Sorry folks, I kind of went off there.... I want to also express that I do have many very good, loyal customers that I enjoy working with alot. I also do understand the that if your a small shop, and your laser is the lifeblood of the business how important it is to get it back going, and of course thats always my goal, get it running as soon as I reasonably can. But... again... Everyday, when you walk into your shop and fire up your machine, the focus should be 1. Do everything you can to not jeapordize the machine, have a mindset that no one single job is worth killing your machine over 2. Keep it clean, pristine, do all the required maintenance, 3. Have some alternative plans, backup plans. 4. And in forth place, get today's work done. If you make #4 your #1, it will come back to bite you in a painful way... I think alot of people, once they have had a major failure will tend to appreciate these things more, than a guy that just bought his first laser and thinks that its a swiss army knife and will last forever...
Hi Gary I get it , lasers can be a pain! I brought your course and I can fix most issues now but it just crapped the laser source and it took a month to get another one however I kept my old CNc plasma. Gotta have a backup!
This is great to hear, as hard as it may be for you to say. I thank you for all your videos you have put out, the honesty and your perspective have been very helpful for us in our laser shopping process. Just absorbing all the information you have put out into the world has helped allot of people like me. Thank you!
Very understandable, I see that mentality all the time. I've always tried very hard to figure my own stuff out way before asking for any technical or mechanical help. Most people don't. I always take extreme care of anything I own and it scares the crap out of me if someone wants to use or borrow something because I know it will get destroyed or at least harmed in some way. Gas on it Gary, You the man.
I have industrial cnc table. You're right never had issues with motors are bering. But the internal computer one of the sensor board fried cause water from the table back splash arc out. We had to figure reprogram. Then machine is 10 years old cpu completely fried. Had to re download all the programs found out new ones are not lifetime subscriptions. My rant usely computer issues stick to a brand that popular are a major following. We ram march 3 took 48h but figure it quite ez after the reacherch
Gary no need to apologize, we will still support you, and I plan on getting a bigger press in the future, do what your gut tells you its right, I dont blame you one bit. Keep up the good work. Chris & Alex from Port Arthur Tx.
Hi Ramsey. sorry to hear you're phasing out on lasers. i always enjoy your videos, especially on cutting settings and different gauges or materials. thanks for your hard work!
Unfortunately, the shift of consumer expectations has already been sullied by the likes of Amazon et al... with their same day prime delivery. Instant streaming movies and music. Back in the day, if there was a movie you wanted to watch on TV, you had better had your butt plopped on the couch right on time, otherwise you missed it. Hell, even relationships are disposable, with the super high divorce rates and any sign of a slight disturbance, people are willing to give up and walk away and not work on anything or fight for it. We want what we want, and we want it NOW!! The entitlement generation, I guess is a good moniker for how to describe this shift. It used to be customers and vendors building a long working relationship, now only have to deal with faceless call centers and AI automation at every turn. The humanity is removed in a hyper capitalistic world with too many options too choose from. If I'm not getting what I want from Vendor A, then I'm going to switch to Vendor B and so on, until I get my way. "Don't you KNOW who I am?" 🤣
No charge for the therapy session Gary! I can totally understand the panic you deal with... It is extremely stressful when someone puts the weight of their business on your shoulders.
Ah, the wonderful world of sales and service. I completely understand, Gary. I've been running an electronic repair business on the side for over 40 years, and I've seen it all. I've had people knock on my door at 11:00 at night at my house, expecting me to repair something for them immediately. Thankfully, I'm now at a point where I can choose which items to work on and my customers. This is largely because I've set the expectation that I'm just one person and I will get to each item in turn. If someone wants their repair done faster, they're welcome to take it elsewhere. I'm no longer going to interrupt everything just because someone wants their repair expedited now.
Yes sir, this is kind of the decision I have had to make also. I really love lasers, they are the coolest thing and alot of fun... but the mindset of many of the people that buy them is just takes the fun out of it..
How far are you from Holden Brothers Diesel, you should take your Truck there, their latest video shows the fix for the Powerstroke injector pump issue.
