Hot Rods Hot Rod Tig Welders?

I just went back and re-read the original post. I think we have gotten way off course and lost with this thread..........

 

Ummm, you're wrong! I do understand your business model. I have two grandsons and a son-in-law who all work for a company closely allied with GM. GM, as I recall, is the very same company you work for. They not only write the codes for the robotics on the assembly lines, they produce and install those machines in the US, Canada and Mexico and, they get paid damn well for doing it. They are the ones who teach the assembly line maintenance people how to do their jobs. They work with people from all walks of life The really great thing about them is that they aren't elitists.

 

In my experience, after taxes, the take home hourly pay for the time spent working over 60 hours per week translates to slightly more than minimum wage.

 

X2 what twenty8 said. Best to keep the personal posts about "I know more than you do" to PM's or better yet use the ignore button in your head and keep to the original topic. JMHO

 

Krylon, you can count me as another one who wishes he was closer to you. I'd like to help you out and learn from you in the process.

 

This post did get a little off topic. I have to make a decision soon if I'm going to pull the plug or continue. I have turned down 5 or 6 chassis orders in the last 3 weeks so the business is there. In fairness to my welder he did show today and did a deuce frame that I finished fabricating weeks ago. We had a good talk and he finally came clean that it's his health that's preventing him from continuing. He's just a few weeks from shoulder surgery and 6 months of recovery. Maybe that's the writing on the wall that's it's time for me to hang it up at 76?

 

Tell him to hold the wire with his teeth. He only needs one hand for the torch.

 

Hate to see you close the doors, but if you don’t want to or can’t do the chassis yourself, and can’t find someone who can, you don’t have many options.
Does your welder plan on coming back after he heals? If so, then maybe it’s time to just take a vacation, assuming cost to keep the shop doesn’t hurt you during that time.

 

The answer is usually very simple. Don't over-think it. Don't stop if you want to keep going. Find a welder and a way to make it work. Be flexible and proactive, and adapt the business to a suitable form for you to carry on.

If you have had enough, and have other things you want to pursue, then it is time to walk away. Just make sure, either way, that it is what YOU want. Life works much better for us if it has a meaning.............

 

Hate to hear you're thinking of closing the doors. I always loved your chassis work. You had a display at Kalamazoo every year that showed your frame with a W motor...loved the clean and purposeful chassis work. Always wanted one...will miss your products

 

I do not write code, unless you count GCode, and I do not work in that division.

We get no special tax breaks for our technology.

We build all of our own hardware, so that accounts for much of the budget.

It is almost as if folks here don't know what they are talking about, and are just angry.

 

Wrong division. Keep guessing.

 

Lots of really groovy back and forth on this thread, a bunch of which doesn't belong here, and last word shit gets pretty aggravating , especially when it's about stuff that most of us don't understand, and fewer of us give a damn about. Sorry about Krylon's situation. Seems like there should be a good welder into hot rods, close by, and willing to earn some extra cash. Good luck to you, Krylon.