot works cost me 6K per month to stay afloat and that's without my wage and a slice of bread. The fella down the road who works on his own with 1 van, no yard or any insurance can stay floating for buttons each month and this is who i must compete with. 30 years ago i had 15 men and 7 trucks including a massive yard and a full time secretary and thinking back i should of stayed small with 1 van and a lad and would of been able to be retired by now. The only way to make money is keep your overheads as low as you can and anything you make becomes more profit, currently i am a prisoner on the merry go round and i cant get off without putting 4 lads out of work and a logistic nightmare off-loading all my plant and equipment. I know exactly what pressbrake1 is on about regarding "do i or should i throw the towel in"

See if either of the employees want to buy the business as a going concern?

 

[Stueeee]

Just had enquiry to rebuild a ranalah and convert to machined fit instead of leaded in components
He paid £2000 for it which means things are normalising…
Big wheel I had cast ended up costing a grand more than we estimated, no fault of the foundry.
Means I’m subsidising a danish millionaire
It’s been a interesting yet expensive experiment to prove it’s impossible to make stuff like this in the west

Apologies in advance for mentioning the war.... but I was astonished that the 'continuation' Ranalah wheels still have babbited in components. Put too much preload on the wheel and it's potentially fxxxed. I can't think of any advantage (other than for manufacturing tolerance issues) why the babbit seated items are a good idea.

 

[pressbrake1]

Apologies in advance for mentioning the war.... but I was astonished that the 'continuation' Ranalah wheels still have babbited in components. Put too much preload on the wheel and it's potentially fxxxed. I can't think of any advantage (other than for manufacturing tolerance issues) why the babbit seated items are a good idea.

It was done for speed as with experience I reckon it’s 30mins work so no loading fixtures etc instead of two days of faffage
Also I doubt they would have had access to a big borer , the budget to buy one

I know Aston Martin have a original fixture for re alignment and re setting the lead so it was definitely a problem in high usage

 

[Kayos]

I have been self employed for the best part of 46 years so i can say i know what it is about regarding making a living. Currently i have 3 trucks, a cherry picker, a lock up yard, 2 full time lads, 2 part time lads too, all of this including my public liability insurance for hot works cost me 6K per month to stay afloat and that's without my wage and a slice of bread. The fella down the road who works on his own with 1 van, no yard or any insurance can stay floating for buttons each month and this is who i must compete with. 30 years ago i had 15 men and 7 trucks including a massive yard and a full time secretary and thinking back i should of stayed small with 1 van and a lad and would of been able to be retired by now. The only way to make money is keep your overheads as low as you can and anything you make becomes more profit, currently i am a prisoner on the merry go round and i cant get off without putting 4 lads out of work and a logistic nightmare off-loading all my plant and equipment. I know exactly what pressbrake1 is on about regarding "do i or should i throw the towel in"

I reached a point where I had to decide if I wanted to stay small or get bigger. I did some accurate analysis and came to a similar figure as you, I would need 5 lads or teams and someone to help find and plan all the work, to make the extra income worthwhile

Could have saved costs and used subbies, but when they drop you on a Monday AM because someone has offered £100 more for a job you are snookered

However COVID hit so it became irrelevant, I got back on the corporate hamster wheel. Am I happier? Depends but my phone and laptop go in a cupboard 6pm on Friday and do not emerge until 0830 Monday

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

In my experience the USA will pay for quality....they're a lot less sensitive to prices Vs everywhere else....they do demand the highest quality though.

I used to do a lot of work in the UK (5+ years ago)...seems it's all gone! I suspect it's gone overseas...there's no way I can pay 50% UK taxes and compete with someone paying 12% tax....pointless even trying!

 

[stichill99]

I have been self employed for the best part of 46 years so i can say i know what it is about regarding making a living. Currently i have 3 trucks, a cherry picker, a lock up yard, 2 full time lads, 2 part time lads too, all of this including my public liability insurance for hot works cost me 6K per month to stay afloat and that's without my wage and a slice of bread. The fella down the road who works on his own with 1 van, no yard or any insurance can stay floating for buttons each month and this is who i must compete with. 30 years ago i had 15 men and 7 trucks including a massive yard and a full time secretary and thinking back i should of stayed small with 1 van and a lad and would of been able to be retired by now. The only way to make money is keep your overheads as low as you can and anything you make becomes more profit, currently i am a prisoner on the merry go round and i cant get off without putting 4 lads out of work and a logistic nightmare off-loading all my plant and equipment. I know exactly what pressbrake1 is on about regarding "do i or should i throw the towel in"

Just like my mate.Was doing fine working away on his own but accountant wanted him to grow so he took on another 2 lorries and drivers. He said they could never do in a day what he could and he spent all his time getting work for them and sorted out their problems it was all just working for nothing. Now he is back to owner/driver and making more with one lorry than 3. Covid didn't help as every lorry driver though they were worth £45/hr because that is what Waitrose are paying!

 

[pressbrake1]

I tried someone this year
Messed up the job so I paid them to try again and had to buy more material and spend a day machining the blank
If I mess up I work late to sort it and buy materials with my money.
A employee wants wages for doing it wrong and wages for trying again, no accountability which a nobody like me can’t sustain

 

[Martin Hocking]

For what it’s worth I think it’s possible to make money out of the wheels but you’d have to be rubbing shaft so hard on youtube it’d give you a rash.

 

[pressbrake1]

Just checked my facebook messenger which I don’t use
One was a nice message the other was nine years late!