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Busted! A sad machining tale

garyhlucas

Stainless
Joined
Oct 17, 2013
Location
New Jersey
My 13 year old grandson came home the other day wanting to make Fidget Spinners on our home built CNC mill. So we picked up some HDPE cutting boards in different colors for raw materials. I showed him how to draw it out using the drawing functions in CamBam and then we worked together on creating the machining operations and posted the G-code. He then touched off the tool and we ran the program. After a few trial runs we got the holes adjusted just right to press in skate bearings, and we machined 'buttons' in the scrap from the holes which press fit in the inner race. We made about 25 of them. He ran the machine for a while then started deburring the parts while I ran the machine. The plastic left some fine hairs hanging on but we found that a quick blast with a propane torch cleaned them off and left the surface glossy.

He sold a few to friends in school. However he is not one of the popular kids, so he hired one of them to be his 'sales manager' and the kid sold everything we made! So we started another batch, and a friend came over to help him. It actually was quite a lot of work involved. He sold some more the following week. He had competition too. A kid with wealthy parents had a 3D printer and was making them too. His though were delicate, and sometimes fell apart. So we ran another batch this past weekend.

Then some kid took one of the four his sister had purchased from my grandson and was trying to sell it to someone else and a teacher saw what he was doing and hauled him off to the principals office! He gave up my grandson and the other kid making them too. The principal said it was against the rules to sell anything on school property and that the kids were 'profiteering'. They both got two days of detention, the kid that caused the problem got nothing! Then my daughter starts thinking "What if a kid gets hurt, we'll get SUED" and she won't let him sell the last batch!

He worked his butt off making these things, with me helping him. He learned how to draw using Cad, I also got him Fusion 360. He learned how to use a Cam program to generate G-code. He learned how to run the CNC mill. He learned about calculating costs, profit margins, and selling. In other words, a fabulous lesson in entrepeneurship!

All the idiots in the administration at the school could see was a couple of kids breaking the rules!
 
Depending upon how publicity tolerant you and your grandson are, a sympathetic local newspaper can make the principal look really, really bad. They don't like that. In this case, they deserve that. They probably don't give two days of detention for actually getting in a fight. Completely disproportionate response.

G**D****d public employees are so anti-business, anti-capitalism, and anti-initiative they deserved to be tarred and feathered. Or, perhaps to be locked out of the school for two days, without pay.

Have your Grandson make another batch - I'd buy one from him.
 
So, don't sell them on school property. Done.
And the principal doesn't make the rules for school property, the school board does. They're elected.
Of course, bringing this up in a school board meeting will mean no more bake sales, car washes, etc. for club fundraisers.
But hey, rules are rules.
Can't help you with the liability stuff, though, and it could be an issue.

Chip
 
Profiteering, yup that's what it is, and that's bad. Making a profit is bad. Coming up with an idea for something people may want to buy is bad. Making the things and selling them is worse, selling them at a profit is just indecent. Having the savvy to hire someone who is good at selling them, well, that's simply profane.
What about the kid who can't afford one? A system must be in place so he/she/it can get one at a reduced price or free. What about the psychological effects on the kid who isn't clever enough to come up with an idea like this of his/her/it's own?
Then, Taxes MUST be paid. The product must be tested at a government approved testing facility. Insurance must be purchased and lawyers consulted.
Shame on your grandson and double shame on you, you should know better. If your type of thinking persists, free enterprise would flourish, and it must be stamped out if socialism is going to be fully implemented. This lesson must be learned early and often.:wrong:


Did you really expect any different from a school nowadays? I have three kids in school, I deal with this shit daily. Sometimes I feel I spend half my life un-teaching the garbage the school has indoctrinated in them and teaching REAL values.
Your grandson sounds like a real smart kid, and you like an awesome grand dad. Make sure he knows things wern't always this way, and nor do they need to be.
 
Profiteering would imply he made an excessive profit or made profit by unethical means right?
I would have the principal explain what part of the profit this kid did not earn.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Assholes...

I guess I can sort of understand "no selling stuff" at school.. "But Mr. Principal sir, these
are just perforated pieces of paper with a pretty design on them".. Its school, its not a marketplace.

Also, back in my earlier days, I was quite the trouble maker in elementary school.. I received some
punishments that went way beyond what I got caught doing.. I guess that made up for the all the worse
things they knew I did, but didn't catch me doing...

First off, 2 detentions is nothing, big deal.. Its not a suspension, nobody was banned from the prom
or graduation... Its a "knock it off before this becomes a big deal" punishment.. I got 2 detentions for
talking in art class once. The little gadgets might be pissing the teachers off also.

