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Type of businesses that need machining

MBG

Hot Rolled
Joined
Jan 8, 2010
Location
FL,USA
I have a cnc mill and a bridgeport mill and a cnc plasma table. I have bought this equipment mainly for hobby use but now I am interested in doing machining as a small side business. So what kind of companies usually need parts machinied
 
every business needs some machining, alot of them don't realize it or already have someone doing it. on a hobby level right now, you will have a hard time competing against guys that are in it professionally. they have the motivation of deadlines and getting the job out to get the next one done. alot of companies won't look at you right now as they are constantly bombarded by plenty of shops that are hungry for work.
 
What SD said, its gonna be real hard to get work from companies...but depends on your area of course!

If that's all the equipment you have its gonna be tough to hit a wide area of different stuff, but I would say your best bet with said equipment would be making stuff for car/hot rod/motorcyle guys. They will go nuts when they hear you have a CNC plasma table. :D You need to get in with those guys and talk with them. I'm being constantly asked to make stuff for 'em, but no time!
 
S W is right but you will find that those china-buyers went there for low cost and will view any repair work as just extra cost that they should not have had to pay in the first place. They will be in a big hurry becuse the stuff was late when they got it. There is alot of small business in your part of Fla. so get a lathe and look for prototype work or inventors with deep pockets. Don't ever do the work for part of the rights "when I get the bugs iron out".
good luck.
Mike
 
every business needs some machining, alot of them don't realize it or already have someone doing it. on a hobby level right now, you will have a hard time competing against guys that are in it professionally. they have the motivation of deadlines and getting the job out to get the next one done. alot of companies won't look at you right now as they are constantly bombarded by plenty of shops that are hungry for work.

Oh I would get the parts out on time. Probably faster than most machine shops.


A little about me I'm a mechanical engineer worked my way through college as an aero cnc machinist for 10 years. Enjoy working so looking for some fun.


I will treat the deadlines seriously but just want 1 or 2 jobs a week nothing to much.
 
fab shops are good for getting macine work out of .
If you have a job,as it sounds as you do. just keep nosin around,you may meet someone out of the blue with work,yep. sounds as time is on your side.
best o luck
Gw
 
I'd like just one or two jobs a week too. Problem is, to do this and get paid, you have to do what the customer wants, when they want it. You may find some customers that are willing to wait for their parts, but they will also be the ones that don't want to pay much.
 
MBG, the best thing to do is find a local company with about 15 employees and become friendly with them. They will need small jobs done and if you are quick and good a relationship should develop. The learning experience you your end is invaluable.

Athack
 
every business needs some machining, alot of them don't realize it or already have someone doing it.

Well not EVERY business....
I've never done any machine work for a bakery, grocery store, dry cleaner or hair salon....
Not to mention Funeral Home, Lawyers office, Dentist, Accountant, or Church :willy_nilly:

But I have done work for a Used car lot, Car Wash, Restaurant Equipment supply, Shoe Repair Shop, Hot Glass studio
 
Well not EVERY business....
I've never done any machine work for a bakery, grocery store, dry cleaner or hair salon....
Not to mention Funeral Home, Lawyers office, Dentist, Accountant, or Church :willy_nilly:

But I have done work for a Used car lot, Car Wash, Restaurant Equipment supply, Shoe Repair Shop, Hot Glass studio

Well, I have to admit, I have done much work for a bakery (automated German bakery machines), and a grocery store (stainless steel deli. dept. meat slicers). My neighbor does stuff for a funeral home (rebuilding collapsible carts for wheeling caskets around on). I've also done work for a large sawmill, a cabinet shop, a hydraulics manufacturer, (2) transmission rebuilders, a forklift rebuilding shop, a vegetable/christmas tree farm, a printing shop, a printing equipment repair shop, a packaging machinery builder, and a guitar maker. Probably more if I sit and think about it. And I don't advertise, this is word of mouth. I mostly work for a few plastic injection molding companies, and fit this other stuff in around my regular work.
 
Farmers are always breaking stuff.

Agricultural processing plants, gotton gins, onion slicing factory, chile processing plant.

Used farm equipment dealer.

Printing shops that are still using some old school stuff. Made a bunch of money repairing old school printing machines that did nothing but number invoices. Fixed them too well, they haven't broke again.

Repaired quite a few slicers for a few deli's.

Never got paid to do this, but I bet you could make a killing if you advertised office chair repair. $35 bucks to fix it instead of $150 to buy another one. That might not be a bad side gig if I ever retire.
 
Just in case this devolves into a "oddest place I ever got work out of" thread, I used to do work for an old time drive in hamburger joint. The kind that had the speakers outside where you park and the carhop delivers. Sort of like Sonic, but this place has been in operation since 1950. Fixed some of the brackets that hold your tray outside your window, and tig welded some deep fryer baskets. FREE FOOD! I've been eating there since about 1960 myself, so I probably contributed to wearing out those deep fryer baskets myself.
 
I've had quite a lot of work from the dairy industry. I've made homogeniser pistons, parts for packing mchines, re-faced pump seals, etc etc. Most have a maintenance dept but no machine tools so they welcome a source for manufacturing bits and pieces as and when required.
 
Doh, Gorilla, on the food side.

The OP is looking for some places to find some nice side work. I worked in a nursing home for many years before I got into this game, in the kitchen.

I made 3k - 5k a year extra (1099'd) doing a bit of fab work and welding stuff up, much like the fryer baskets. The racks for some of the dishes that went through the dish machine were about $140 each. At the end of the month, the boss would see how much was left in his budget and I'd take home as many as they could afford at $25 - $40 a pop to fix.

Splash guards, taking things that got dirty easy and were hard to clean and making them come apart easy and easy to clean. Did a bunch of stuff, fab work for the laundry too. Made some nice carts that they couldn't afford to buy new, just modded their old stuff.

Just tossing ideas out there.
 








 
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