creative machine funding ideas

[darkzero]

darkzero is speaking my language though .... i like the idea of making gadgets and stuff to sell , i like that idea a whole lot .
i wouldnt mind hearing what kind of things you made , and some good ideas for myself .

Here are a few of the things I made to fund my mill & other things. Best to come up with your own ideas if possible as unique & creativity sells better.

Everything is made out of titanium 6Al4V:

Snip....

 

[master53yoda]

I have funded most of my machine purchase by recycling aluminum and selling the ingots on ebay and internet, It took a bit to get the bugs out of the system and my background had combustion and electrical so making the furnaces was just a matter of getting the design needs worked out, I made three furnaces before I got the last titling furnace large enough. I did a little over $10,000.00 last year. 3700 lbs

This video is of the furnace
[video=youtube;l1nkH6GmmXk]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1nkH6GmmXk&list=UUOn4Bp7FC-n5yHvsXfd_yZg[/video]


this video is of pouring the ingots
[video=youtube;RpMpNUJkwpo]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpMpNUJkwpo&list=UUOn4Bp7FC-n5yHvsXfd_yZg&index=3[/video]


This is 220 lbs of ingots




This is one of the packages that I ship


Art B

 

[Ulma Doctor]

I have funded most of my machine purchase by recycling aluminum and selling the ingots on ebay and internet, It took a bit to get the bugs out of the system and my background had combustion and electrical so making the furnaces was just a matter of getting the design needs worked out, I made three furnaces before I got the last titling furnace large enough. I did a little over $10,000.00 last year. 3700 lbs


Art B

That's a mighty fine smelting operation you have there ART!!!
:thumbzup3:

 

[master53yoda]

I started casting to make tooling for my 109 lathe, and modifiying a drill press to a mill drill fine feed, selling the ingots got started by accident when i had about 75 lb left over and put them on EBAY. I sold 250 in the first two weeks, then i had to figure out how to do production and get enough scrap it has just progressed from there. One of things is being able to fire on Natural gas and keep the cost down.

Art B

 

[bosephus]

that is one heck of a foundry , my first full time job was shaking sand and grinding in a small foundry . rough work , but i was always disappointed they shut down before i got the chance to learn anything .

darkzero , that is some neat stuff . kudo's on the very nice work . .... would you mind if i stole the money holder idea and made of for myself , i have a nice little piece of brass that would look spiffy .



i did some thinking of my own , why not rethink some of the things i have made for myself ,.. surely if i need one someone else does as well .

so my first idea came from a dilemma i had with my favorite hobby other than machining of course . reloading for my 577-.450 martini henry .
sizing the cases , a person rarely needs to full length size the cases unless you shoot them from different rifles , and the only neck sizing die you can buy is well over 100 bucks. then you need a reloading press that takes a bigger die to use them .
so one of my first projects with my lathe was to make a simple neck sizing die to fit my press .. a nice standard 7/8-14 thread

this afternoon i whipped out a second one ,... took about two hours start to finish .
i am going to list it on ebay soon as i decide the best day and time to end an auction on , my thinking is early sunday afternoon
im open to advice here as i am not a regular ebay user .

i think $25 is a nice round number to start it at .


i am open to suggestions and sound advice at anytime .

i'll post a pic once my nephew stops by and takes some

 

[stupoty]

Do you have any hacker spaces or maker spaces near you? I hear america is better provisioned with this sorta stuff.

they can be good places to use and share machines also someone might donate a better mill to them one day and they could give you their one ;-)

lots of them will let you help out in some way to avoid a membership cost or do discount schemes etc.

might be worth a quick web search etc.

Stuart

 

[Eddyde]

To add to Mike's suggestion of buying and selling on eBay and Craigslist.

Successful selling depends largely on effective ad copywriting, that is, a colorful and accurate description of the item. Also good photos of the item are very important.
Always be 100% truthful and let the potential buyers be aware of any known defects/problems with the item. That will build your positive feedback as a seller, which is very important in getting people to buy from you.

Craigslist has a free stuff section that can be quite lucrative source of things for resale, depending on where you live.

Hope that helps.

 

[chuckorlando]

End your ebay adds on Fri night or Sat night. Say 9 or so. Thats pay check spending time. Come sunday everyone is broke. Or do a buy it now and end it when ever

 

[compsurge]

A G0602 + $37 + a little bit of inspiration... Sounds like you have a good start.

Do you have any metal suppliers near you where you can get some round bar?

Maybe you can list yourself on Craigslist for small jobs with the lathe.

Have you tried making pens? Pens on crowd funding sites are usually a hit if the design is good. Pen collectors are a weird bunch and always looking for a unique model. I love quality, weighty pens, so I always RUN from those before they take my money hew:.

If you have a video camera, you could make a YouTube channel and just make fun things. It takes a lot of work commenting on other channels (and good content) to build an audience of a few thousand followers, but if you are able to build a large audience, ad revenue could help fund your purchase (you need millions of followers to make a living). Maybe you could focus on how to work around your limitations (fixed income, personal mobility and comfort, etc.).

 

[bosephus]

i am still waiting on my nephew to show up and take a few good pics for me to list on ebay , but while i wait i'll show you with a few less then good pics of what the neck size die looks like while i wait .

a couple of it being made .



and a finished product