cheap companys

[heavychevy2155]

I work for the cheapest company I know. I know its my own fault, but this takes the cake. First we did not get a bonus for chrismas at all. No thankyou kiss my arse or anything, so you know moral is at a all time high. Then I was setting up a job this morning and can you believe we have not one 1/4" drill or E drill in the whole shop. Talk about lame, I'm looking for someplace else to work because this sucks. just my rant, but what shop doesnt have a .25 drill thats just crazy. Not to mention all the crap HSS endmills we use I would have better tool to work with in a scrap yard. I know hes making money hand over fist with all his new toys (custom bikes, boats, and a new H2 hummer) for goodness sake buy a damn drill!!!

[ToolMan184]

Dunno how long you been in the trade, but do you own a 1/4" drill?

[Guest]

Starting off to a good day I see.

 

Shops I used to work in like this, someone ALWAYS had a needed tool "stored" in the personal toolbox. They don't belong there but that's where they seem to end up, far to often.

[robk]

Sorry to hear that you have to work for a place like that. How is the job market in you part of the country? Start looking?

IMO, it is very important that the shop that I work for invests back with the company with their profits (which it does). It takes money to make money, and it also takes good tooling to make a quality product. How long has the shop been in business? How much longer do you think it will be @ this rate?

[mcpgmr]

Sounds very familiar but this place isn't that bad. I do alot of aerospace work and these parts require fillet rad's. I can buy the e.m.'s with the rad's ground on them but the genius in charge insist that he grinds them by hand. So when the tool wears out the guy running the machine has to bother the genius for another tool to be ground. At this point genius gets a dirty diaper because he doesn't want to be bothered. The guy on the floor wants to do it himself but the genius climbs up his a$$ and takes the tool away from him. No x-mas bonus here either. Two guys were given $50.0 gift cards and were told not to tell anyone which they did right away. We had a Christmas lunch on Friday which consisted of take out chinese food and one case of Beer. That I am grateful for because I was hungry and thirsty.

[Bill]

No bonuses here in years as well as raises.

 

I was cutting a .04 rib .800 inches deep about 45 inches long in P-20. Our cutter grinder is a POS so they decided to buy the cutter.

 

I am no genius but if I would to guess I would say buy maybe 8 cutters to be safe.

 

At 46 bucks a piece they decided to go with TWO.

 

Saturday morning I come in and the last of the two was broken. Wouldn't you know nobody was open that sold them.

 

So myself and the operator pretty much came in on a Saturday for nothing.

 

Monday morning..."why isn't that rib finished yet?"

 

[Bill]

or... I finish a complete mold design (maybe 40 hours), print out detail sheets, hand them to the foreman...

 

and about an hour later I get "we have some rough stock in inventory that is smaller than the call out, but I told him to make it out of that and you can change the design."

 

wha wha WHAT?!!!!

 

I told the shop owner, "from now on you guys build the f'n tool and I will design it when you're FINISHED!"

[Guest]

I can't complain here about the Christmas party side of things. We have a nice doo in the hotel down the street in their banquet room with all you can eat and drink all night long. And a small staff only party on the 24th (or 23rd this year), after 7 hours of work and paid for the 8th.

 

All be it, in my 9 years here we have never recieved a bonus as I am used to hearing people say. But we do get $100 in grocery coupons to the local dive that nobody shops at cause they are to expensive. =] Oh well, I suppose I should not complain, better then nothing.

[heavychevy2155]

yes I own a .25 drill. I just bought my fist machine and waiting for it to arrive. Im just upset that all. My dad and I are going to start a small shop. Mill work for know, hopefully getting a lathe soon also.

[CAREYL]

We have dozens of 1/4" drills and a premier account with Garr Tool. If you need it to get the job done. We will buy it. You can't be cheap with your employee's or your tool's if you expect to make a quality product.

 

Our Christmas party was great with a full dinner, open bar and Bounus checks. We all went home fat and happy. Life is good on this side of the country. Make the move.

 

I am looking for a level 3 programer. We make blades and vanes. Send me an e-mail.