Very well said. I literally helped my competitor out last week when his plasma table went down. He would do the same for me in a heart beat. People complain and cry about plasma I could only IMAGINE how much complaining someone would do with laser. Either way. Well said. Get well Gary!
Some shops need to know, that laser is not that tough and reliable like big old lathe, that just runs. It is a very delicate piece of equipment. Running on 3 shifts or even 24/7 will definetely break it at some point. It NEEDS to be known as a rule. You can extend life of the laser with setup and programming. Doing proactive things is easier than fixing already broken machine and these things need to be trained for every operator. You can try to teach, how to use the machine in 3 days, but you will need, at minimum, a month to teach all fundamentals on lasercutting itself. From my decade long expierence with different lasers and two workplaces, I have learned, that not enough training will break machines in very short time and don't always trust even on expensive brand machines, there are some, that can make mistakes on engineering and design, which is also a headache maker. It is safer to use laser as a time shortcut than main lifeblood of the shop. You need to sort out alternatives for part producing for future downtimes, because you can never escape them at some point.
Yes sir, you are right, good comparison about the big old lathe and how much abuse they will take, and yes, lasers are coplex, have alot of things that can go wrong and they are definitely delicate, but also can produce alot of work if ran by a smart person and basic maintenance is performed.
People always expect to get the best deal, the best service, and the best performance..... then when they only get two of the three, they cry, think they can abuse the salesman, and threaten to bring in lawyers. It's only getting worse with lower intelligence and less qualified people making decisions.
thankfully I have really only had one person get super nasty with me, but most are just putting it to me like "man I have customers expecting this, or Man this is really hurting my business"
Exactly... There are plenty of machines all around and folks willing to help out in a time of need... but really best to get those relationships established in advance, so when the time comes, its not a panic mad rush problem, but rather a minor inconvience for a few days
Sorry folks, I kind of went off there.... I want to also express that I do have many very good, loyal customers that I enjoy working with alot. I also do understand the that if your a small shop, and your laser is the lifeblood of the business how important it is to get it back going, and of course thats always my goal, get it running as soon as I reasonably can. But... again... Everyday, when you walk into your shop and fire up your machine, the focus should be 1. Do everything you can to not jeapordize the machine, have a mindset that no one single job is worth killing your machine over 2. Keep it clean, pristine, do all the required maintenance, 3. Have some alternative plans, backup plans. 4. And in forth place, get today's work done. If you make #4 your #1, it will come back to bite you in a painful way... I think alot of people, once they have had a major failure will tend to appreciate these things more, than a guy that just bought his first laser and thinks that its a swiss army knife and will last forever...
Hi Gary
I get it , lasers can be a pain!
I brought your course and I can fix most issues now but it just crapped the laser source and it took a month to get another one however I kept my old CNc plasma.
Gotta have a backup!
All I can say is you are the best thing that ever happened to my laser cutting business. You have always been a pleasure to do business with.
Great attitude and explanation about your customer service.
This is great to hear, as hard as it may be for you to say. I thank you for all your videos you have put out, the honesty and your perspective have been very helpful for us in our laser shopping process. Just absorbing all the information you have put out into the world has helped allot of people like me. Thank you!
Very understandable, I see that mentality all the time. I've always tried very hard to figure my own stuff out way before asking for any technical or mechanical help. Most people don't. I always take extreme care of anything I own and it scares the crap out of me if someone wants to use or borrow something because I know it will get destroyed or at least harmed in some way. Gas on it Gary, You the man.
I have industrial cnc table. You're right never had issues with motors are bering. But the internal computer one of the sensor board fried cause water from the table back splash arc out. We had to figure reprogram. Then machine is 10 years old cpu completely fried. Had to re download all the programs found out new ones are not lifetime subscriptions. My rant usely computer issues stick to a brand that popular are a major following. We ram march 3 took 48h but figure it quite ez after the reacherch
Gary no need to apologize, we will still support you, and I plan on getting a bigger press in the future, do what your gut tells you its right, I dont blame you one bit. Keep up the good work. Chris & Alex from Port Arthur Tx.
