Face Milling Follow-Up - Merry Christmas - Shop Update

[@robertlong9029]

I really hope that you are successful in getting work. I really appreciate the way you teach and the world is a better place with you teaching.

[@alanm3438]

Thanks for the video!!!!! Set ups are harder when the part is big and heavy. I am sorry that Rocky is struggling. My Cooper is the same age and the same health issues. No matter what happens with the shop, I know that what ever you do, you will always do your best. You have so many different skills. I struggle with nerve damage in my back and I wish that I was able to work. It looks like you are in good health and I am sure that you will find something. I had no idea that in 2019 my company would down size and I was replaced with a newer laser and a younger operator; 23 years with the company and at 58 no one wants to hire a old man. None the less I was thankful for what I had. I miss working. In my eyes you are a great man. You have skills that I can only wish I had. Hang in there. Your KZbin followers believe in you. Merry Christmas.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you for the kind words. I appreciate the support.

[@gagasmancave8859]

😢 sorry to hear about rocky and his issues we had to take our cat to the vets last year, she had a good life just like rocky has had, all we can do is gift them a good life

[@shannonstebbens6992]

Merry Christmas! I suspect your exposure on KZbin has positioned you for work from all over the world. I wish Rocky well.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

If only anyone would be willing to ship.

[@user-oi8tg3dq7t]

Merry Christmas from the oldest town in Texas. Rocky is a lucky dog to have good people like y’all. Give him lots of love.

[@kdel9776]

Dogs provide so much comfort to us all. Its sad when they have to go to the big field. My heart goes out to you all.

[@ypaulbrown]

So true ❤

[@ypaulbrown]

Merry Christmas my friend…❤

[@Mr2eyedjack]

Yes, so true. We lost 2 dogs last week. Tinker went Tuesday night, Polo went Wednesday night. They were booth older.

[@davidsaito4519]

Merry Christmas

[@BrucePierson]

Merry Christmas to all. Hope you have a great day as you celebrate this special day.

[@MarkCastle-h7o]

Merry Christmas hope things get better for you

[@bostedtap8399]

Merry Christmas, Josh and family. If an animal is in pain, then sadly its better to say goodbye, humans are realising this for themselves now.

[@MrMojolinux]

Merry Christmas Josh, and hopefully a Happy New Year with lots more work coming your way! It would be a cryin' shame if you had to close up shop with all your skills ability and knowledge. I feel the same as you about NOT moving and chasing after work that may or may not be there. I worked in several Tool and Die shops for over twenty five years until the day my shop had to close it's doors due to work going to Japan and or China. It was very difficult finding an equivalent replacement job due to other surrounding shops closing and a glut of unemployed workers. I struggled through for a few more years until my early retirement. Now I watch machining videos like yours on KZbin.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

It would absolutely suck if I failed after this long, but I know it's the region that has failed me. I already have things in the works for a complete career change that would be great for me. I will keep the shop and just maintain the few customers I have left , but I don't forsee a full time future.

[@GardenTractorBoy]

Merry Christmas! Thank you for putting together some great videos over the years, I enjoy following your channel

[@kd5byb]

We put down our oldest cat in early September. Oral cancer. Three weeks from fine to not fine. It totally sucked. Pets become family, as close as human children. Sorry for your relatives loss and I hope Rocky is doing better.

[@alandawson2813]

Merry Christmas and a safe new years. From kiwi land.

[@murph7591]

Merry Christmas Josh!!!!!!!

[@oldadthomas]

thanks for sharing

[@FailedExpert6330]

Merry Christmas Josh

[@kdel9776]

Merry Christmas brother

[@59jm24]

Thanks!

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you.

[@RCRadioShow]

Happy Holidays! Good luck with business down the road.

