[bothunter]

Hi,

I am just a HSM and after meeting Don I took a liking to him and he to me. I
made this web site for Don, he is the guy I bought my Bridgeport mill from.

When you get to the pics page, the customers mill is the one I bought from
him.

He's has about 9 more mills ready to sell, but does'nt want to ship them,
just sell locally?, (still have not figured this out), but I might be able
to talk him into shipping one or two, really do not know, but I can ask.
Link below.

Anyway, let me know what you think of the website and now I am going out to my shop to make more chips.

-Paul

http://www.donmillerrepairservice.com/Don's_Entry_Page.html

[mxtras]

Pretty cool!

The only constructive criticism I have is that the text style is a bit tough to read quickly - the sharp, pointy style is a bit difficult.

Other than that I think it is clean and well assembled!

Nice work!

Scott

[ViperTX]

Well Paul....let me tell you about my first reaction to your message about "...local sales only, but I might convince him....".....sounds rather scamy....but I bite my lip and go to the website....Okay...looks nice....well the machines look nice....some of the work done to rebuild them is mentioned.....cool.....but then nothing else....no pricing, etc.

Now, I really feel the "scam hackles" raring up..so I go back and notice that you only have 6 posts....."scam hackles" are so taut they could pierce a 2x4......now that's my impression.

[bothunter]

Hi Viper,

You know, when I first read your post at 5:00am this morning before heading to work, I was going to write a long diatribe about who I am and what I am about, but then I remembered a saying" No good deed goes unpunished". So you have a real valid point about pricing and since I do not know what Don's pricing is, one might just have to call the phone number listed. I do need to put that on the website and it will get done.

As far as only a few posts here on CNCzone, well I am a home shop machinist and not much of one at that. I do have the same handle, "bothunter", over at the Practical Machinist's forum, but alas, only 35 posts there. I am not in business with Don, but a customer who is/was trying to be a nice person to him. Nor am I a master computer html'er, just a user mostly.

The reason I joined the CNCzone was and is, I was thinking of converting my mill, one day, to CNC. I do love machining metal and did take a few classes at the local college's industrial arts program, many years ago. This might have to wait due to funding and a learning curve I must pursue to understand CNC better, before I proceed.

As far as what I do, well, I am a Journeyman Operating Engineer with Operating Engineers Local Union #3, currently employed with a company called DSS construction, located in Stockton, CA. I have operated heavy equipment most of my adult life, 28 years, and have about 9 more years to go before I can throw my hard hat as far as I can and then cut metal all day if I wish.

I can operate most anything, from excavators, 345 cat and so forth, D10 cat to D4 dozers, pavers, rollers, small skip tractors, back hoes, ect. I spend most of time on a motor grader cutting finish grade with either, ginnies in the ground, lasers or GPS controls mounted in the cab. We, in the trade, call this particular type of machine a “Blade”. My title for this life long endeavor is “ Finish Motor Grader Operator” or “ Finish Blade Hand” as it is commonly called.

I have operated most versions of a motor grader from John Deere to Allis Chalmers, but Caterpillar is by far the superior piece of equipment, kind of like Harbor Freight versus Hardinge. I have operated all versions of the cat motor grader, the 12g to the 24h models. I prefer the 143H over all, as the hydraulics are quicker responding and the machine is lighter, hence very responsive in the hands of a skilled operator.

Now I hope you notice that I never used the word “ ran” or the phrase “ run a piece of equipment” as this is a red flag for most journeymen that whoever uses such words is a novice a best! We Drive cars, Pilot aircraft and ships, Operate equipment and Run races, at least this is what I was told as an apprentice.

If you would like and I would enjoy, meeting someday, that would be great! I have an affinity towards machinist in general and believe them to be above average intelligence, at least the one’s with all their fingers. This is a sincere and honest open invitation to you to visit. I can and do listen and love to learn and when it comes to the Machinist’s Craft, I cannot get enough. I hope someday to have a respectful shop out in the garage and I am just starting to collect the tools necessary to achieve my goals. I hold your type of skills in a very high regard and wish I had pursued a career in that line of work earlier in my life, but my father and grand father both were operators, so…

Respectfully,

Larry Paul Austin
3508 Hanley Dr.
Valley Springs, CA
95252

Master Mason
Calaveras Lodge #78 F& AM

cell (209)351-5522

:wave:

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/cg...100;p=1#000000

http://www.practicalmachinist.com/ub...994;p=1#000000

[ViperTX]

Paul,

Now that is a great post....we all just learned alot about you and you should be quite proud of your accomplishments.

Welcome!

Just had to edit this...checked out your links....very nice shop...Bridgeport and is that a Grizzly Lathe?...looks like you also had a Jet Cabinet Saw....is that a stand alone shop with high ceilings?

Paul

[jdelaney44]

Paul:

I would say that websites these days need to have shopping cart features or some way to buy, pricing, and robust, detailed product lists. A lot of people are hesitant to put the information out there. But, this is not different than a yellow pages add at this point.

But, it's a good site and tells me something about the vendor. All the photos are GREAT. Gives one a real sense of the kind of work that is being done there and that the work is excellent.

Best,
-jd

[bothunter]

Hi Viper,

Thanks for the welcome. No, the lathe is a harbor freight I have had about 3 years and the mill is new to me last year. You are correct about the saw and I have the Incra fence system for the saw and router table attachment and a seperate fence for it. As far as the ceiling goes, it's 12 feet and it is our garage, we never park the cars inside. I have my wife trained, (yea, Right (nuts) ). Speaking of the saw, my most proud accomplishment with it is here:

http://img.audioasylum.com/cgi/view....49&w=612&h=379

http://img.audioasylum.com/cgi/view....49&w=377&h=648

-Paul