FROM SCRAP TO CASH Managing your scrap is an everyday chore. We all know aluminum pistons are worth more than aluminum mill waste, but by removing pins and rings it is worth even more. There are special buyers for aluminum out there, and they will also buy aluminum...

MEASURING TOOL MAINTENANCE I was once in a shop where the Sunnen dial bore gauge setting standards were so worn on their Sunnen CF1126 that it messed up every job in the boring department and no one noticed. The ends of the changeable standards had divots worn in them...

Search ‘Engines’ Using Search Engines You’ve heard the old saying that a picture is worth a thousand words. Often when sourcing parts for today’s complex engines it helps to see an image of the component or the casting the part is bolting on to. There are many...

THE MOST PROFITABLE TOOL IN YOUR SHOP Ask yourself, what is the most profitable tool in your shop? The answers vary! A lot of machine shop owners will quickly say their flywheel grinder or their guide and seat machine. But the most profitable tool isn’t a machine you...

Thinking Outside the Book Is your business up to date on your Yellow Pages listing? I hope not! In the good ol’ days if someone in your area needed machine work they would turn to the yellow pages. How do DIYers find your shop today? - According to Yelp, 85 percent of...

CURRENTLY TRENDING As I visit machine shops around the state, I notice some common trends. Shops have downsized to some extent over the years. Many of the shops no longer want to assemble engines. They claim that they don’t want the liability of assembling engines...