[@TheJohndeere466]

I work at a job shop and we have 5 horizontal boring mills and large lathes that will turn 50" dia. Most of our work is for overhead cranes or steel mill work. We had the best year ever this year. We also within the last 7 years bought a cnc mill and a large cnc lathe. I know you dont care for cnc but we are doing more and more work on the cnc machines if we can. You just cant compete with old manual machines. Now jobs like this one of yours, a manual is the way to go but for drilling bolt patterns and milling odd shapes you just cant beat a cnc and without one you will miss a lot of work. We make a lot of shafts on our cnc lathe with large radii like 1 1/2" and the cnc just eats these up and they look beautiful. Again you couldnt compete with a manual lathe. Now we make large split bronze bushings that are 35" in dia and 2' long and these are too big for our cnc lathe so they go in the manual. Our cnc lathe will only turn 25" dia. x 11' long.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

There is no point in getting into cnc when there is no work. I have a partner cnc shop who is about to close also. Can't get work in this region. Nobody will ship here. Tucked up situation.

[@ragnarironspear1791]

Merry Christmas and a happy New Year 🙏🏻🙏🏻🇬🇧

[@jimzivny1554]

Merry Christmas and hoping the new year is better for you and your family. Sorry to hear about the dogs, I've had 2 German Shepherds and 2 cats in the past currently have a Boxer puppy and a young Pitbull in the house, I can't imagine life without a 4 legged buddy.

[@ralphaverill2001]

Sorry about Rocky. Thanks for the setup explanation. Best wishes to you and yours.

[@jamesbonnema1041]

Sorry about the dogs, but have a merry Christmas, josh

[@TalRohan]

.oh boy that wass a lot more complicated than I envisioned thanks for sharing ..... Merry Christmas to you and your family Josh, hope its a prosperous new year for you

[@kdel9776]

Btw, Merry Christmas, brother

[@mikeking7470]

Merry Christmas! And good wishes to Rocky!

[@gary36535]

Merry Christmas Rocky is a lucky dog to have you

[@kevinriese6384]

I love your resolve. I am in a dying reign as well. I do not want to move. I am going to leave my buildings and the machine right where they are. I am not selling off my life's work because of a miss managed government. God bless merry Christmas.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

@kevinriese6384 I'm glad that I'm not alone. Hang in there. I'll maintain my few customers while working a new career path.

[@BrucePierson]

I wish you success in your planned career change. It will be interesting to know what you are doing when this comes to pass and I hope you will share that with us when you start a new job. In the meantime, I hope you get enough work in to keep you going. I don't know why people are suggesting that you move. That would be out of the question when all things are considered. Hopefully you will still have videos when you are in your new job, plenty of interesting things like the sawmill, drag line, bees, tractor, just to name a few and even some machining jobs trickling in.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I plan to keep the shop and maintain the customers that I still have. But I will keep doing videos as long as I can.

[@frankerceg4349]

Thank you Josh! 🎅🎅

[@clutch5sp989]

I feel for you with Rocky. We are in the same place with our first and only dawg. I love her soo much and know the day is soon.

[@LennyConetsco]

Merry Christmas, Josh!

[@nschelling6420]

Have a blessed Christmas Josh! I hope business picks up in the future.

[@bcooo1]

Merry Christmas to you and your family. of course, Rocky is included.

[@huntncover]

Thanks Josh . Merry Christmas to you and your family . 🎄❄️Hoping for more business your way . Also , would love to see a very localized snow storm ( Spooner ) To get you to use " The Beast " . Take care .

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you very much. Looks like it will all melt this week and the hard pack will be gone. No blowing for a while. Ugh. I really want to try it out.

[@edsmachine93]

Merry Christmas Josh, all the best to you and your family. Sorry to hear about Rocky. 🙏

[@darrellk9671]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

[@EmanuelMifsud-f1f]

merry christmass to you and family

[@frankward709]

Merry Christmas and happy New Year! To your family and prayers for Rocky that he can be more comfortable in these. Last days I buried my dog 2 years ago. She followed me everywhere I went it was very hard My son and I know it's got a much larger building I was going to retire but he wants to learn to do the machining and welding. Jo, here we are. It's slow, very very slow prayers for your business as we pray for ours and everybody else loves us trying new their own being your own Moss and Marion rewarding but sometimes the benefits are a little poor. Anyway, hang in. Mary Christmas from Frank at Fleco Technology in Walla Walla Washington

[@eyuptony]

Nice one Josh ATB. Keep the videos coming. Hope Rocky has a few more years yet.

