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Road to MK Proto starts here. My shop, and Background

MK Proto

Hot Rolled
Joined
Mar 7, 2011
Location
Bensalem, PA
Not much for words like some on this board, but I have received a few messages from members here at PM, asking how I started etc. Maybe this may answer the questions asked as I will blabber about how and why and show some pictures in the process. Any constructive criticism is always welcome and will don my flame suit now.


After getting out of the Navy and moving witha girlfriend to Wi, a friend of the family gave me a job in his shop until I found my car stereo installer job. Turns out, g-code was pretty simple and digitizing trimming paths on a 5axis router was actually pretty fun. Had the AutoCad down as I had been running that since I was in 7th grade. Must thank my Dad for making it available to me, along with the snazzy 486 dx2 with a 66mhz turbo button and a math co-processor. Pretty soon I was programming in Bob cad, and Surfcam. Got over worked broke up with the girlfriend and moved back to NJ working for my father. I swore I could make it as a machine shop in about 2004. Bought a seat of solidworks and solid cam and bought a entire shop.

Bostomatic 300 cnc with a 8k 40 taper spndle and a I-Bag 50k rpm spindle. Boy 22s injection molder, 500 ton hobbing press, Eltee Pulsitron Ram EDM, Harig 612 surface grinder, Dake heated platen press, Loagn power matic lathe and a Ex-cello manual mill. Pretty good start. SO I THOUGHT !!
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1st job was some 1/2 hard copper heat sinks for BAE i got from a sheet metal shop. That was some long nights and lots of splinters from the high speed spindle and the little copper filings. Since i had no experience with metals, I came into it with a router mentality and used the 50k spindle at 34k rpm and 30ipm cutting 2 a 1/8" deep with a 1/8" 4flute endmill. Lets say this shop wound up stirring my desire to work for someone, but really got me into the metal working side of machining. What I did learn was that a bowed clamping plate boted down works awesome. I think this was the first time I could not use vacuum to hold something down.
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This go round did dot work wout so well as I had absolutely no idea how to really sell my services or how to get new customers. The sheet metal shop did not have much machine work to doll out and I wound up taking a Job at AET programming and setting up 5axis Haas, Rambaudis, FPT, Mikrons. Again the owner took a gamble on me panning out and it was into the fire. While at AET i had the luck of working with some extremely sharp programmers and machinists who definitely could think outside the box. So on with the 80 hour weeks and picking up what ever i could. Learned Catia, and would up being the small machine lead. My main responsibilities were any thing that needed to be done. Mop the floor, take out trash program bad ass machines. Awesome. Then Eclipse Aviation decided to file for bankruptcy and AET was on the slide down with them.
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I moved to a product development company to get back into the CAD and design side of things. within 6 months we had a 5axis haas in the little shop and I was sitting at a machine programming, on the bright side I did get to sit in with all the engineers and was surrounded again by a very bright group of people who I was able to learn from as well as teach them some things about how to make a part easy to make. Working on projects from anything from drug delivery systems, Medical instruments, chemical detection equipement, night vision, armored vehicle doors. this was the cats ass. But the pay was not really great and with a new house and wife I was looking for more. So right before we got married I quit my job took a few weeks off to get married and go on a honeymoon, then I would look for a ob when I got back. (Yeah she actually let me quit my job. Definitely picked a winner :D
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We return from sunny Orlando after drinking around the world, and generally I was bored of not having enough to do. So I took a job at a sheet metal company that wanted to expand their machining capabilities. During my stay here and while working on my project car, I convinced the wife that I should put a machine in the garage to do some prototypes for people and I can make my own car parts. So i picked up a Super Mini Mill in the Spring of 2010 and decided I needed a room to keep the noise down. The building of the interior room in the garage was about all my wife could take. I couldn't put trim up but I can build and sheet rock a garage in 2 days. Never realized how much crap I had accumulated over the years so above the machines was storage.

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Have a little prototype job to run 10pcs of each for a medical rehabilitation company. and was doing some overflow work for the company I was working for. Life was good. good job, made the 25k back that I had paid for the machine. Then the medical company wants 100 units of each a month can you do it. My eyes lit up and my wife still being supportive says if you think you can do it. So i did. After about 2 months they wanted 300 units a month. I decided after a week I could not do this alone. Had a friend who said he would run the machine during the day. and I was set. Machine ran all day while I was at work. I would come home run more parts and setup the next days job.

Things went well for 3 weeks and then some past coworkers found out I had a machine and were calling asking if I could do work for them. Not one to say no. I started taking in more jobs and needed another machine. Called up Haas and ordered a VM2. Orders and new customers are coming in from all over. I went to 30 hrs a week at the day job. Owner was supportive of the move since they had purchased another company and were moving the shop out of state. Made me an offer to go but the wife has had it and said just start your own shop. (Gee I thought I already did :nutter:)...

