Tool & Die Shop Sells Industrial Equipment, Too

Tool & Die Shop Sells Industrial Equipment Too FARM SHOP Maintenance Robert Hanson is an unusual fellow He can help design a new product reproduce an obsolete part or he can sell you a secondhand milling machine or metal lathe and teach you how to do it yourself His company Manufacturing Solutions does all types of fabrications in wood metal plastic and stone operating a nearly 2 000-sq ft machine shop     “One of our bragging rights is building a braking system for a F-117A Stealth Fighter and a fuel cell testing system for the Delta 2 rocket program ” says Hanson “We’ve done everything from building a prototype for an aircraft ice detection system now used by the FAA to building rubber band guns or equipment for a farm or ranch ”     Hanson has been doing machining for the past 17 years His shop is fully equipped with manual and CNC lathes and mills sheet metal fabrication equipment heat-treating ovens MIG and TIG welding and woodworking tools     “We do precision machining ” says Hanson “We have all the tools and toys every machinist dreams about ”     Matching new tools to his changing business Hanson would often look for high quality secondhand industrial equipment Often times while looking at one piece of equipment he would see other pieces also for sale for a good price and buy them as well As different jobs and different needs developed he ended up with surplus equipment For the past 7 years he has been selling those tools along with other things he found for a good price     “I pick up a lot of equipment on the East Coast and fill a semi at a time ” says Hanson “We have everything from restaurant equipment to tools for working on wood metal pneumatics hydraulics and electrical systems ”     Today he has a 6 000-ft showroom 1/2-acre of motor homes and a Quonset-style fabric roof storage building with another 3 000 sq ft of stuff     “We’ll buy sell or trade almost anything ” says Hanson “A lot of it is by word of mouth Last year we sold 24 vertical milling machines $800 to $3 000 and 17 metal lathes $700 to $2 200 and even more the year before ”     In addition to on-site sales Hanson sells a variety of items through Craigslist Recent listings included milling machines lathes a Kawasaki motorcycle and a beer cooler     A good share of the tools he sells have 3-phase motors “Just about any piece of industrial shop equipment is 3-phase even new equipment ” he says “Most people don’t have 3-phase power so we sell and install different lines of static or rotary phase converters ”     Hanson notes that a converter allows customers to get a good deal on a machine and run it on their single-phase power He points out that while a rotary is more expensive it works with hard starters like a lathe or air compressor     “Once you make the plunge on a 15 hp rotary converter you can generally run an entire shop off it ” says Hanson     Industrial 2nd Hand’s website doesn’t have a listing of products on-hand Hanson suggests stopping by if in the area or simply calling if you need a lathe or milling machine - or even a beer cooler     He offers training on equipment as well “In a few hours I can train someone to run a milling machine ” says Hanson “We work with a lot of farmers and ranchers who want to make their own repairs ”     Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Manufacturing Solutions 2130 Dyess Ave Rapid City S Dak 57701 mfgsolutions@peoplepc com; www industrial2ndhand com

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.