well, i've been doing ok for the first couple months on my own. this month has been quite busy actually so i can't complain.
these are pics of a project i did for a place i worked part time at before i opened my own shop. it is the frame for a leak test stand for a specific exhaust system. i did some of the tooling as well but i didn't bother with many pics of that stuff. i'll post up pics of the fully assembled stand. i dropped it off at my customer's shop so they could wire everything up and install all the tooling onto it. the down side to this project was that i didn't have my mig until after i completed it... the up side though was that i was paid hourly for it so it didn't matter so much.



more shop stuff:



i got most of my equipment at auctions... there are some pretty good deals to be had at them for sure.
i have been doing a lot of this kinda stuff as well... industrial valve actuation. customer provides the valve and the actuator and i mount them together with a coupler joining them. pretty basic stuff but it is decent money when they give you an order for 30 at once.


just some welds on one of the tooling pieces for the leak test frame:



for anyone considering starting your own business, no matter what it is, there are a lot of things you don't consider in the beginning. i'm more of a hands on person so i'm not into doing the paperwork stuff, but i've found i spend almost as much time at the desk as i do in the shop... it is suprising at how little you actually get done in a day when you are the one who has to run out and pick up material, drop stuff off... thankfully one of my biggest customers is in the unit next to mine!

 

Nice pics, hope everything works out for you in the future.

 

yea man, hope everything goes well for you in the future.

awesome welds to man! welding is hard as hell haha.

 

Nice work bro! those welds are some of the best i've seen. i know Minitruckers that would love to have quality work like that done for their air ride. some of those guys got ---- work done at underworld customs

can you make tow hooks?

 

Good stuff Aaron! Is that blue thing what those big black metal beams turned out into?

 

Nice looking shop and I totally agree with the quality work..

those are some really nice welds, extremley more nicer then the ones I see on TV...

so does your business possibly cater to anything automotive?

 

nice welding, looks like fun

 

if you can think it, i can make it. i'm pretty confident that i can make whatever you might need. $ is your only limitation!

it was made from 6" square tube. i'll have to post up some more pics once it is all assembled.

yes i can do automotive fab work, i just don't do stuff like full exhausts since i don't have a hoist. also my shop is dock loading only which limits me a bit... but that isn't to say i couldn't do a full exhaust, i just think anyone could find it cheaper at an exhaust shop. i have done a range of auto stuff from turbo manifolds and downpipes to redrilling rotors. i try to keep it to fab related stuff though. i'm not into doing oilchanges. :P

 

So you have the CNC machine yet?

 

i wish. i could sure use it this weekend! i have to drill and tap more than 1200 holes by monday morning. hopefully by the end of the first year i'll have one. that is my goal.

 

good luck dude! CNC machines for the win.

 

When that happens, I'll be at your shop all the time Aaron.:GrinDev:

 

r u gen. machinist or tool & die?

 

tool and die, although all my experience in the trade is with plastic injection moulding... from new tool build to repair, design, troubleshooting, prototyping, reverse engineering, programming, welding...

 

i used to work in plastic injection molding....well, i did extrusion really but the raw material i made was for plastic injection.

 

nice! tool n die for life!, i also worked in plastic and metal injection for pulp molds