Shop Holmes

[JohnRobHolmes]

Glad you like them, and thanks for the props!

Really busy lately, not much time for updates. Got a new microscope for inspecting tools and electronics, really useful.

Otherwise my brain is trying its best to not think about work, typical when I'm busy. Its hooked on to royer circuits and resonant tanks lately, gonna build an induction heater or tesla coil I suppose. Practical applications would be BEC circuits and resonance in ESCs, so at least it isnt a totally unrelated topic.

[JohnRobHolmes]

These are some of the offenders that keep sucking away my time. So close to done. 4 more wires per motor to solder, then bench test (4th time), then waterproof, and I'm done!

[JohnRobHolmes]

I ended up pulling an all nighter last week to finish up the UAV motor batch. Haven't ever done that in my life, but I was sick and tired of dragging that contract on. Some perspective on it, the photo above is over $600 in bearings alone



slowly getting caught up here. I've been building handwounds and Pullers as fast as possible between regular boss activities of watching money fly away



Big updates soon though. Real big. Bigger than my lathe, although 1/5th the cost.

[EddieO]

New big VMC ?

Later EddieO

[JohnRobHolmes]

I wish! Not gonna expand the machine shop further this year though. There is enough to do already.

It's bigger with less metal.

[BigSki]

Originally Posted by johnrobholmes

big updates soon though. Real big. Bigger than my lathe, although 1/5th the cost.

EDM ??

Trying to think of a bigger machine that is in the 100K range that would work inside of your mad scientist lab, although a used EDM probably doesn't fill that criteria

Can't imagine you getting much use from a commercial quality 3D printer.

[KraZeR169]

Love my Holmes brushed puller motor, curious why there not available any longer.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Originally Posted by stevenlee2012

I love hh and will always


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks Steven!

Originally Posted by BigSki

EDM ??

Trying to think of a bigger machine that is in the 100K range that would work inside of your mad scientist lab, although a used EDM probably doesn't fill that criteria

Can't imagine you getting much use from a commercial quality 3D printer.

I could use a 3d printer for protos, for sure. But a commercial quality one, agreed we probably wouldn't get much use.

Originally Posted by KraZeR169

Love my Holmes brushed puller motor, curious why there not available any longer.

Thanks man! Just temporarily out of stock on some parts and not able to retool the lathe yet. Pullers will be back soon enough.

[JOEY_P]

Originally Posted by JohnRobHolmes

Thanks man! Just temporarily out of stock on some parts and not able to retool the lathe yet. Pullers will be back soon enough.

Ordered a brushed puller about 3 weeks ago. any chance it will ship this week? Need to know. Upcoming comp. If not, gotta make other arrangements. Thanks John..

[BigSki]

So what's the new piece of equipment for the shop??

[spoo76]

Originally Posted by BigSki

So what's the new piece of equipment for the shop??

Beer tap

[snapon boy]

Margarita machine! That would improve moral.

[spoo76]

I've never liked margaritas lol. Maybe I just never had a good one

[JohnRobHolmes]

Originally Posted by BigSki

So what's the new piece of equipment for the shop??

Originally Posted by spoo76

Beer tap

Although that would be fantastic, I fear that work ethic may slip



So what do we really need around here?
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More space!! We are always getting more shelves, reorganizing, and rearranging the shop. Added another 40 linear feet of shelves this week, but thats not it. All this movement has caused my video / media area to get pushed around over and over, inventory and production just keep pushing out. It's hard to make vids constantly without a static studio, and I wanted to make a lot more vids for 2015. We made a few, made a lot more than ever, but still didn't quite cut the mustard for regular releases and tech vids.



So what would really help me keep a studio in one spot for 2016? I could take over the final area left in the building (which I still rent, owners are making too much off me to sell ) But the CNC is noisy, not so great for a 24/7 sort of studio idea. Not building a studio at home, not with a 3 year old wiping boogers everywhere! Being less than enthusiastic about options, I started looking at some homes for sale in the area.




Within days I found a little run down house smack between my home and shop. I've ridden past this place hundreds of times and never noticed it. Little 800 sq ft 1940s home with a 210 foot long .29 acre flat lot. For being in town, it is a very nice lot. The back yard is about 4x bigger than my back yard, jealous!



So I jumped on the house and threw down a lowball offer that was accepted. Financing is done and we will close in about 10 days. The plan is to renovate the house as if I were going to rent or flip it, make it comfortable and clean. Bathroom needs ripping out. 2 bedroom addition has the central wall sagging bad, so I'm going to rip out the partitioning wall and suspend the ceiling on a header and new footers. Make it a large master bedroom area. Since the house is on a crawl space, we are ripping up flooring for the work. Won't find me in a 18" crawl space trying to dig 42" deep piers! it is actually the ONLY house I found with ability to drive into the back yard. Huge bonus there, I had given up on that want but got it anyway. The city just installed brand new sewer and water too.






Once we close the sale I'll start shooting vids of the progress. Besides the renovation, the house will have a studio with 4k cameras. The back yard will be built into crawling areas. All my toys will have a place to be again! A dedicated zone away from manufacturing, so the focus can be on fun.

[spoo76]

Nice, congratulations! House renovations always make for interesting content. Look forward to all the new videos

[JohnRobHolmes]

Many thanks! And many of the new vids will be shot with another new tool I got for the shop. The first camera for the studio, something simple I can take outside.

[snapon boy]

Congratulations on the house! Can't wait to see gramps in a new video.

[BigSki]

Congrats on the shop "annex" ! As busy as you are, buying and renovating a house was the last thing I expected to hear.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Plenty time! If I can run the cnc, design and test new products, order from factories, pay all the bills, keep workers on task, and and and...

I'm not going to do much, if any, of the labor on this house myself. Already have the main contractor lined up. All I need to do is know the plan. we are also working to streamline our efforts at the shop. It's starting to get so busy and hectic, we're going to have to make some changes this year to keep up.

[JohnRobHolmes]

Closed on the house yesterday! It's not much to look at, but it will do. I feel like it will be much easier to invite folks in for get togethers. No equipment or inventory, no landlord or wife, just a clean slate.

Had a contractor look at the 2bdr addition's sagging interior wall, and its because the cinder blocks underneath are just on dirt. Gutter came loose, water got under the house, blocks sank. We confirmed that removing the wall and floor is the best route. Pour some footers at the edges and suspend the header on studs, then hang the floor off the header. Make it a master bedroom. Just in case I gotta rent or sell.