As for getting sued... I have no comments that would be nice to your daughter.. Nobody is ever afraid of
selling heroin or a car, but a little plastic spinny thing... :rolleyes5:
 
A perfect example of what is wrong in America.

This nonsense is going to be the death of our way of life.

And good job to you and your grandson, I'd like to see a few million more like you to set this country straight.
 
I wonder if the drug sellers at school are getting busted for profiteering?
A good lesson would be for your son to find away to work around the
stupidity of academia.
 
By now he will have taken away the very important lesson that bureaucrats are the sworn enemy of the entrepreneur. You should tell him that once upon a time teachers stood apart from the bureaucracy, and in social studies the students were taught that socialist totalitarianism is bad and that the Workers' Paradise was a lie, whereas today the teachers generally place the onus on capitalism. But be sure to caution him against repeating that in class...
 
I'd be pissed and make a deal of it if this was my son/grandson.

He did nothing wrong. Quite the opposite.

I made and sold keys to the lockers in my high school. I can only imagine what would have happened if I was caught for that!

The asshole that got his locker filled with sex toys never did figure out how it happened.
 
By now he will have taken away the very important lesson that bureaucrats are the sworn enemy of the entrepreneur. You should tell him that once upon a time teachers stood apart from the bureaucracy, and in social studies the students were taught that socialist totalitarianism is bad and that the Workers' Paradise was a lie, whereas today the teachers generally place the onus on capitalism. But be sure to caution him against repeating that in class...

That is the sad thing from this experience, this young man may learn that it is not worth the effort of trying, and that is a dangerous lesson.
 
But be sure to caution him against repeating that in class...

I agree with you completely, accept for that last statement. The reason the lies catch on so easily and quickly is because people are afraid to rebut them! Never be afraid to speak the truth, being afraid insures tyranny will win.
 
What a shame!
I'm sorry for the profanity, but all I can think of is

ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??
:mad5::mad5::mad5:

I know of a similar story that happened with a friends son, they got into making custom
wooden Pens. The issue of sales tax and income tax,child labor laws,and a youngster running "dangerous industrial machinery" was brought up by a busy-body (and no doubt jealous) teacher.
Heaven forbid!

The people in the education system have become SO disconnected with reality it
is truly sickening. And I have a Sister, BIL, Niece and Nephew that are all teachers,
so I am very minimally exposed to the mindset.....only briefly on 3 major holidays.
Christmas, New Years, and sometimes Easter. I always skip the invite on Thanksgiving.
I avoid all contact the rest of the year.
;)

I second the idea of getting local media involved.
Embarrass the living shit out of them....if possible.
Probably not possible.....they are never wrong and won't ever admit it.

I'm sure he collected state sales tax and will report the income to the IRS...
Not at all surprised you'd side with the clueless morons....
:rolleyes5:
 
that was great initiative on his part now his next lesson in being a true entrepreneur is learning how to go around, under, or over the beurocratic dinosaurs, and other obstacles in his way. he can learn online marketing Facebook or what ever the kids at that school are using at this moment(to avoid parental supervision) and figure out how to hit the same pool of buyers outside of school
 
A perfect example of what is wrong in America.

This nonsense is going to be the death of our way of life.

And good job to you and your grandson, I'd like to see a few million more like you to set this country straight.

It ain't just in the US of A, sad enough.

I would put some time into that kid! Gonna be a mover and shaker!

Just gotta get the kid past the dumb ones.


Cheers
Trev
 
Pretty much same story... I made crystal radios and sold them at school in 8th grade (1974). Was threatened with suspension. I was more afraid of my mother whipping me. This eventually lead to a career in electronics engineering.
 
In this circumstance how you react will serve as a model for your grandson.
Your first knee-jerk response might be to just label the principal an ass-hole and decide to try to embarrass him as suggested above. Or maybe you could admit your surprise and disappointment, but before labeling the principal, ask to speak with him to get an understanding of why he responded the way he did. Take your grandson to the meeting. Then decide if what he said makes sense---good chance it will. It is remotely possible a compromise could be worked out.

Then strategize with your grandson as to how you can market them otherwise outside of school.

I think suggesting listening to " the other side" before reacting is the more constructive approach rather than passive aggression. A youngster who learns to look at both sides of an issue and to listen to the other side prior to deciding on a course of action is a lot more likely to succeed and actually end up being a respected leader.

The world could use benefit from learning to listen to opposing views rather than labeling those with contrary views. As a very important person in this moldable young man's life, what kind of role model do you want to be? That may begrandpa's most important job. Do it well.

Denis (trying to be a good grandpa to two great kids)
 








 
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