General welding questions that dont fit in TIG, MIG, Stick, or Certification etc.
Post Reply
motox
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Nov 28, 2013 12:49 pm
  • Location:
    Delaware

just a thought but when i was young (a long time ago)
i would save up the amount for something, then buy
it on credit and pay it off. that way if i got in a jam
i would have the cash to pay for it. funny though
i always seemed to be able to pay it off.
this leaves you money for a larger purchase later.
craig
htp invertig 221
syncrowave 250
miller 140 mig
hypertherm plasma
morse 14 metal devil
User avatar
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Sun Feb 12, 2017 1:08 am
  • Location:
    N Georgia USA

motox wrote:just a thought but when i was young (a long time ago)
i would save up the amount for something, then buy
it on credit and pay it off. that way if i got in a jam
i would have the cash to pay for it. funny though
i always seemed to be able to pay it off.
this leaves you money for a larger purchase later.
craig
I tend to only purchase things that I need, can afford to buy outright, and have either personally tried or have a solid reputation. That being said, I "want what I want when I want it" and will become very creative in achieving the goals of acquiring the items required (overtime, odd jobs, budgets etc.).
"Why is there never time to do anything right the first time but always time to do it again?"
jroark
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:39 pm
  • Location:
    Ramseur, NC

We'll I'm 35 now with two kids. 11 and 6. My wife homeschools and my income is all we live on. That said I've already hit the tight wad stage. Haha. You guys do have some good ideas on how to save $$ though. That's now where I'm finding myself is in the thinking of "hey, I can save money". However,,, I also realize it takes money to make it. I'm not too afraid of debt but with my wife and kids I dont stretch out too far. I like all the ideas so far. Auctions and borrowing the amount I've saved is pretty good.
My idea behind the plasma was maybe eventually getting a burn table. Lincoln has the plasmania sale going on and their torchmate stuff got me thinking. I have no idea what those cost though. The 625 model was what I was thinking about. Or the hypertherm. Those seem like the best way to go on a plasma. Thanks again for the ideas.
exnailpounder
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Dec 25, 2014 9:25 am
  • Location:
    near Chicago

Craigslist can be a gem for finding good used equipment. When I decided to get back into tig, I bought a used Syncrowave 200 from a guy off CL for cheap. The machine didn't look like it had ever been used and it worked great. I got a new machine and sold the 200 for $400 more than I paid for it 8-). Quite a bit of my equipment I have picked up used at auctions and estate sales and like everyone else, I buy things as I need them unless I spot a deal I can't pass up. I buy old equipment and fix it up and resell too. Fills in the gaps when work gets slow and there is good money to be made.
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
User avatar
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:40 pm
  • Location:
    Near New Orleans

e-bay can be a remarkable source, too, if you're both patient and diligent. Our purchasing/parts manager recently found a $28-30K piece of equipment in "easily mistaken for new) condition in Singapore for $8000. Got it shipped for $800. Got what I needed to hook it up for $150. It turned out to have an internal problem that I could fix in less than five hours (about $425 in hours not sold to a customer, plus my burden rate), and now it works like it just came off the factory floor. Total investment less than half the cost of new for a precision instrument that doesn't have a speck of dust on it anywhere (yet).

e-bay also lets you research seller ratings and complaints for those who do regular business there.

(Oh, and it nearly doubles my productivity over the other, "simpler" one we were sold "rebuilt" and I had eight hours of internal repairs on...)

Steve S
User avatar

Otto Nobedder wrote:e-bay can be a remarkable source, too, if you're both patient and diligent. Our purchasing/parts manager recently found a $28-30K piece of equipment in "easily mistaken for new) condition in Singapore for $8000. Got it shipped for $800. Got what I needed to hook it up for $150. It turned out to have an internal problem that I could fix in less than five hours (about $425 in hours not sold to a customer, plus my burden rate), and now it works like it just came off the factory floor. Total investment less than half the cost of new for a precision instrument that doesn't have a speck of dust on it anywhere (yet).

e-bay also lets you research seller ratings and complaints for those who do regular business there.

(Oh, and it nearly doubles my productivity over the other, "simpler" one we were sold "rebuilt" and I had eight hours of internal repairs on...)

Steve S
Patience and diligence of the good kind. Did you get a new helium mass spectrometer?
Richard
Website
User avatar
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:40 pm
  • Location:
    Near New Orleans

LtBadd wrote: Patience and diligence of the good kind. Did you get a new helium mass spectrometer?
I did! A Varian 979.