So VM is a few weeks out and I finally got around to measuring and doing a layout and was like crap. I am going to have to modify my room, not sure where all the lawn equipment would go, needed a bigger rotary phase converter. After pricing a rotary phase converter, I decided I needed a building. Limit. Had to be within 5 mins of the house. Just happend to be driving by the post office and I found a shop. couple days later got the lease signed and had a new building to move the shop to.
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I had the building. Started to move everything I could out of the garage but leave enough to keep the machine going and making parts. Decided the 30 hrs a week and 70 at home wenrt working and quit the day job. Finally have customers, have new equipment coming in. I have been asked if I thought the first shop was a bad idea. I guess in some ways it was. It was way to early and did not have a clue in the grand scheme of things. What it led me to was AET and the other jobs that allowed me to gain the experience and knowledge to get a better start this time around. I can say that I still work 80-100 hours a week and 7 days but it is in my case and addiction to work that I have always had from my 3 paper routs when I was 11 to joining the navy because my step mom told me working 3 jobs was not as good as a better job. So I signed up and became a Fire Controlman and served aboard the USS Princeton CG-59 as a AEGI computer technician. Electronics were cool. Big guns and missiles were cool. sitting in the middle of the ocean well was cool the first time average the second, and then I realized that when we were underway I was working 16-18 hour days non stop. Damn just like having 3 jobs but got paid a whole lot less than I did when I worked at Sport Authority and McDonalds.
 
This is awesome!. So did your first customers look down at you for starting in your garage? I get that a lot.
 
Actually the garage was never a concern for my customers. My largest customer was out of state and had never been to my facility, and the other customers just wanted parts fast. I was averaging a 2-7 day turn around for any job. The production parts were a blessing as they financed the growth and the ability to move out of the garage as it was steady income. The real money was in the fast turn around parts and the complex parts that customers wanted fast.


Thanks
the DRS part was for a display for AUSA, and maybe some other show. it was for a phased array radar. so we gave it a good simulation of what it would be. here are a few more pictures of it being made. The guy in the picture is a good friend Dave. Helps give you a sense of scale.
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No problem with the ITAR. This is a display not a technical model or prototype. It was actually just hob cobbled together from a couple pictures to make it look like a mast of a ship.

The out of state customer was a company who purchased the rights to one of my dads inventions. Who I knew from talking to them almost every day about equipment they rented and owned from my dads company where I was technical support as well as an assembly technician, product manager, and designer. I never had the idea of doing more than a few prototypes. I re-designed the parts from sheet metal to machined gear housings which made the product more robust and more marketable.

Connections from my job hopping was really how I have managed to grow my customer base, as well as referals. I have not done any sale per say, but yet I do do sales in the fact that I still have to sell my capabilities to new customers. the existing customers are still a challenge as I do all the quoting programming, setup, material ordering, quality checks. I cant forget that my father inlaw has really been the reason that many of the parts go out the door as he mans the machines for me every day now, and owe him more than I could pay him for enabling MK Proto to grow more.

Moving in day to the new shop. November 1st 2010. VM2 arrived first then went to pick up all the stuff from the garage.

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No problem with the ITAR. This is a display not a technical model or prototype. It was actually just hob cobbled together from a couple pictures to make it look like a mast of a ship.

The out of state customer was a company who purchased the rights to one of my dads inventions. Who I knew from talking to them almost every day about equipment they rented and owned from my dads company where I was technical support as well as an assembly technician, product manager, and designer. I never had the idea of doing more than a few prototypes. I re-designed the parts from sheet metal to machined gear housings which made the product more robust and more marketable.

Connections from my job hopping was really how I have managed to grow my customer base, as well as referals. I have not done any sale per say, but yet I do do sales in the fact that I still have to sell my capabilities to new customers. the existing customers are still a challenge as I do all the quoting programming, setup, material ordering, quality checks. I cant forget that my father inlaw has really been the reason that many of the parts go out the door as he mans the machines for me every day now, and owe him more than I could pay him for enabling MK Proto to grow more.

Moving in day to the new shop. November 1st 2010. VM2 arrived first then went to pick up all the stuff from the garage.

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Looks really good! Got to sell sell sell. Machining parts is one thing but you have to be able to sell. And getting parts out the door fast and right is another positive.
 
Boy that shelf in the last pic does not look up to the task you have assigned it!! LOL

Awesome story. How did it feel having your garage back at home? Since 90% of my garage has migrated to the shop, I find I don't spend much time at home. The wife just told me the other day she thinks I should bring my tools back home LOL!

Keep it coming.........
 
Boy that shelf in the last pic does not look up to the task you have assigned it!! LOL

Awesome story. How did it feel having your garage back at home? Since 90% of my garage has migrated to the shop, I find I don't spend much time at home. The wife just told me the other day she thinks I should bring my tools back home LOL!

Keep it coming.........


That is my Erowa Starter kit. lol. 3 UPC Chucks a few pallets, 2 148mm power chucks 3 Alignment gauges, and of course 12 MTS zero point chucks. One thing I pulled from AET besides the Experience, was that automation has no replacement, and even in a small qty scenario, you can get more work done with a robot (or sometimes a giant swimming pool when they build thier own coolant system lol).. But over all, taking this forward, I made it a point when I cam across items that would aid in automation I picked them up. Such as this ....

