Why Buying That New Machine Is The Right Thing To Do Right Now
Why am I saying to upgrade and buy now? Well, I’ll tell you why: because if your equipment is behind the times it can’t create the tolerances that today’s engines require. So why now? After all, the market is in decline, business is off, times are really tough, right? Blah, blah, blah! Yes, the market
Give Yourself A Lift
I thought it was time to supply a new photo for these articles. Yes, I have become a little older and maybe a little wiser but you can make your own decision about that. According to my wife I’m just older. So anyway the updated photo was way past due. This month I am going
Machine Maintenance: Be Straight With Your Jobs By Being Level With Your Machines
Before we get into the meat of this article, let me say thanks to all the fine folks who sent pictures of their shop pets in machine shops around the world. There are some good-looking shop pets out there. Let Me Level With You! Are we on the level? Are you half a bubble off?
Machine Maintenance: Sustaining Your Crew Includes Your Best Friend
Over the past few years, I’ve been writing about proper maintenance of the machines in your shop. This month, I plan to talk about maintaining something that’s not necessarily essential to your shop but if you have one, its value can’t be underestimated. You guessed it; this article will be about the maintenance of your
Machine Maintenance: Time For Spring Cleaning
Springtime is here at last. Birds are chirping, the snow is melting and the grass is finally starting to show. It’s time to hang up the snow shovels and get the lawnmower tuned up. And if you’re like me, you can hardly wait to get your summer toys out of storage and ready to roll.
Opening The
We all know the most important “Guy” rule: “He who has the most toys WINS! I hope you are in the game. I am and I PLAY TO WIN! Boy’s toys are nothing new. We all started acquiring toys as kids. As we grew older, our toys changed, and our toy box is now called
Machine Maintenance: The Flywheel Grinder – Getting To Know Your Shop Profit Pal
[email protected] In the last edition of “Machine Maintenance” I challenged you to tell me who introduced the first portable boring bar to the automotive aftermarket. I must admit that I was impressed by the number of responses I received. Here’s the answer: Rottler Manufacturing from Kent, WA.It seems that the founding father of Rottler was
Machine Maintenance: There’s Nothing Boring About Boring Bar Maintenance
You know the feeling: the machine you want, you can’t afford, and the machine you can afford you already have. Don’t you wish, just once, you could call up the sales representative and say “My turn, send me one of those new ‘XYZ’ machines?” You know the kind, the new state-of-the-art machining center that can
Machine Maintenance, The Art – And Business – Of Relationship Maintenance
Over the past few years, I’ve written quite a few articles on how to maintain your shop machinery, but now it’s time to talk about how to maintain something even more important: your relationships with your customers. Let’s face it…without customers we are out of business. You’ve probably heard the old saying, “all machine shops
Machine Maintenance, Follow The Clues To Avoid The Comeback Blues
Even before you start the teardown, you can gather many clues about what needs to be done. Encourage your counter guys to engage in as much conversation with the customer as possible. Just listening to him tell why he is bringing you this engine will yield tons of information that goes a long way toward
Machine Maintenance: Get Your Head Together – And Apart!
The C-frame style of valve spring compressor has become the preferred tool for disassembly and re-assembly of the standard applications like Chevy and Ford. These compressors work with air and a special jaw presses on the retainer, allowing you to remove the keepers quickly and safely. There are also manual versions of the C-frame compressor
Machine Maintenance: Don’t Neglect Your Shop’s Other Machines
Over the past couple of years we’ve discussed the various maintenance requirements for your big machines – surface grinders, crank grinders, cleaning machines, etc. Now we’re going to take a look at five other devices that play an important part in building the best possible engines for your customers – the air compressor, hydraulic press,