[@tomstckel4489]

sorry that Rocky is struggling. hope the best marry christmas - from Denmark

[@Steve2024-y6h]

I live in Doncaster in England. It used to be dominated by coal mining and heavy industry. It’s all gone now, replaced by warehousing, finance and offices. Lots of low pay jobs but nothing for the tradesmen left unemployed. I was an electrical engineer but at age forty went back to university and retrained as a chemist, not every one had that opportunity. Maybe your region will pick up but experience over here doesn’t give me much hope. Retraining isn’t the worst idea, good luck.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Our infrastructure is gone, so no hope for recovery. I'm starting classes in the next few weeks for my shift. I'll maintain th shop to support existing customers until they are gone.

[@Steve2024-y6h]

@@TopperMachineLLC

[@Steve2024-y6h]

Good luck with your classes. You’re probably going to wonder why you’re doing it sometimes but stick with it. The end result is worth the effort many times over.

[@dc5723]

Merry Christmas to you and family (Rocky too!). Prayers for Rocky's health an recovery.

[@johnwilleford7715]

Merry Christmas, Josh.

[@lancekincaid5610]

Always good to watch, I hope your poopy doo will start feeling better soon😇 I miss my spanial so much 💔💔💔 His name was Buster Brown, but I called him Poo😪

[@frankk8018]

Merry Christmas !

[@bernardwill7196]

I wish you and your family Merry Christmas.

[@ElmerJFudd-oi9kj]

Best wishes to jou. and jours Josh, I'm Very sorry that Rocky is on his last legs, I know what its like and its HARD and painfull to say goodbye. Just as long as they do'nt suffer too much, it's okay to let them sleep. Be strong you both. Its no use spreading the word in France where I live, but I wish you good luck with the shop. Chris.

[@charleswelch249]

I'm sorry about your family dogs. And I wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

[@scottfarnham2717]

I hope your dog is feeling better and business picks up for you. I really enjoy your videos. All the best to you and your family. Merry Christmas, Josh.

[@gusviera3905]

Merry Christmas, Josh. Let's pray for a better new year.

[@frankdoner8402]

Good luck Josh and Merry Christmas

[@ron827]

Merry Christmas and I am optimistic that if you need to change employment, something better will present itself. You have a wonderful work ethic which is becoming less common in our society.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

It is already in the works. Thank you.

[@larryvollmar8763]

Merry Christmas and hopes for a prosperous new year!

[@timscartoys9321]

Merry Christmas Josh. May this coming year be brighter for You, your family, and of course Rocky!

[@mfc4591]

Happy Christmas, greetings and pats for Rocky

[@CSWeldFab]

Merry Christmas from East Tennessee. I hope your dog recovers from the medication effects.

[@BurnAndHackett_RC]

Good follow up video of a complicated and time consuming process. Belated Christmas wishes and all the best for a prosperous new Year. Sorry to hear about Rocky, but at 16 yo, he is looking quite well. My last two dogs were well into double figures when they went for a final sleep, both had arthritis problems for which I gave then Arnica pills which seemed to alleviate the inflamed joints issue, with the bonus of no obvious side effects. May be worth a try for Rocky ?

[@mhkoo1]

*about your dog:* our Golden retriever of 40 kg also has arthritis, took the same injections and we stopped after 3 months since it had almost no effect. We ended up giving him tablets with Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM in a hig dose: the dose used for adult humans. This worked very well and he improved significantly. The dose depends on weight so you dog may need less.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

We do this as well.

[@junkmannoparts9696]

Merry Christmas Josh sorry to hear that work is drying up . Can you think of anything you can build and sell a tool or some type of machine gadget to make up for non productive time throughout your day . or have you thought about getting a CNC mill or lathe and maybe do some production work also maybe small parts might not cost as much to ship . just a thought and i know nothing about running a business . Good luck Josh , thanks for the videos all these years . JM

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I have not come up with any product ideas. Cnc is a no go. I have a partner shop that is all cnc and he is about to go broke. No real hope here.