 

[email protected]

 

Carey Linkovich

Engineering Manager

BNB Manufacturing Co.,Inc.

200 Price Rd.

Winsted, CT 06098

www.bnbmfgco.com

 

[beej]

I worked for a place like that too. and got stuck there for 9 long months because of insurance reasons. That place would actually go buy some pretty nice equipment from time to time. And then skimp on the things that made it do what it needed to do. Like buying 3 new cnc's and using version 2 smartcam with no surface capabilities. They bought a 250,000 wire and bought Bobcam to program it. And they also used HSS endmills to cut toolsteel because they thought carbide cost too much. I couldn't get out of that place fast enough.

 

I learned a lot from that place. Like how to make something with nothing. But I wouldn't go back. I couldn't be happier now.

[Kevangel]

quote:

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yes I own a .25 drill. I just bought my fist machine and waiting for it to arrive. Im just upset that all. My dad and I are going to start a small shop. Mill work for know, hopefully getting a lathe soon also.

+

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well Heavy, now you will have no one to blame but yourself, "good or bad".

[ToolMan184]

quote:

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yes I own a .25 drill. I just bought my fist machine and waiting for it to arrive. Im just upset that all. My dad and I are going to start a small shop. Mill work for know, hopefully getting a lathe soon also.

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Now the real world of being the owner is gonna slap the TOTAL DOG SH@T out of ya. I wish you the best.

 

Hope you not gonna be one of those garage shops with a $30 shop rate.

[heavychevy2155]

No I know what shop rate goes for and im not going to try to drive the cost down of machine time. That would be hurting everyone, and if I need something done that i cant handle Iwould like to get help from other shops, and if I drive the machine cost down in this area and they knew I done it they wouldnt xxxx on me to put me out if I was on fire. I have been in this business awhile and Ive seen hard times and Ive seen good times, but I know you have to spend money to make money (most of the time) and this all started with a 1/4 drill.

[heavychevy2155]

and as far as the garage goes, we built a realy nice shop, and believe it or not with a roof and a concret floor. I believe in producing a quality part with the price to match.

[ToolMan184]

quote:

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I have been in this business awhile and Ive seen hard times and Ive seen good times, but I know you have to spend money to make money (most of the time) and this all started with a 1/4 drill.

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You are missing the point heavy.

 

If you have been in this trade "awhile" you should own a 1/4" drill bit. Before I started my own shop I had over 35K in personal tools. If I broke one the company replaced it. Now if you broke yours and the company refused to replace it, thats a different story.

I just get tired of hearing people in this trade saying "THE DAMN BOSS IS GETTIN RICH OFF ME". I would say most shop owners put their whole life on the line to start the shop. If I want a new boat, then I will buy one. Maybe when you get your shop going and a couple of years from now you will understand. Maybe you will have employees just like "YOU".

[Kevangel]

quote:

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If you have been in this trade "awhile" you should own a 1/4" drill bit. Before I started my own shop I had over 35K in personal tools.

 

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Yup, I hear ya, I even had my own gage pins, gage blocks,.0001 dial bores, grind-all fixtures, sine plate,etc. Owning your own shop is a "reality check" for most people. I also have to say, I hired into one shop with "no cutters" (I always cleaned out my box of company cut tools when I quit somewhere so did not have any except for drills I bought) so know someplaces can be rediculous and I quit there after 3 days of frustration ...had enough.

[heavychevy2155]

Toolman as far as time I've been machining for 10 years. When I got hired for my current job, I was hire to program and run HIS MACHINES with HIS TOLLING not my tooling. I work in a production shop at the moment, and I may be way off but Im guessing large companys don't require employees to supply the cutting tool to run prodution. Have you ever heard the production manager say "hey this week its your turn to buy the inserts, next week its Johns ok". I dont think thats the way it goes do you.

[ToolMan184]

quote:

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When I got hired for my current job, I was hire to program and run HIS MACHINES with HIS TOLLING not my tooling.

