Equipment Financing - Holy Crap !!!

[Bob La Londe]

As some of you might be aware I dabble in other fields, but this item kind
of overlaps. I've been doing some CNC machining making parts on the side
for the last few years. All of my saleable work is done with desktop hobby
level machines. My big holdup has really been that I just can't make many
parts on the desktop machines before I have to tear them down and rebuild
them. I do have some repeat customers though, and I do make a few dollars
on it.

I recently decided to try and step up a little bit and see if I could
finance a couple slightly larger more robust machines. Most outfits
wouldn't even talk to me since I have not been in the CNC machine business
full time for atleast 2 years. (I don't intend to stop being a contractor
anytime soon.) I did have a few though that said they would be glad to
finance new equipment purchases... at interest rates from 45% to 60%. Wow!
Well, I am glad to see that every industry has its opportunistic sharks.
Not just the alarm industry.

I decided it would be better to just sell some equipment and pay cash. Even
at a loss on the equipment its cheaper than paying 45% or more on financing.

 

[Bob La Londe]

Bob, if you want to lease some new equipment let me know. I have leasing
options available.

Drop me a line at alarm(underscore)wizard(at)hotmail(dot)com and let me know
what you can do. I am interested in lease to own or low buyout at term
only.

 

[Bob La Londe]

I take care of electrical issues at several machine shops and they all
scream about price of new machines thats why there's such a big used
market I have seen relays and starters and transformers etc i replace on
machines go triple fold in price in last 10 years. It is out of hand

Machine parts from machine manufacturers have really gone nuts for price,
but if one knows where to look and what to look for there are other
alternative sources. Often something like a position sensor from Hurco will
be 15-25 times more expensive than the exact same part from somebody like
Digi-Key.

I have some demand which is why I need to just buy a machine or two to take
over for my hobby level machines, but I can retrofit and build machines
myself. Its just a matter of time verses money. That, and I am still
working on the retrofit on my big machine that I planned for making more
smaller machines. LOL. Speaking of Hurco. This is an old Hurco KMB1 that
I have gutted the electronics cabinets to convert it over to direct PC
control.

 

[Bob La Londe]

Hi Bob,

Don't know much about machining but I know that my machining customers
mostly lease their equipment. They tell me ( as you have said ) that the
cost of financing has made owning, a thing of the past. I've only got one
customer that actually owns his equipment which are computerized screw and
miniturized milling manchines (These may have a better name but I don't
know what it is). He's fortunate enough to be able to buy them outright
though.

When you are talking about a Haas that starts at $50K and can run upto $200K
I can see why. I'm actually not looking at machines in that class and do
not really need them for the market niche I have. They would just be a
waste of space and energy.

 

[JoeRaisin]

Machine parts from machine manufacturers have really gone nuts for
price, but if one knows where to look and what to look for there are
other alternative sources. Often something like a position sensor from
Hurco will be 15-25 times more expensive than the exact same part from
somebody like Digi-Key.

I have some demand which is why I need to just buy a machine or two to
take over for my hobby level machines, but I can retrofit and build
machines myself. Its just a matter of time verses money. That, and I
am still working on the retrofit on my big machine that I planned for
making more smaller machines. LOL. Speaking of Hurco. This is an old
Hurco KMB1 that I have gutted the electronics cabinets to convert it
over to direct PC control.

As I understand it, there is a severe shortage of machinists right now.
Last numbers I heard was that there were about 40,000 job openings for
machinists in the country that can't be filled.

Good thing all those folks went to college for their poly-sci degrees
and we have de-emphasized education in the trades.

 

[G. Morgan]

Good thing all those folks went to college for their poly-sci degrees
and we have de-emphasized education in the trades.

They will be the first to die when the SHTF. I don't know about anyone
else but I live in an area prone to hurricanes. I prepare for that, at
least a month of food and H2O purification stuff. Got plenty of guns &
ammo if need be for killing zombies or hunting squirrels. I have a
scanner and FRS radios. And a bunch of camping/survival shit for
fuel/light/first aid etc....