[@junkmannoparts9696]

Well I'll keep watching as long as you keep making videos Thanks

[@SettledBatches]

Happy holidays and all the best for your pup; those of us who have had dogs know the concern. Explaining the surface had to be normal the bored hole in the X and Y axis pretty much tells us of the difficulty of the setup. How many of these?

[@StuartsShed]

Merry Christmas to all of you Josh. Sorry to hear about Rocky - but 16 years is an awesome run. But they are part of the family aren't they? So difficult. Well best wishes all round.

[@monochromatech]

Merry Christmas from your Minnesota buddies. Wondering if the train overpass still says "Spooner sucks." Damn seniors....

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Spooner Blows actually, an yes it still does. LOL

[@DougCurtis_plus]

Best of luck in the new year. Any snow this passed week? We got some here in south central WI, but I know it varied widely to the north of us.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

It will all be gone by mid week. Gonna be close to 40 again.

[@DougCurtis_plus]

@@TopperMachineLLC Then the snow blower is doing it's job, just like last year!

[@kristysokol1646]

Well me totally down, the job market especially in mechanical assembly gone. So sad about your loyal pet. I totally skipped Christmas and Mass today. Sure seems the Honest Hard Working People get slammed. I highly respect you Josh. I do hope steady work comes your way.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you, I appreciate your kind words.

[@robhawthorne6892]

Merry Christmas, sorry to hear about Rocky.. may I suggest doing the shipping yourself, like a pick-up and delivery service at a reasonable price your customers would be willing to pay.. for items that would fit in a pickup truck or trailer..

[@TopperMachineLLC]

It's been offered. I own a Comercial truck for this reason that doesn't get used. Spooner is too far.

[@BrucePierson]

Sorry to hear about Rocky not doing well. We lost our dog a few years ago age 13.

[@sharkrivermachine]

I really like the follow up videos, I may use this feature on my own channel. Hope that you don't mind, I will give you credit for it. A couple of years ago you had some videos on doing some railroad work for the Wisconsin Central. Have you done any more work for them? I enjoyed those videos. Merry Christmas, looking forward to more video content in the future.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

@@sharkrivermachine go for it. While some love it, some don't. I think it really helps.

[@BrucePierson]

@@TopperMachineLLC The follow up videos are always interesting.

[@rickmartinson5252]

Dogs are great. It is tough for you but the dog needs to be in a good place and not suffer. Do what is best for the dog. Peace

[@MurlWatne-io2bo]

I hope they payed you good for that work.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

It was the only paying job last month.

[@purdunetae2995]

Sorry to hear. Dogs are an important member of our families.

[@petegraham1458]

Merry Christmas to all!

[@clutch5sp989]

Shipping idea....Can you set up a drop point in nearby city/town for items shipped? Then, you go pick up the item(s) saving the special BFE delivery costs.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

@@clutch5sp989 attempted. Got a location in St Paul.

[@joell439]

👍🎄👍

[@ssboot5663]

Do you work for ADM? (employee?) Merry Christmas!

[@mr.picklesworth]

Food for thought. No guarantee you would get work if you moved but sounds like more of a guarantee that you won't get work if you don't move. Stubbornness is the kiss of death for a business.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

And so be it. I'm not starting over and not doing this again. Move on to something else. I'd be willing to bet if you went through half of what I have, you would given up a long time ago.

[@mr.picklesworth]

@TopperMachineLLC didn't mean any disrespect. As they say when a door closes a window opens. Nothing wrong with starting a new chapter in life with whatever you may choose to go on to. Again I don't mean it in a negative way. Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

[@TopperMachineLLC]

@mr.picklesworth I plan to keep the shop no matter what, and maintain my current customers until they close up. But I know I will have to get a job to ensure a future. It's already in the works, and would be a great fit for me.

