Hobby Shops

[pyroracing85]

Who here is running hobby metal shops? I am building out my shop of welders, knee mills and CNC plasma. To justify more and to keep using this equipment, I want to know if anybody has been successful is taking on side work?

Only so much work I can do for myself.

 

[MushCreek]

I've thought about it, but then, I'm getting too old to do work on demand. My ratty old machines are adequate for hobby work, and they're all paid for. I had my own shop for a while, and it nearly killed me.

 

[loganb]

@KwikFab

 

[zimman]

I built race cars as a side gig for a decade. Frankly it just did not pay. Problem is established shops take longer and your shop is cheaper. LOL. It was harder to negotiate the price than do the work.
You have to do this work because you love it because it won't add up under any other circumstances.
Having a plasma table punching out brackets everyday is a good gig if you can find a niche.
Zim

 

[KwikFab]

Who here is running hobby metal shops? I am building out my shop of welders, knee mills and CNC plasma. To justify more and to keep using this equipment, I want to know if anybody has been successful is taking on side work?

Only so much work I can do for myself.

I'd like to think I'm much more of a hobbyist shop than most others I know - I say this because it must be emphasized that I had zero experience with welding, zero experience with CAD, and zero experience with metal fabrication as a whole.

I had always wanted to get into metal working as a hobby ever since I had a new floor pan replaced in my '77 Trans Am by someone else (welded). This was only in 2011.

Anyway I didn't get into metal working at all until I went to school for welding, right after retiring in 2021. It was a whole 10 month long course vs one of those learn-overnight type deals. I won't sidetrack and talk about that.

While at school, I bought myself a welder and started doing my own side projects. That turned to people asking me to fix this, or make that. What started out as a cheap TIG and MIG welder and a free bandsaw turned out to being certified for various processes, and running a CNC plasma table and CNC press brake in my home garage.





I'm often on CAD, as recent as last night, as I'm making a bolt-together assembly for someone I collaborate with quite a bit. I've made lots of money doing so, even though I charge a hobbyist rate because really the end goal was to be able to do/make what I want and need, and offer work to the little guy (me) in the position I was some 5 years ago.

I've even done work for members here, just cause they've seen my posts and saw what I can do.

The potential to have a full blown hobbyist metal shop is there, even if you lack the capital investment like I did since I'm disabled. If you're willing to push your skillset to the next level each time a request comes in, the money will come and it'll fund the next tool and so forth.

 

[BigMike782]

I have a pretty well equipped home shop. I choose(more like chose many years ago) that I did not want paying side work.
When I go to my shop I want it to be under the rules of when I want it done, why I want it done, how I want it done.

 

[OccupantRJ]

I once built things in my shop for side cash, then along the way started buying and selling items that men would generally be interested in from yard sales, flea markets, and the local selling magazine at the time. I enhanced my shop along the way and had fun with both but I made easier money and more future connections with people by selling. I would often gain some work during a sale, or sometimes the sale turned into a different purchase for me when the buyer pointed me at something someone he knew had.

 

[OccupantRJ]

Cabinet abrasive blasting is a way to make some side cash by blasting things for others. You have to insist on parts being degreased and dry when you get them, or you clean or prep the part before blasting as an additional charge. I did both glass bead and aluminum oxide blasting in two cabinets to prevent media changeouts. Constantly blasting items is not as easy as it looks.