AAARRGGGHHHHH!!!!! Why is it so damn hard to find a good machinist? Yep, another rant

[DirtyWhiteBoy]

Yup I hear you!

I live in the boondocks. The biggest thing I miss from living in Indy is being able to get ANYTHING done (and done right) when I need it. I'm 27 miles from the nearest Walmart and 40 mi from Lowes.

I try to be self sufficient, but I have no ability to do machine work in my hack shop. I "blowed up" the 598 in my boat and have been looking for a guy myself.

I've had to make a few adjustments livin' in the woods!

[Bob Holmes]

Scott, I hear you about Sacramento. I'm not satisfied with anyone up here. I think I'll start taking my stuff up to John Beck in Chico, even if its a bit of a drive. His work is meticulous and spot on. Another alternative might be Stockton Machine.

T455, our problem is that we're in a major Metropolitan area and can't find someone we trust. I'm not sure which is worse. I send my headwork to a great guy down in Fremont, Bo Christman.

The big deal, in either area is finding someone you trust. I want it done once, correctly.

[Caveman Tony]

I like my machinists like I like my cars...

OLD.



Old school, crusty, grumpy, well-trained, experienced, in business for a long time, and WORTH IT.

[mike343sharpstick]

I like my machinists like I like my cars...

OLD.
Old school, crusty, grumpy, well-trained, experienced, in business for a long time, and WORTH IT.

Man, that is true 90% of the time.
I did a fair amount of traveling in my racing days to get stuff done right!
My Ducati turner was in Minneapolis (6 hours away), and my other stuff was tuned by a guy in Madison (2 1/2 hours away).
Well worth the effort in a big way

[Loren]

Our little local CarQuest used to do a decent job on heads with what they had for equipment, but then "corporate" centralized things and my set of 350 Chev heads went from their counter to another shop an hour away. When they came back I pulled the assembled "fresh" heads apart, because I trust no one, and found 4x the specified slop in the guides. So I take 'em back to the counter where they claim that is how they're supposed to be. Yeah, wiggling back and forth, sure. I had to go back there with a BOOK and a DIAL INDICATOR, and then fight my way through to the MANAGER, to make the point that the job was no good. There was literally no one there who understood how a valve was supposed to go in a guide, and most there were not even willing to take book specs over their own opinion. What happened to the old machininst who seemed to know what he was doing? Laid off. All the other guys were old too, but I guess hadn't learned much in their years except how to bs a customer. Mind you, I generally had a great experience with this shop, but they sure didn't know machining yet were not shy about tallying up the bill for it.

I was referred to another machine shop later, who did good work but crap it cost me two thousand bucks to do a stock rebuild on a small block Chevy there.

Next time I just buy a crate motor, if it's just a regular ol' motor I'm looking for.

[Scott Liggett]

Scott, I hear you about Sacramento. I'm not satisfied with anyone up here. I think I'll start taking my stuff up to John Beck in Chico, even if its a bit of a drive. His work is meticulous and spot on. Another alternative might be Stockton Machine.

T455, our problem is that we're in a major Metropolitan area and can't find someone we trust. I'm not sure which is worse. I send my headwork to a great guy down in Fremont, Bo Christman.

The big deal, in either area is finding someone you trust. I want it done once, correctly.

My buddy, Mal, takes all his stuff to CasCar on 47th Ave, near Franklin. Mal wouldnt go there if they sucked.

[Mater]

only machine shop i trust hear is the local napa. all others have screwed me over in the past and one turned my 1990 351w into a boat anchor