Getting spoiled at work.. FINALLY!

[747mopar]

When I first took this job (Maintenance) I was horrified with what I saw, these poor souls had a cobbled up Craftsman drill press, a couple grinders, a Hobart arc welder, a set of torches and an incomplete set of tools! They never got new metal but instead kept all of the old equipment and parts to later raid for building material.. everything was build out of junk! No bandsaw, you had to torch everything.. I got really good at making clean straight cuts, grinding skills improved as well haha.. It was a joke!!

Trying to make the best out of the situation I brought a bandsaw from home to work and begged for a mill and lathe. Every time a cylinder broke.. if only I had a lathe, shaft breaks.. if only I had a mill and so on. Finally they humor me, knowing they'd never spend much I found a well used Bridgeport and a 16"x54" Southbend lathe (POS) that both left much to be desired but would get the job done.

Fast forward many years where they've now seen the lack of downtime, the equipment built 100% in house, the cost savings from making our own parts, etc, etc and things have changed. Today I was looking around and realized that in just this year alone we've added a DoAll bandsaw, replaced the Bridgeport with a much beefier Lagun with a digital readout (excellent condition), bought a portable magnetic base Milwaukee drill press and I just got this baby delivered today! I was even able to pick up a Cushman 4 jaw chuck and a taper attachment as part of the deal.. sweet!!

If that isn't exciting enough they also gave me the greenlight to fully renovate the machine shop which is super drafty, uninsulated and just downright nasty!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Awesome!!! Many companies I do work for are eliminating in house machine shops.... I don't know how the people in charge justify it....

 

[Brandy]

Congratulations!!!

 

[conv67bdere]

That's awesome, you've demonstrated your skills and they know the equipment will pay off with the projects that you deliver.

 

[Cranky]

That's a pretty big LaBlond! I have a 15" servo shift in my shop but at work, we had two 15's and two 17's and they were pretty sweet but they were more suited to finish work than hogging. That one looks like a 'hogger' lol. The machine that I used at work was a 20" Lodge AVS with variable speed and I loved that thing. What I'd do to have it here! Also have a 10x50 Lagun mill and it's pretty decent too. Bridgeport copy but a nice one made in Spain. What kind of lathe is that behind the LaBlond?

 

[Fran Blacker]

When I first took this job (Maintenance) I was horrified with what I saw, these poor souls had a cobbled up Craftsman drill press, a couple grinders, a Hobart arc welder, a set of torches and an incomplete set of tools! They never got new metal but instead kept all of the old equipment and parts to later raid for building material.. everything was build out of junk! No bandsaw, you had to torch everything.. I got really good at making clean straight cuts, grinding skills improved as well haha.. It was a joke!!

Trying to make the best out of the situation I brought a bandsaw from home to work and begged for a mill and lathe. Every time a cylinder broke.. if only I had a lathe, shaft breaks.. if only I had a mill and so on. Finally they humor me, knowing they'd never spend much I found a well used Bridgeport and a 16"x54" Southbend lathe (POS) that both left much to be desired but would get the job done.

Fast forward many years where they've now seen the lack of downtime, the equipment built 100% in house, the cost savings from making our own parts, etc, etc and things have changed. Today I was looking around and realized that in just this year alone we've added a DoAll bandsaw, replaced the Bridgeport with a much beefier Lagun with a digital readout (excellent condition), bought a portable magnetic base Milwaukee drill press and I just got this baby delivered today! I was even able to pick up a Cushman 4 jaw chuck and a taper attachment as part of the deal.. sweet!!

If that isn't exciting enough they also gave me the greenlight to fully renovate the machine shop which is super drafty, uninsulated and just downright nasty! View attachment 1215417

Sounds like they stopped being penny wise and dollar foolish.

 

[Richard Cranium]

That's a pretty big LaBlond!

I had a big Lablond once. She damn near killed me when she was on top.

 

[zyzzyx]

Nice LeBlond! G&L Radial arm, sounds like you've come a long way! Nice that someone listened, and
they're lucky to have you. Getting a company to spend money on used equipment is like pulling teeth!
Their bean counters ought to understand that when they buy some New stuff, they can write it off and
get a big return on their money. You sound like you're very happy there, and like your job! Have fun!

