Author Topic: Egads!!  (Read 5358 times)

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Offline Out Fishing

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Egads!!
« on: June 10, 2014, 07:27:25 PM »
Been shopping around for stainless for lips..... NOT liking what I'm seeing. Last time I bought stainless was last October. It's now DOUBLED in price. Now $5/lb even buying 700lbs...even MORE for small quantities like 200lb rolls... Lip prices will be increasing very shortly or we're going to be forced to change to a cheaper stainless like 430 grade which has less corrosion resistance  :bash: 


This is nuts. Thanks China...  :bash: :bash: :bash: :bash:
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way....Alan Watts

Offline Out Fishing

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #1 on: June 11, 2014, 03:41:19 PM »
The more PRINTED money that the Feds pump into the stock market, the less value EARNED money has for the rest of us.  We can't earn as much or as fast as the government can't print.

...and when inflation rears its ugly head (as it has), then they start pulling things out of the cost of living index like groceries and gas, or say that hamburger doesn't really cost more if you buy something else in its place.

Offline Out Fishing

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #2 on: June 11, 2014, 09:16:53 PM »
I can't earn it fast enough being self employed for the amt of people who have their hands out every day. This is getting ridiculous.

I've got some calls into other places I don't normally buy from. Hoping maybe someone will give me a better price. Still going up but maybe if I can get a better price it won't be so bad.
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way....Alan Watts

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #3 on: June 23, 2014, 05:57:29 PM »
Do you have dies that you use to stamp your lips? 

Offline Out Fishing

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #4 on: June 23, 2014, 07:38:00 PM »
Yes sure do. They cost around $1100 for a die set nowadays.
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way....Alan Watts

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #5 on: June 23, 2014, 07:42:10 PM »
Takes ALOT of lips to make this back...They have to be resharpened constantly otherwise you get roundovers or burrs. Every time you sharpen them you take ~.010 or more off them to eliminate occlusions on the side of the die which also creates problems because the stainless binds to it. Eventually the punch has to be replaced. It's not worth buying a punch by itself because if it doesn't match your screwed. My punches have .006 tolerance. Very tight. Punching metal isn't cheap.
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way....Alan Watts

Offline Out Fishing

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #6 on: June 24, 2014, 09:37:26 AM »
I used to grind punches to form for dies such as yours, so I know that a lot of lips...a WHOLE LOTTA LOT...of lips have to be stamped and sold just to get to the break even point.

A company here in town buys their dies from China, because the up front cost is so cheap.  Unfortunately, they have to be tore apart and rebuilt to before they can make good parts.  My brother was the one tasked with doing this, and he used to scream and holler that management needed to track the cost of the die during it's lifetime, how much work had to put into it, how long it lasted, how many pieces it scrapped, how much production time lost.  Then the "bargains" could be compared with a die that worked right out of the crate.

Obviously, the guys who got a big "Atta boy!" for buying such bargains fought that idea tooth and nail. 

In the end, my brother got fed up and moved on to South Carolina.

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #7 on: June 24, 2014, 04:33:30 PM »
It's a tough job. One that I learned by trial and error and gleaning any information from people who have done it. I've got a 10 and a 14 ton press, one air fed the other manual feed. Works pretty well for doing this stuff. It's just cost prohibitive is the biggest drawback.

Would not ever buy a die set from China. You never know what you would get.

I brought all this in-house a long time ago. I have a surface grinder for sharpening etc. Saves me alot of money vs having to rely on outside people.
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way....Alan Watts

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Re: Egads!!
« Reply #8 on: June 24, 2014, 04:34:21 PM »
btw that .006 is all the way around...it's .003 per side. Measure that on a vernier LOL
Better to have a short life that is full of what you like doing than a long life spent in a miserable way....Alan Watts