Making money.

[fizzy]

Also they all want firepits,log burners , all the designs are on eBay

We ship loads of these - and rock n roll beds - so they are very popular!

We even have customers who make daleks and cast iron stags!

 

[owas]

Sell fastenings on the web - bolts, nuts and alike.

Buy in bulk and sell on in small quantities.

He has experience with that

 

[ukracer]

He has experience with that

Never made any money though...lol

 

[ukracer]

We ship loads of these - and rock n roll beds - so they are very popular!

We even have customers who make daleks and cast iron stags!

We used to make gypsy stoves but then the new laws came in...

 

[gaz1]

its the same with rocket stoves even with the travel ones

 

[ukracer]

Can you weld?
I go on campervan forums, people pay good money for rock and roll beds (bench seats that pull down flat to make a bed in the back).
Box section,four fixing plates,hinges locking device.
I made mine, fixed proper seat belts to it .£300-400 a pop.
I just copied two or three of eBay and customized it to suit.
Van guys need loads making/fixing.
Exhaust bits,bullbars mot welding.Depends how handy you are . I made a kitchen pod for the back of my van from thin galvanized sheet on ali angle.
People want this stuff.
Its called scene tax..

Yeah i can mig to a degree. My son is better he usually fixes at least one exhaust a week. But its not for money its for his mates. Lol

Whats scene tax?

Rock and roll beds sounds interesting.

 

[ukracer]

its the same with rocket stoves even with the travel ones

New laws??

 

[ukracer]

If the hand made pen route is taken then I've got around 30 panga panga hard wood pen blanks UKracer is welcome to.

Sort me a price out Tom please...

 

[Bryan Williams]

Yeah i can mig to a degree. My son is better he usually fixes at least one exhaust a week. But its not for money its for his mates. Lol

Whats scene tax?

Rock and roll beds sounds interesting.

its the price you have to pay if you want something to do with the particular thing you're into and you havnt got it or can't do it yourself, for instance, old steel wheels are cheap, old steel wheels for a VwT4 fetch daft money, especially if they are banded..

 

[slim_boy_fat]

But its not for money its for his mates.

Maybe it's time he started to charge his mates - who's paying for the gas, wire, electricity etc? And yet you're doing to do your damndest to help him with his wedding expenses, in spite of all you're going through - time for him to wake up, imvho. Sounds harsh, but......

Is this the same son who had an accident in an M3 en route to the 'Ring a while back.......?

 

[Turbo]

I'm not sure about your machining skills but there's always a market for lathework. Around here there are 3 firms who do it, one isn't interested in one off or repair jobs, one charges a fortune & the other guy does top quality work but you could wait 6 months before he can get your job finished.

The car restoration, vintage & motorsport scene are always looking for one-off repair or manufacturing jobs. Things like strut braces, alloy foot rests, catch tanks, etc. Take a look through the Demon tweeks catalogue & see what you could make & sell on ebay. There are parts for a lot of cars that are no longer available but the car restoration folk need & the only option is repair or re-manufacture.

Over on the 205gti forum there's a bloke making things like stainless bumper brackets that are no longer available but always need replaced due to rust. Another is making uprated engine mounts involving a simple bit of lathework & a press. There's another making gear lever pivot bush kits from nylon & brass.

So there's work out there, you just need to find the right contacts.

 

[ukracer]

I'm trying to think of the same sort of thing too (work to do from home, doing something I enjoy)...

First step though is being able to get in the shed door.

I have the same problem for now...lol

 

[julianf]

I'm not sure about your machining skills but there's always a market for lathework. Around here there are 3 firms who do it, one isn't interested in one off or repair jobs, one charges a fortune & the other guy does top quality work but you could wait 6 months before he can get your job finished.

The car restoration, vintage & motorsport scene are always looking for one-off repair or manufacturing jobs. Things like strut braces, alloy foot rests, catch tanks, etc. Take a look through the Demon tweeks catalogue & see what you could make & sell on ebay. There are parts for a lot of cars that are no longer available but the car restoration folk need & the only option is repair or re-manufacture.