I couldn't be more pleased with the purchase. I meant quite literally that my time-to-test (or more accurately, time to the next test) has been cut in half.

Add to that, my confidence in results is much higher, so I waste less time repeating tests.

Steve S
exnailpounder
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Dec 25, 2014 9:25 am
  • Location:
    near Chicago

Otto Nobedder wrote:e-bay can be a remarkable source, too, if you're both patient and diligent. Our purchasing/parts manager recently found a $28-30K piece of equipment in "easily mistaken for new) condition in Singapore for $8000. Got it shipped for $800. Got what I needed to hook it up for $150. It turned out to have an internal problem that I could fix in less than five hours (about $425 in hours not sold to a customer, plus my burden rate), and now it works like it just came off the factory floor. Total investment less than half the cost of new for a precision instrument that doesn't have a speck of dust on it anywhere (yet).

e-bay also lets you research seller ratings and complaints for those who do regular business there.

(Oh, and it nearly doubles my productivity over the other, "simpler" one we were sold "rebuilt" and I had eight hours of internal repairs on...)

Steve S
My buddy is quite the bargain finder. He bought a fully automated machine that makes crown molding in one pass and he figured out how to make it produce top rail for pool tables. $90,000 brand new. Found it on some site and got it for $4500. The thing is huge and probably worth that in scrap.He took his truck and trailer to Texas to pick it up so shipping wasn't much. That sounds like the deal of a lifetime but the machine was older and obsolete and no one wanted it but it was rarely used so it was in really good shape and exactly what he wanted. Those deals are out there but you really have to look for them but persistence usually pays off.
Ifyoucantellmewhatthissaysiwillbuyyouabeer.
User avatar
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Wed Jan 22, 2014 12:00 am
  • Location:
    Connecticut

The best advice is to save the money. In business you want to have enough working capital to operate for at least 6 months. Granted that may not apply to a side hustle, but still, I wouldn't buy anything until you need it for a specific job. If you are making money and generating cash flow, try to put aside enough money to pay the mortgage and feed the family for 6 months. Only when you have that covered would I look at other things.
Multimatic 255
Poland308
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Sep 10, 2015 8:45 pm
  • Location:
    Iowa

Louie1961 wrote:The best advice is to save the money. In business you want to have enough working capital to operate for at least 6 months. Granted that may not apply to a side hustle, but still, I wouldn't buy anything until you need it for a specific job. If you are making money and generating cash flow, try to put aside enough money to pay the mortgage and feed the family for 6 months. Only when you have that covered would I look at other things.

Solid advice! Especially if it's a side Hustle. No telling when you may need to turn it into the full time gig. Then that capital could very well be the difference between failure and success.
I have more questions than answers

Josh
User avatar
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Jan 06, 2011 11:40 pm
  • Location:
    Near New Orleans

Poland308 wrote:
Louie1961 wrote:The best advice is to save the money. In business you want to have enough working capital to operate for at least 6 months. Granted that may not apply to a side hustle, but still, I wouldn't buy anything until you need it for a specific job. If you are making money and generating cash flow, try to put aside enough money to pay the mortgage and feed the family for 6 months. Only when you have that covered would I look at other things.

Solid advice! Especially if it's a side Hustle. No telling when you may need to turn it into the full time gig. Then that capital could very well be the difference between failure and success.
That's an excellent point! In the present world economy, one never knows when his side hustle might become the only thing putting food on the table. My work, that at one time I thought bulletproof, was disrupted for three months. I spent that time working with others behind the scenes to make it come back, but not everyone has that (rare) opportunity. I was in the right place at the right time, or I'd have been looking for a new gig at 46, and I would not have been happy about it.

Steve S
jroark
  • Posts:
  • Joined:
    Thu Jul 16, 2015 2:39 pm
  • Location:
    Ramseur, NC

Right now I mig weld on production pay and I know I won't be able to do this forever so I do need a backup plan. The side work so far has been a lot of friends and family but actually paying ones. Mostly family or friends that are in business and needed something welded. I'm trying not to get too spread out because I work a pretty steady 40 and don't feel like working another 40 with kids and a wife to spend time with. I love my family.
Saving is the solid way to go but I do decent on my day job so the side money is just extra money. It does come in handy though. I guess I'm just looking more for an investment in something work related since that'll probably do better than any 401k or stock market stuff at this point. I like Jody's saying "don't be afraid to invest in yourself".
Post Reply