Above 1200 Sq/FT Shop Thread

[Cobra Framebuilding]

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[tros]

Howdy, everyone!

Been following along/lurking here and there for seven years or so and on December 15th, 2021 I closed on a machine shop building for my business, Cobra Framebuilding.

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About myself and my business -- we're a CNC machine shop specializing in tooling for bicycle fabricators. It was always just me working alone until I hired Zack nearly a year ago. Mainly our customers are artisan fabricators of road, mountain, and gravel bicycles. They build world-class bike frames from 4130 steel, Titanium, Aluminum, and composites. We produce welding fixtures, tube benders, and mitering tools etc. I started the buisiness nearly four years ago when I bought my first old CNC mill and built on all of my hobby machining and bike fabricating experience. Things have been good and after a series of rental shops I stumbled upon the opportunity to buy this space from a retiring machinist in town. I had to scramble to figure out how to make it happen, but I just closed and it's actually real now.

About the building -- it's just North of Leonard Street and a few blocks East of the river in Grand Rapids, MI. I think it's an excellent location. It was built in 1983 and it's 3800 square feet including the offices and bathrooms -- 3200 of which is shop floor. There is a 200amp 480v three phase service at the building with a step down transformer to run the single phase circuits. We have two large ceiling-mounted forced-air furnaces in the shop area and a smaller one in the office/bathroom area. The overhead doors are only 8' wide which shouldn't hold me back too much, but it doesn't provide much wiggle room when moving anything large through.

The story is that back in September of this year I was looking to buy a Bridgeport-style manual mill. I used to own a 1967 step pulley j-head BP but had to sell it to make space in a previous, crowded shop. I felt it was time to pick one up again and I chased a Craigslist lead on a 1990s Enco to this building -- the home of S&S Tool. Scott showed me the machine and I inquired about his business and the building. He said he was shutting it down and wanted to sell the building this year. Hell yes! At that point I knew I had to find a way to make it mine. It's exceedingly hard to find this kind of space with good power, proper zoning, and that isn't 5x or more the space. Sometimes you see a space that is a total disaster, or maybe it had been an auto service station and you could theoretically convert it, but finding just what you need is unheard of.

Currently we operate our business out of a rented 1500 square foot space in Jenison, which is 25 minutes southwest of the city. It's a lovely space really, but it's just a rental and we'd outgrow it in a year or so for sure. We both live in the city and are very excited to cut the commute times -- we could easily bike to work here!

The plan is to refresh the 3200sf work area in the next 6-10 weeks and move in. Later on I want to completely remodel the offices and bathrooms. Eventually I want to spruce up the exterior some, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

I'll take some pictures of the state of things indoors today and elaborate on my plans. I'll have lots of questions for the community here and that's honestly the biggest reason that I'm posting here -- I need some help making the right decisions.

And I want to thank everyone that makes this GJ community work. It's been really helpful to me over the years. Specifically I have gotten to know Kris Henry and Gregor Halenda and their shop build threads here have been really inspiring. I'm 31 years old now and as a younger person I didn't know I could basically do anything I wanted to do in life. Like a lot of people I think I was waiting for someone to tell me it was okay. When you follow along as average (though obviously hardworking and talented) folks bend and shape their worlds to suit their needs, you realize you can do the same. Just watch a YouTube video, ask someone you know, rent or buy a piece of equipment and get your hands dirty. You'll figure it out. Hopefully I can pick up a lot of good advice here from this thread, and if I'm lucky this thread will be helpful in convincing others that they're more capable than they think and they can do the same if they so choose.

Joe Roggenbuck
Owner, Cobra Framebuilding
Grand Rapids, MI
www.cobraframebuilding.com
Instagram: @cobraframebuilding
YouTube: Cobra Framebuilding

I remember when the building was built saw it many times on the way home .

 

[scofo]

Congratulations, I wish you great success.

 

[BORING HOP YARD]

Looking forward to future posts, thank you for sharing.

 

[LXCam]

Deja vu??

 

[mmsheb]

Does Cobra Framebuilding have something to do with Shelby's Cobra, or is it your bike fabricating name? Either way I wish you the best in your new building. That is going to work out for you - I can tell.
Mike

 

[wasfast]

Very good to hear of your success in the frame building community. There has been so much growth the last 10 years or so. Anvil was the only other company I knew of to make pro level jigs. Congrats on the great new shop.