Hi Ramsey. sorry to hear you're phasing out on lasers. i always enjoy your videos, especially on cutting settings and different gauges or materials. thanks for your hard work!
Unfortunately, the shift of consumer expectations has already been sullied by the likes of Amazon et al... with their same day prime delivery. Instant streaming movies and music. Back in the day, if there was a movie you wanted to watch on TV, you had better had your butt plopped on the couch right on time, otherwise you missed it. Hell, even relationships are disposable, with the super high divorce rates and any sign of a slight disturbance, people are willing to give up and walk away and not work on anything or fight for it.
We want what we want, and we want it NOW!! The entitlement generation, I guess is a good moniker for how to describe this shift. It used to be customers and vendors building a long working relationship, now only have to deal with faceless call centers and AI automation at every turn. The humanity is removed in a hyper capitalistic world with too many options too choose from. If I'm not getting what I want from Vendor A, then I'm going to switch to Vendor B and so on, until I get my way. "Don't you KNOW who I am?" 🤣
No charge for the therapy session Gary! I can totally understand the panic you deal with... It is extremely stressful when someone puts the weight of their business on your shoulders.
lol thanks for not charging me!
Ah, the wonderful world of sales and service. I completely understand, Gary. I've been running an electronic repair business on the side for over 40 years, and I've seen it all. I've had people knock on my door at 11:00 at night at my house, expecting me to repair something for them immediately.
Thankfully, I'm now at a point where I can choose which items to work on and my customers. This is largely because I've set the expectation that I'm just one person and I will get to each item in turn. If someone wants their repair done faster, they're welcome to take it elsewhere. I'm no longer going to interrupt everything just because someone wants their repair expedited now.
Yes sir, this is kind of the decision I have had to make also. I really love lasers, they are the coolest thing and alot of fun... but the mindset of many of the people that buy them is just takes the fun out of it..
How far are you from Holden Brothers Diesel, you should take your Truck there, their latest video shows the fix for the Powerstroke injector pump issue.
Very well said. I literally helped my competitor out last week when his plasma table went down. He would do the same for me in a heart beat. People complain and cry about plasma I could only IMAGINE how much complaining someone would do with laser. Either way. Well said. Get well Gary!
I am from India, can you advice me buying laser cutting machine from China. We need for our own set up.
Sounds like there are a lot of people with unrealistic expectations.
Some shops need to know, that laser is not that tough and reliable like big old lathe, that just runs. It is a very delicate piece of equipment. Running on 3 shifts or even 24/7 will definetely break it at some point. It NEEDS to be known as a rule. You can extend life of the laser with setup and programming. Doing proactive things is easier than fixing already broken machine and these things need to be trained for every operator. You can try to teach, how to use the machine in 3 days, but you will need, at minimum, a month to teach all fundamentals on lasercutting itself. From my decade long expierence with different lasers and two workplaces, I have learned, that not enough training will break machines in very short time and don't always trust even on expensive brand machines, there are some, that can make mistakes on engineering and design, which is also a headache maker. It is safer to use laser as a time shortcut than main lifeblood of the shop. You need to sort out alternatives for part producing for future downtimes, because you can never escape them at some point.
Yes sir, you are right, good comparison about the big old lathe and how much abuse they will take, and yes, lasers are coplex, have alot of things that can go wrong and they are definitely delicate, but also can produce alot of work if ran by a smart person and basic maintenance is performed.
People always expect to get the best deal, the best service, and the best performance..... then when they only get two of the three, they cry, think they can abuse the salesman, and threaten to bring in lawyers. It's only getting worse with lower intelligence and less qualified people making decisions.
thankfully I have really only had one person get super nasty with me, but most are just putting it to me like "man I have customers expecting this, or Man this is really hurting my business"
I’ve been telling Mom we need to upgrade 😂
Well said...
The plan is abundance, have atleast 2 machines that makes your main business or be good friends with your competition to help you out
Exactly... There are plenty of machines all around and folks willing to help out in a time of need... but really best to get those relationships established in advance, so when the time comes, its not a panic mad rush problem, but rather a minor inconvience for a few days
I admire you!!!