New rotary machines I'm working on

[slicksteel]

I would pay more then 5-10 for a mabuchi motor if I had to as I feel they are good motors for rotary machines and one can last just as long as a maxon.The only reason why mabuchi motor are cheap as compared to others is that the companys work their people like slaves and pay them nothing and profit of them. I feel china can make good tattoo products as long as their is good quailty control by reputable people that care about their workers and the industry they work in.
know i don't think a machine should be price jacked up to 500 -600 and have a motor that does not cost alot in it.I could care less about names what maters to me is that the machines performance and price ratio are in balance.I dont have a problem dropping money if i feel its worth it. But just cause you throw a maxon in something does not make it star attraction!
It would be interesting to actually learn what type of profit off each machine, makers of autocad produced tattoo machiness make.

[Cesar]

Beautiful machined man, good stuff.

[Tat2nu]

It would be interesting to actually learn what type of profit off each machine, makers of autocad produced tattoo machiness make.

What a lot of people do not understand is that the "Autocad" produced machine builders either have tens of thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars invested in machinery, tooling, software and R&D. If not then they are paying somebody else that does $100+/hour to design and or produce these machines for them. These costs all have to trickle down to some effect into the final product. Production builders get better pricing on items because they buy in bulk but that to is money invested that sits on a shelf doing nothing until the product sells. In many ways the custom builder has much lower overhead and invested but spends more time per machine which is where those costs rise. In reality these pros and cons of each style essentially wash out and that is why the pricing of custom machines is similar to those that are mass produced. Each having its own advantages. The big downside is that if a production machine builder does not make a profit he is out all his investment where as the home builder loses much less. Machine performance vs. value should be how everyone buys in my eyes. If you buy a $200 machine and are happy with it then great but that $400 machine really should out perform the lower cost machine or it is just not worth it to me regardless of whether it is custom or production.

Just my $0.02

[Amoebadesigns]

Exactly Mark, well said. I've seen it from both sides. I've had machinists work on a project for me about 4 years ago and it cost lots of money and for me was no fun and it got scraped. I prefer to do all of my own measuring, cutting, milling, drilling, shaping, grinding, sanding, cursing, throwing something across the warehouse cause you got it wrong myself. My cost in materials is low depending on what I'm working with but each machine gets 8 to 12+ hours of my time making everything and putting it together. I love the satisfaction I get from doing it this way and don't think I'll ever have anyone else do my work for me. I'm also not looking to have a production line, if I were I'd have a machinist make my parts. I prefer one of a kind, one at a time.