 

[747mopar]

That's a pretty big LaBlond! I have a 15" servo shift in my shop but at work, we had two 15's and two 17's and they were pretty sweet but they were more suited to finish work than hogging. That one looks like a 'hogger' lol. The machine that I used at work was a 20" Lodge AVS with variable speed and I loved that thing. What I'd do to have it here! Also have a 10x50 Lagun mill and it's pretty decent too. Bridgeport copy but a nice one made in Spain. What kind of lathe is that behind the LaBlond?

It's a 22"×72". I hadn't really planned on going quite that big but could use the extra capacity often, for it's capacity it's still a reasonable sized machine which I really liked. No idea on what the other lathe was, it was in their shop area where they test run the machines.. just looking I'd say it's an import so I likely didn't even look at it.

I elected to invite dad for the trip, 50+ years of being a machinist and running damn near everything under the sun is a mighty handy bit of knowledge plus a good excuse to take a 3 hour drive with pops. Obviously he has his favorites so I went with the intentions of buying a Monarch, Leblond, American Pacemaker or a Lodge and Shipley.. no servo, clutched, etc. This particular one had it all and was in excellent condition.

I'll likely be adding on to my own garage soon, with dad getting up there in age he's slowing down and told me to take the Monarch 10EE and Cincinnati toolmaster to my shop.... I've got a chubby for his 61 series Monarch, what a dream to run!!

 

[kiwigtx]

Congratulations!!!

Ditto that....congrats on the upgraded machinery.

 

[Outlawd]

It's amazing how a nice tool or building upgrade changes your mindset at work. If it makes your job easier and more enjoyable then it makes a good day at work!

 

[Brandy]

Yeah, every time we got new weapons or upgraded technology we smiled....knowing it would make it easier to stack bodies some day...

 

[Hey-O]

Awesome!!! Many companies I do work for are eliminating in house machine shops.... I don't know how the people in charge justify it....

It's easier to have it done out than deal with finding qualified workers, insurance, space, wages, equipment and dealing with making sure it get done. By the time I left Chrysler all they wanted to do was build cars and they would have outsourced that if they could.

 

[VFilms]

Sounds like you're a talented guy. Show a lathe to someone under 30 and they'll ask were the monitor is.

 

[rumblefish360]

Awesome!!! Many companies I do work for are eliminating in house machine shops.... I don't know how the people in charge justify it....

Ether cheap chink stuff or workers cobble a fix.
Greed in the offices or to thin a wallet.

Sounds like they stopped being penny wise and dollar foolish.

Freakin-A! Sometimes you gotta spend the dough, even if it hurts. To be in biz, to stay in biz, you can not under any circumstances afford to have the shop under perform. My son in law just went through this at his job where they repair trucks. Peter builts, Vovols, internationals, etc… fire trucks, etc…

He is very smart and super talented which didn’t take long for the owners to realize and they actually listened to him. The shop went from being in the red into the black for the first time in years. They doubled the work force of mechanics and have a waiting list to get in.

The new machinery has made turn around times drop and productivity went up.

 

[padam]

Nice job on convincing your company to keep it in house!
Most places are doing the opposite.

 

[zyzzyx]

Friend of mine owns a small machine shop. His two twenty-something sons work there mostly
full time except for school. They both program and run two Hurco VMC's. They just bought a
new Mazak turning center and the one son and the Father program and run that. Do you believe
that niether kid knows how to set-up and run a Bridgeport????? WTF! I mean, they can use it
like a drill press, but not run a job in it. Ha!

 

[Triplegreen500]

Awesome!!! Many companies I do work for are eliminating in house machine shops.... I don't know how the people in charge justify it....

Any in Maryland? I can always find a use for old machine tools...

 

[MarPar]

Sounds like they stopped being penny wise and dollar foolish.

Stepping over a dollar to save a nickel.

Congrats Dev!

 

[440 PHIXX]

Nice! My shop was just purchased by a new owner that is spending some money. I’m programming and running a Fadal 6535 VMC 4 axis with a Fanuc 18i control. They’re looking at some new machines.