adbuch wrote: ↑Mon Sep 27, 2021 4:55 am
With respect to Joe, it is really hard to see how one could spend that much money on Plasmacam related items. I'm sure some of that went into his metal arts store front there in his town, which I suspect is now defunct (the store, that is). He may be counting vehicles to transport materials, his home/workshop, travel expenses, and any number of other "Plasmacam" related expenses. I expect he will give us the full break down in one of his upcoming posts. So stay tuned!
You are CORRECT! The fact of the matter is, my two shops were build
specifically because of the first purchase of the Samson 510 table with the Full Monty of software, and the subsequent tables, etc.
I did NOT buy 3/4 Million dollars of PlasmaCam
product. That is a bad assumption. I said that as a direct result of diving head first into
"All Things PlasmaCam," and setting up "A Guy In Town, LLC" I have
spent that much money, nearly all of it as a result of diving into Plasmacam head first, and I do not expect to see the greatest majority of it ever returned. I did not get into PlasmaCam because I needed an income. I got into it because I needed
something to do until I die, and I like to work with my hands. I assessed all of the experience I gathered from my previous employment positions and concluded that going into the creation of signs and metal art fit me well.
Yes, the retail store on the square was $200K, and add in another $40K to turn it into a metal art store. No mortgages.
I paid cash for everything. The store is not defunct. It became an albatross, after a conflict with people I trusted, and the legal costs of pulling that knife out of my back. Frankly, I am GLAD I sold it before this covid hoax/zombie apocalypse began.
Setting up six vendor booths, monthly rentals and building the displays, etc. $300K for the FrankenBarn, which is built
entirely around the concept of a large woodshop for the 510 table with the router, and the other tools that support products made with that table. On the second floor, four guest bedrooms with baths and a large common area for seminar guests for the (
once planned, and still on the drawing board 
) Bed-and-Breakfast PlasmaCam seminars, with a workshop extension for four more Samson 510 tables. It would already be in operation if PlasmaCam didn't tell me to POUND SAND at the suggestion that they help ME to promote THEIR PRODUCTS via a simple discount on DesignEdge software upgrades at
"seminar ONLY prices." I was ready to put $150K into that plan.
Add $7K for a rotary screw air compressor to provide a clear source of dry air for cutting
at night, while not disturbing the neighbors. $14K for a good used Toyota forklift to move the sheet metal around. $100K to turn the pole barn into the metal shop that is is today. 34 shelving units for everything at $180.00 each. $2,500.00 for a RANGER parts washer.
Toss in a plethora of cordless tools, batteries and chargers, power tools and machines, and a truck load of consumables for all of them. Add 3 bandsaws, 7 drill presses, two table saws, five radial arm saws, belt sanders, scroll saws, a drum sander and three dozen other single machines and power tools, the 80-gallon air compressor and Ingersoll-Rand air dryer for the FrankenBarn... NONE of that was free. Here sits $14K worth of 4x8 sheets of plexiglass, hardboard, 48 sheets of 4x8 Color-Core panels, pallets of sheet metal in hot roll, cold roll, and stainless, in various gauges, the 44"x60" TraceLOGIC tablet, the spare PlasmaCam parts I have purchased, like spare controller boxes, spare gantry assemblies, spare carriage assemblies, SIX BOSS MFG magnetic torch mounts, spare wiring harnesses, the PlasmaCam engraver, belts, springs, cam followers, etc. etc.
I'll pause while you change the batteries in your calculator.
Shall I go on? Most recently, a $3,300.00 planer, a $2,500 finger brake, a $3,500 fiber laser, a $500 mag drill, another thousand dollars for a rolling tool cabinet for the FrankenBarn YET to be stocked with tools ...
Yes. Since my first $29K purchase of the first 510 table with the Full Monty of software, I have EASILY spent about 3/4 Million dollars on "All Things PlasmaCam." I don't buy
any tool because it will help me to make a better casserole or improve my bowling score. This is ALL the result of falling deeper into the rabbit hole, and occasionally making a buck or two by selling things I made along the way.
It is fair to say that nearly ALL of it would not have been purchased, if I just decided at age 52, to "retire" and drive around the country in a new mid-life-crisis red Corvette, handing $100 tips to cute waitresses. In that scenario, NONE of this %$^& would be here.
Joe
I am making changes now. I will probably stick with 80/20, but I have to find a way to get the same rigidity across 12 feet of space, for something closer to $10.00 per foot.