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The beauty of this robot is that is has a pivot axis that allows me to load a table mounted chuck as well as pick the vertically oriented part and stuff it in a 4th axis and don some more operations. With 50 stations, I can leave and get 50 parts done. Of course, this can also be chalked up as a lesson learned or not followed through on, which now I can can say it was floow through was I never fully implemented it, and have only ran a few parts. Big plans to change pallet orientation etc, got me side tracked, when I would have been better off spending the week and subsequent time really setting myself up for success. Here it is by the haas where it has loaded a total of 30 parts. Had to choose a plastic part that did not need coolant as again I squandered my time, instead of implementing what I had.

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For you sharp eyes you will notice that a cmm has replaced the Super Mini Mill. This was a extremely sore point with me and Haas. I had plopped $40k down on a new DT1 and rotary tables only to find out that when I did not receive my 24 Hr notice for delivery of the machine (6 weeks later) that it had been sold. I was livid. Not only did they not call me to let me know, I had to take the demo machine and wait till after their demo day so everyone else got to see it. I made sure I went even though I did not register and make sure that they knew I was pissed. With the excuses I got yada yada, I really wanted to pull my order and get a refund but I decided to wait the week until I could get that machine which was not exactly what I wanted but close enough for what I was doing. I also decided to pick up a older Star SH12 swiss lathe as I was sick of not being able to get simple turned shafts form any supplier.. Dollar for dollar I have made more money on that machine than any other in the shop.

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As far as my wife is concerned she is very much a integral part of the company, even in her 3 days a week. None absolutely none of this would have not been possible with out her financial support, personal support (you know the days when you come home and say screw it, I am quitting!, I am just going to sell it all... lol), and really just putting up with someone who just got married and is now working 100+ hours a week, not paying her as much attention as I should and to be honest, I cant say it was worth it yet, but it is getting to the point where the struggle is starting to pay off.. No to see how as my wife calls them our kids (wierd women) can learn some manners and stay out of my resting place!!

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You might also notice around the door. That door and behind the couch is all the trim that I ever got up in the house after we bought it.. That was 6 years ago... :wall:
 
So now that I really need to go home I will add a little more. So the DT finally gets in and we are slamming part out of the machine. the thing just plain drills and taps and you can thow a little milling into the mix. Wait almost all milling. We were taking the same program from the VM putting it in the DT and shaving 1-2 mins with no changes to the programs. Nice. 3 months after the install in September of 2011. My biggest customer start the non compete and contract crap. Unwilling to sign it. In April of 2012 90% of the work disappeared. Boy Ohh Boy was I a little distraught. The next 2 months were not banner months. I finally made a couple calls, and got a little work in the door. Good busy work. I don't know what changed but after looking like we were in the dumps I noticed that we had added 10-15 new customers and were back to our normal output cash flow wise, but I was working a lot less. I started looking at what jobs I was winning and what I was loosing, and turning was showing up more and more, and my turning vendors were either late, too busy to meet the time lines I was getting. I decided that we were going to get a turning center. Problem was the credit score at the time said no way. We kept getting work sending it out, and when we tallied up our outside turing cost at the end of the year, it was a whopping 124k we sent out just for turning :crazy:... That was enough for us to put plan b in motion. We dialed back on spending and going out and come May 2013 We had turned the credit score around enough to get the Lathe. I settled on a in stock Okuma L400, with the IGF. Now it is hurry up and wait..

New Okuma Day.
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So the first job on the machine was a pretty simple Stainless part. 20130602_073316.jpg

Then followed 1500 316 ss parts.
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I started to like turning parts. It is difficult since I don't work on the swiss or the lathe daily flopping between the swiss and the lathe. Damn z inversion. I also realized that thought I can mill almost anything. I am much more reluctant to throw myself into turning work. I tend to spend a lot of time really figuring out how long it will take. I have some customers who give me feedback and sometimes I am ridiculously low and other I am ridiculously high. I still haven't figured out pricing structure for turned parts besides a similar part and what I have paid for it, but with qty parts I know I am lacking some efficiency getting things done as fast as other shops, being I don't have full time employees which is an area of improvement I am still working on.
 
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That is nice! Those okuma are nice machines. I program a lot of LB3000 and LB4000 and love them. Did you go with the CAPTO tool holders? If you don't use them right they are a waste and much more expensive than the shank holders.
 
I am very happy with the Okuma. Did some cast iron today. .135 DOC and a .012 feed and just chugged right through it. Cant really do any more DOC as I am only using a 332 CNMG.

The turret is a plain jane 1" sticks. Still tooling it up. seems like almost every job I get I have to pick up a new boring bar, and back working tool, another few packs of inserts. I think just the tooling sofar is in the roughly 15-20k range. I know you cant really count inserts, but I haven't gotten down to itemizing my tooling purchases yet.
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And what post would not be complete with out a tool drawer picture or two.

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I am not all caught up yet (hey Reb - Kiss my Gritz!) but I hafta ask about this hyah pic:


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Did this guy actually have his fork truck licence?
I don't have one myself - so I don't have a clue what they teach you there, but I would like to think that there is some ettiquette that is being trampled on tremendously there...


????



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Think Snow Eh!
Ox
 
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