Over on the 205gti forum there's a bloke making things like stainless bumper brackets that are no longer available but always need replaced due to rust. Another is making uprated engine mounts involving a simple bit of lathework & a press. There's another making gear lever pivot bush kits from nylon & brass.

So there's work out there, you just need to find the right contacts.

Im sure there must be an application for my work (see avatar) in those kind of fields - camper vans, yacht control panels, car dash boards, and the like. That's the other side of this coin - i know that market must be there, but i have no real idea how to access it!

 

[ukracer]

All those require leaving home though.

I would imagine that being a carer requires being 'in range' pretty much all the time...


How much income do you want?

Apparently people make a not unreasonable amount from stuff like hand made turned pens and the like.

Yeah i do need to be in range most of the time.

If i could clear 5k in 16 months i would be happy.
I do have some contingency items to sell and some material to use.
Like aluminium strips. T shirts and Heat transfers vinyl etc.
Steel box section for fires.

 

[rtbcomp]

Sell fastenings on the web - bolts, nuts and alike.

Buy in bulk and sell on in small quantities.

I used to do that, but built up kits for Land Rovers, so if someone was replacing a bulkhead I'd sell a kit of nuts & bolts for that job.

If you do mail order as well as the core items sell things that go with it. It's really frustrating to buy say a motor then have to go elsewhere for pulleys and belts and another place for the starter and so on.

 

[ukracer]

i could say im wanting a few things

a mt3 collet holder with drawbar for the milling machine

Are you suggesting making them to sell? This is where the chinese have killed stuff like that off.

 

[ukracer]

Behave, now

@ukracer Spring is coming, gardeners will be dusting off their equipment [quiet at the back! ] - are you any good at overhauling, servicing lawnmowers, sharpening shears etc?

Yeah i could turn my hand to that. My achillies heel is pricing. I hate asking for money as i never know whats fair and reasonable.

 

[ukracer]

I have found you can make a bit of pocket money buying and selling off eBay/Gumtree. Ideally damage repairable or broken fixable. You need to pick a relatively unknown nugget, like say a Swindens vice (!) then scour the internet for misdescribed, badly worded adverts. I generally search by image which takes forever. Once in a while you might run into a shed clearance. If you get a good one, you can live off it for a month.

I used to do this a lot with motorcycles, big old two strokes until the cat was out of the bag and everyone got into it (a bit like the Swindens). There are lots of categories to pick from, you just have to find an undeveloped resource that doesn't have too many people in the game. I did quite well out of large range cookers for example, possibly a London thing but with house prices around here, having spent £millions on a house, the new owner or his wife would demand the kitchen is replaced with new no matter what the current state.

The key is to have a big van, a bag of cash and be willing to travel - immediately.

I dont have a big van or cash and i have comitments with grandson.....so distance might be an issue.

I am also seeing alot of dodgy buyers on ebay trying it on just lately.

Ebay is not being discounted but......

 

[ukracer]

Car and motorbike used parts. A guy I know made a good living off of this but he knew what sold and what folk were wanting and stuck to those things, that's the key. He sourced stuff from breakers, cleaned them up and onto ebay.

My mate did this with honda trikes but he knew what he was buying.

 

[slim_boy_fat]

Yeah i could turn my hand to that. My achillies heel is pricing. I hate asking for money as i never know whats fair and reasonable.

Agree, it can be difficult - but don't sell yourself short, there's no point in working [and wearing yourself out] for other folks' benefit.

Some simple chemicals like AutoSmart G101 which dilutes very well is great for cleaning plastic & metal mower housings, degreasing etc - a variety of brushes and away you go. Just be wary of buying chemicals on the likes of the 'Bay from those who 'decant' into smaller quantities, you never know what you're getting or if they've watered it down already.....

Sharpening rotary mower blades is easy [cylinder ones less so] - but you could always replace with new and add a % to the cost of the bits.