Building for The Future

[Aaron]

I appreciate you keeping us posted. I imagine many of us are thinking along the same lines with regards to preparedness, possibly not to the same scale though.

With the future looking somewhat uncertain, it pays to be prepared for anything. Being able to modify existing tools, vehicles, etc and fabricating what you need are skills we all need to be learning or polishing.

[workinwifdakids]

Chris, thank you for sharing with us. You're in an enviable position because there's a moment here where your finances, the economy, and your plans really meet to make this possible.

I'm wondering what your plans are for two-way radio communications, and internet connectivity.

Also, have you considered putting in a little pad for a helicopter? The construction is cheap and truly straightforward, and it's an easily hidden strategic asset.

[Rustyv]

Are you accepting resumes?

[Highspeed]

I wish I could come and be a part of that. I'm bloody good at solving engineering problems, lateral thinking and making cool things. I can design parts in my head without even picking up a pencil ( I don't do CAD ) a lot of the time.

Your concept is great. When I first started I was adamant that I wasn't going to become a one man general engineering company. That way I'd get the employees drudgery of doing repetitive work AND the bosses headaches all combined.
I found people who needed their ideas developed and translated into metal - then someone else did the production work on the finished design. The only time I took on mundane boring stuff was to tide me over between interesting jobs or as favours.
The biggest mistake I made was to consult almost exclusively for a single company and got lazy about developing other customers. The obvious happened - that company had some bad luck combined with some bad decisions and went bust, taking away most of my work.

[Mike OTDP]

Interesting idea. Particularly if you are willing to subcontract to one of the big firms like Haliburton. Double-especially if you can play the foreign markets.

Although I doubt I would be sending a resume myself. The Navy has their hooks in me for another decade...and while the job can be frustrating, it is also rewarding. Not to mention that my experience will go for VERY high dollar after I retire.

[Highspeed]

Well I'd jump at the chance Chris. The deal I have with the wife about emigrating to the USA is that I would have to go over on my own and break the trail first. The moving costs would be so huge ( for the horses, she's spent years building up her breeding stock ) that it would be almost like a one shot deal.
After my experience of living in Spain, in an area where almost no-one spoke a word of English, I know I could do it. Plus we have the kind of marriage that is strong enough to survive a bit of seperation.

Once I get my next venture started ( making parts for racecars and engine building ) I'm going to visit the US. Hopefully we can hook up and talk about stuff.

[Aaron]

Well, if you ever need someone who can do maritime engineering, facilities maintenance/engineering, physical security, combatives instructing, logistical expediting/scrounging (mostly scrounging), or simple write a coherent report, I could be your guy.

The problem with having done all those things prior to my third decade of life is that I only have a couple years experience in each, not mastery.

I am, however, a good jack-of-all-trades and heuristic problem solver. Although many of my solutions start at mechanical agitation and ramp up from there.

[Netpackrat]

Very interesting, reads almost like something straight out of survival fiction. Wish you were doing it in Alaska, but well-located private land in large chunks is difficult to come by here. And due to logistical factors, it probably wouldn't be economical anyway.

[HTRN]

Honestly? I'd stay the hell away from Gunsmithing.

Make parts for guns? Sure. But actual Gunsmithing is high skill, highly regulated field that is highly reputation dependent, that's at the whim of a mostly hostile regulatory agency, and isn't really profitable enough to warrant the headaches. I know, I looked into this(I really, REALLY like building bolt guns)

And something to consider. I don't know how personally familiar you are with manufacturing, besides the theoretical - but for alot of small "manufacturers", it's simply cheaper and easier to bid it out to jobshops. Considering that Machinery, Employees, etc all are expensive headaches, alot of the time it's simply cheaper to pay somebody who's area of expertise is making stuff to make what you want. Alot(probably close to half) is done this way. For a good example, look at the AR lower market - how many socalled "manufacturers" are actually making their own lowers, vs. contracting out to Continental, Lewis, etc?

Focus on your strengths. If it's designing. then spend your time DESIGNING, instead of overseeing everybody else. Keep a small prototype shop, for working out bugs, but when it comes time to do the 5000 piece run, call a jobshop, and let them handle it.

Just a thought.


HTRN

[Aglifter]

Porsche used to operate in a somewhat similar fashion -- most years (er, pre-mass production, back when they were still hand built) they made more revenue off hiring out engineers than building cars.

It's a solid idea, and exists in various industries. It may sound screwy, but I think one of the most valuable ways to spend down time in that profession would be to watch things like "how it's made" and "unwrapped." So many manufacturing applications are unique, that just a knowledge of how different companies have approached widget handling can be invaluable -- of course, I also encourage employees to flip through the grainger, fastenal, and automation direct catalogs.

There are plenty of capable folks who can follow a direction, but, for some reason, ones who can come up w. the initial idea are quite rare. (EG, I have an engineer working for me -- bright fellow, and much better at fleshing out details than I am, but for some reason, he needs the initial "spark" from someone else.)

My only caution, and I'm sure you're well aware of this, is keep an exit plan, and have assets in various countries. Frankly, I think every business needs one, now. It's always easier for a politician to blame someone else, than themselves, and the politicos have an endless array of JBTs...