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Its called an investment in your future. How many people have you ever interviewed and hired that has no tools? One of the first questions I ask "Do you have your own tools?" If the answer is "NO" the interview is over unless hes an apprentice. We have a list of requirements for tools needed, and a set of drills is one of them. You break it and we replace it.

 

quote:

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I work in a production shop at the moment, and I may be way off but Im guessing large companys don't require employees to supply the cutting tool to run prodution.

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If the company has no tools to run "production", I can see why you got no bonus.

 

quote:

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Have you ever heard the production manager say "hey this week its your turn to buy the inserts, next week its Johns ok". I dont think thats the way it goes do you.

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Thought you said you needed a drill not inserts? A big difference!! A set of drills was one of the first things every TOOLMAKER I know of purchased after his mics, indicators etc.

 

As I said before, I dont think you get the whole point. But, when you start your own shop, you will. I will guarentee your outlook will be different. And you will see why some owners do things the way they do. Then your employees will be here cryin about the same things.

[ToolMan184]

Kevangel, Do you own your own shop? Was the grass as green on that side when you started as you thought it would be? I sometimes wondered just WTH I got myself into, as I am sure you did as well. Its almost funny now to look back at the good ole days of workin 10-12 hrs a day and going home with little stress. Now its 10-18 hrs a day 6 days a week. And every person you meet says "Your loaded, you have your own shop." If they only knew what all it takes to stay afloat these days. Most would appreciate and see that they have it made. I agree there are some bad owners out there, but I would say most that come here and complain have it made and dont know it.

[Jack Mitchell]

I guess I’ve been in this trade longer than most (supposing I’m still wet behind the ears to some of the more senior members).

 

I had the displeasure of working for a “know it all owner” at one time that scrimped on common tooling as well. My solution was to walk out the door, across the complex to a industrial supply company, and to buy the required tools out of my own pocket.

So what did I gain from this? A quick and quality part, which was often the case when I had to fix the owners common screw-up’s on a weekly basis.

 

Everybody gets stupid once. It’s a learned trait – when we survey the new job opportunity the first thing we look for is proper tools, fixtures, and machinery condition. This really does tell a complete story at a glance. The second glance is future opportunity, and lastly the pay. (That’s my take though I realize that many might have other priorities).

 

It all builds character.

 

Regards, Jack

[mcpgmr]

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A set of drills was one of the first things every TOOLMAKER I know of purchased after his mics, indicators etc.

-----------------

 

Maybe so but IMO there is no excuse for a machine shop not to have drills in stock for their production machines. Most places I worked won't allow you to resharpen a drill because they want total and complete repeatability. It's cheaper to throw .250 and under dull drills in the trash and replace it with a new one rather than scrap a part because the drill wasn't resharpened correctly.

 

I don't own my own shop but I did work for my brother for 7 years and I see both sides of the coin. He was pretty cheap too when it came to carbide e.m.'s and indexable tooling mainly because a few morons wouldn't use the proper feeds and speeds and blow them up right out of the box and ruin it for everyone else. That's why certain tools remained locked in the toolboxes of the guys who knew what they were doing. But HSS drills ? We got at least 2 new sets a year for the shop to use.

[medaq]

I have a feeling there is more to this story. I mean, heavychevy did not get a christmas bonus and here it is one week later and he already has a building and a machine on the way?

 

Only thing I have to say, it is his company and if he wants to buy a hummer or what ever. That is his choice to run his company the way he feels fit to do so.

 

 

Jim

[heavychevy2155]

My dad and I have had the building for a year and a half and I finaly got the loan for my own machine. I have been buying stuff and planning to open my own business for awhile now. I have to work somewhere right now so I can get my shop started and pay the bills. There is no more to the story than you read here today. I was just upset to be in the middle of setting up my job and low and behold the most common of drills in any machine shop is out of stock. Most places I've worked always had 2 to 3 of every drill in standard, number, and letter sizes.

[Brendan P]

I did get a great Xmas bonus as I do every year,and also the other employees.

This is truly sad cause I saw a fax comfirmation today on a $63,000.00 order we placed just for a bunch of different inserts!!!

Not drills,not sanpaper...just inserts alone!!

 

I luv the Co. I work for.