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Scotty Con Queso
Scotty Con Queso UltraDork
10/25/23 3:56 p.m.

Wiche you may be the worst Canoe yet.  Get the [insert swear word here] out of here! 

WonkoTheSane
WonkoTheSane GRM+ Memberand UltraDork
10/25/23 4:12 p.m.
Peabody said:

In reply to WonkoTheSane :

Robodrill.

Those are great machines.  I never counted, but we probably had a dozen of them when I worked for the parts manufacturer. We beat the E36 M3 out of those things and they just kept on making parts day after day after day, with very few problems.

Absolutely!  Mine is a 1998, so she's a little old, but she mills pretty good.  I just finished making 8 of these fixture plates that are going onto a Kitamura turn-key we're doing:

I also started a youtube channel to (hopefully!) help teach people how to use some of these older machines (as well as Mastercam help), as some of the info is kinda hard to find:

https://www.youtube.com/@VectorMfg/

Lemme know if you ever need a hand programmin' yours!

 

And to answer the important questions, yes, you can fit a LS head on the pallet:

 

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UberDork
10/25/23 4:51 p.m.

In the fall of 2019 my wife (and by virtue of being married to her) and I opened her pet supply store/boutique. She was working full time for a multinational mired in a department that had no understanding of her skills as a writer and editor (17 years). When the parent company decides to merge departments it got worse and she knew the writing was on the wall. So we decided she needed to get out now (then). She already had an idea for a name, a concept and a location (on the first floor of the building she'd been working in those 17 years!)  Since she was still employed, but working from home part of time we decided to open on Black Friday 2019 and just do weekends during the holiday season to get her feet wet and learn things. She had a business plan from a course she took at the local community college, support and advice from friend/ business owners, and new her market well enough. I teach so health care is covered. I work weekends (I'm the unpaid intern). Honestly if we hadn't moved on it and opened when we did (she wanted to wait until March) it may never have happened (thanks COVID).

Anyway, she continued to work until getting fired. She got a decent severance and was able to get unemployment payments for a number of months which carried us through to the next fall. 

The business has grown, there have been teething pains, and she recently hired a part-time employee. 

We're not making much profit yet, but after four years (November 2023) it's a solid business with great return clientele both local and from out of state, and I have nothing but positive thoughts about it. This year we're adding a new section to highlight our cat products.

There was no manual for opening a business in a pandemic, but somehow she's managed to make things work. Yeah, she cries often. She think she's bankrupting us. I don't care. I came from nothing, and my car addiction keeps me poor anyway. I just help whenever and wherever I can.

TL/DR: if you have conviction and are motivated to make things work in the toughest of times then do it. Maybe it doesn't work out. So what. Try again. Success comes from failure.

Check out the store. We ship.

Houndstooth

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
10/25/23 6:36 p.m.

We grow organic vegetables, produce eggs and honey here @happyherdacres

This is our first year, we're starting to get regular customers but mostly we're burning cash at an alarming rate.

Because of that, my shop is currently being insulated and wired so I can start turning wrenches again over the the winter to make some cash. I've got a welding and fab job for a trailer coming in tomorrow. Happy about that.

Wife unit and I have both been self-employed at various things on and off over the years. Both our sets of parents have run their own businesses with varying degrees of success so all of this is nothing new.

Still terrified that we're going to fail but at worst, we will still own 44 acres of land in the middle of Saskatchewan. 

I'd rather have taken a shot at it and failed than spent the rest of my life being too scared to have tried.

Right now I'm eating a tiny bit of cat food every day so that when the time comes it will just taste normal. (joking but not really).

Toyman!
Toyman! GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/25/23 9:54 p.m.

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

Brilliant name. I love a good business name.

I also have 4 dogs so if you get an order from SC it's probably me. 

Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
10/26/23 8:50 a.m.

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

I don't have cats and dogs, but my son and his wife have cats and dog.  

This will be useful for the Holidays!

TAParker
TAParker Reader
10/26/23 9:19 a.m.

In reply to Toyman! :

Wow! What a great read. Lots of insight and useful help there. Thank you!

TAParker
TAParker Reader
10/26/23 9:21 a.m.

In reply to SV reX :

Amen

ShawnG
ShawnG MegaDork
10/26/23 7:53 p.m.

Pros and cons of running your own business. 

Pro: You're the boss.

Con: You're the boss.

 

 

Toyman!
Toyman! GRM+ Memberand MegaDork
10/26/23 8:44 p.m.

In reply to ShawnG :

That's the God's own truth. 

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UberDork
10/28/23 11:43 p.m.

In reply to Toyman! :

Thanks!

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter)
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) GRM+ Memberand UberDork
10/28/23 11:44 p.m.

In reply to Noddaz :

Thanks!

To all, let me see if the boss will offer a GRM forum member discount.

Noddaz
Noddaz GRM+ Memberand PowerDork
11/4/24 10:09 a.m.

In reply to vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) :

And you guys are still there!  Order placed for the grandpets.

https://houndstoothvt.com/

 

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