Machine shop rec....

M

Mutt

Active member
I went to the vendors page here and such but I dont see a machine shop listed as such. I live up in Thornhill, and going downtown is a pita....Im asking here because this is where a lot of wrenches hang out....I was going to go with a local race shop for headwork on a '69 Triumph, but the prices seem....astronomical, and they only do "packages"- I want seats cut (new valves) and guides reamed and bushed....no need to assemble!....any recommendations around Yonge and Rte 7?
Thx, Mutt, new here....
 
Heard good things about Bondi and Gord Bush. Travelling a little for a respected machinist is always worth it.
 
Z1 Cycletech is in that area. (May be who you originally talked to)

Assembling the valves into the head is the smallest and easiest part of the job. You won't be saving much by hypothetically not having the shop do that, and I can understand why the shop would want to do it. If it were me doing that job, I'd want to leak-test the head prior to giving it back to make sure the valves are sealing ... and that requires assembling the valves into the head!
 
Bondi screwed me good, so I can't put in a good word for that shop, worst experience of my life so far...and I'm 46. Can't think of any shop off the top of my head, good luck!
 
"Packages"????
What kinda "Packages"??

When I get head work... I get the work needed done.
When I buy weed I get "Packages". Is this guy selling weed?

Gordie Bush does all my guides and seats.
Yes, he is worth driving across the city for.
 
I assemble the heads myself for a lot or reasons...one being I like to use a pencil to check where things are seating, if its concentric, etc. Ive find some dodgy jobs that way. I like to make sure everything is free of debris, etc. Packages: back cut valves, bead blasting, cost for facing valves....Im bringing new valves, so....but it was gonna be $120 to cut 4 seats! WTF?
Ill google those names and see if they pop up.....thx
 
May not be of much help but if you fancy a drive Vance at Precision cycle in Oshawa would be my choice. Steffen Engine Machine Co in Oshawa is also good - Frank Leitner is there
 
As a machinist, i will say 120 is cheap, like you. I would toss you out of my shop, and tell ya to do it yourself.
 
$120 to cut 4 seats is 30/seat. Im new to Canada, and all, but usually cutting seats is 3-7 bucks each, facing valves, half that. Its hardly being cheap to question $30 a seat, then. Im talking JUST cutting the seat, not facing the valve and R&R the guide. Just cutting the seat.
 
Where on earth - or perhaps, WHEN on earth - would $3 - $7 be a normal price to do that?

I wouldn't even walk across the shop to grab a drill bit for that kind of money, nevermind actually drill a hole with it.
 
Mutt said:
$120 to cut 4 seats is 30/seat. Im new to Canada, and all, but usually cutting seats is 3-7 bucks each, facing valves, half that. Its hardly being cheap to question $30 a seat, then. Im talking JUST cutting the seat, not facing the valve and R&R the guide. Just cutting the seat.
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And this is why manufacturing is dying in north america. Nobody wants to pay the money for it and believes it can be done cheaper elsewhere. Just so you get an idea our shop rate is $125 an hour.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997R using Tapatalk
 
Delboy said:
May not be of much help but if you fancy a drive Vance at Precision cycle in Oshawa would be my choice. Steffen Engine Machine Co in Oshawa is also good - Frank Leitner is there
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Frank at Steffen is who I use. The owner Brad Steffen is a real nice guy/ex hydroplane boat racer who married my neighbour nothing but good things to say about them. Anyone who knows Frank knows the big man is a methodical machinist with a wealth of racing experience.
 
Brian P said:
Where on earth - or perhaps, WHEN on earth - would $3 - $7 be a normal price to do that?

I wouldn't even walk across the shop to grab a drill bit for that kind of money, nevermind actually drill a hole with it.
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I think WHERE applies here more than WHEN. He said he's new to Canada .... I believe there are places around the world where the rate is as he said ... probably not G20 country.
 
Across the southern border. Some shops are set up to do production head work. Way back it was $1.25 a valve and $1.75 a seat. 1970....... But I do see where most everything is more expensive in Canada. Ill be buzzin the various shops recommended. Thanks for the various rec's.....
 
Mutt said:
Across the southern border. Some shops are set up to do production head work. Way back it was $1.25 a valve and $1.75 a seat. 1970....... But I do see where most everything is more expensive in Canada. Ill be buzzin the various shops recommended. Thanks for the various rec's.....
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Inflation over the last 40 years causes a 500% bump in the prices. I'm with Brian P, I wouldn't bother putting a head in a vice for less than $100.

Let us know who you chose and how it went.
 
I'm just going to hijack this thread cuz it kinda relates and doesn't need its own thread. Looking for a welder to put a O2 bung on my SS Two Bros pipe. I was going to ask JohnnyP to do it, but it looks like he is out for a while. I have the pipe and the bung and not looking to get it polished afterward or anything.
 
Mutt said:
Across the southern border. Some shops are set up to do production head work.
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I know people who could put together an automated line to do production machining work of that type for only a few dollars per unit.

The catch is that you'll have to guarantee 100,000 identical units per year for a minimum of 5 years and there will be an up-front capital cost of a million bucks or so (maybe more - haven't priced it out) before the first part comes off the line, and the lead-time before that first part comes off needs to be 8 months to a year after receipt of purchase order. That's to pay for a Fanuc R2000iA 165F industrial robot with a custom end-effector to pick up the workpiece, a custom workstation for the part to be loaded into in a consistent position, a set of light curtains for operator protection, and suitable CNC machining equipment, with a big fence around the whole deal so that human hands never touch the part after that initial loading station until it's done.

(I deal with that sort of stuff all the time.)

$120 to do a one-off piece is cheap.
 
Brian P said:
I know people who could put together an automated line to do production machining work of that type for only a few dollars per unit.

The catch is that you'll have to guarantee 100,000 identical units per year for a minimum of 5 years and there will be an up-front capital cost of a million bucks or so (maybe more - haven't priced it out) before the first part comes off the line, and the lead-time before that first part comes off needs to be 8 months to a year after receipt of purchase order. That's to pay for a Fanuc R2000iA 165F industrial robot with a custom end-effector to pick up the workpiece, a custom workstation for the part to be loaded into in a consistent position, a set of light curtains for operator protection, and suitable CNC machining equipment, with a big fence around the whole deal so that human hands never touch the part after that initial loading station until it's done.

(I deal with that sort of stuff all the time.)

$120 to do a one-off piece is cheap.
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plus the engineer to safety it
 
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