[@cncmoldsnstuff4423]

Josh I dropped you a message here earlier with some of my thoughts, but apparently KZbin thought there was something wrong with it, so I am going to try to recreate the gist of it in an email to the addresses on your website titled, "Ideas For A Slow Machine Shop." If you don't get it check your junk mail folders. It may give you a hint or it may be worthless, but I like your videos and would like to see you stay in the business. Bob ~~~ Waiting to recreate my message in email before I click the comment button.

[@cncmoldsnstuff4423]

Okay, my email has been sent. I hope there is something in it for you.

[@cncmoldsnstuff4423]

Merry Christmas. May the holidays and the new year bring you everything you need and a little bit of what you want.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I got it. Thanks. I will respond. Just a short response here, I have tried everything you suggested and had zero success. I will be doing a product of some kind for yt. I am working in that.

[@cncmoldsnstuff4423]

​@@TopperMachineLLC Its a grind. No one thing will make all the difference. ... and yeah shipping is a tough nut to crack for big stuff. Even small stuff costs.

[@vernonland5987]

I don't know what a punch press is. Merry Christmas!

[@jeffdavis291]

I noticed that Keith Rucker quit his day job when he got to 200K subs.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

He retired. Recently. I have to work another 25 years. Especially since I have zero retirement savings.

[@jeffdavis291]

That's correct, but I imagine that his KZbin revenue helped him to be able to retire at 55.

[@transmitterguy478]

Coming soon, on this channel...Josh cooks deer meat in a smooth whiskey brine! Join us for "cooking with Josh"! 😂 Keep hammering Josh you will make it. Great videos. I learned a lot, thanks.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Sounds good!

[@gt1man931]

The unfortunate reality about our pets, they have short lives. All we can do is give them the best care and love that we are able to. As far as that last job and the three hour set-up. I think what was missing was more the general info, what it was, why it was, and five minutes spent on that would have made it a lot more interesting instead of "here is some steel and watch the chips fly", because that isn't really your audience. I hope you and your family are having a lovely Christmas. 🙂

[@buggyduggy2431]

When the only job you can get is working at Walmart for $14 an hour or a machinist for $30 to $40 an hour, you will be a machinist working for somebody else.

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I will not. Seriously. I will not.

[@davidcashin9194]

Wow Josh such a shame that your area is so dead. Where I live here in Australia there are just no shops left that will do job shop work if they cannot make like a thousand parts on there CNC there not interested. I have a couple of small machines and welders so I can do my own stuff but other people find it really hard to get work done and if they can they almost have to take out a loan to pay for it.

[@funone8716]

Put on a red vest at the Lowes tool department. You'll make $20/hr and be the smartest one there. When they find out you can read a tape measure, you'll be promoted to mamager at $26/hr

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Lowes, what's that? We don't have those or home depot.

[@dansvec5411]

I would like most people better if they were dogs... My best to all of you!

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Me too. Lol

[@morgansword]

Sorry about your four legged family member, I still grieve many years later over my two best friends, Lady and Tramper... Rottweilers supreme who saved my life many times and were there when life was so difficult. I see costs of your trade equipment and ask myself if you can ever even own it in one lifetime. Its not any one piece either as it is every piece in the shop cost ridiculous amount for good quality. In my trade as a mechanic.... I worked for twenty years to get all the basic tools and have good quality. Never ever again would I buy Snap On tool boxes! One small head high chest six foot wide was seventeen thousand dollars in 2010. I do not know what that chest would be in 2024 but figure the tools that I had would of bought a very very nice home. I was heavy equipment diesel and when too old to travel camp to camp, built a auto shop thinking I am at home and its got to be cheaper ... that tool box I mentioned would not hold all of my tools for that and the same size was only half of my test equipment... that stuff takes up a lot of space. I am not sure but think like the specific tool box sets that hold indicators are huge plastic things that will not fit into a tool box.... many of yours come in well built wooden containers as I bought stuff used there for my serious measurements of cylinders, heads and this list goes on. A simple vacuum tester which is smoke from melting light grease takes up so much with all the adaptors and plugs to fit any application and or machine/vehicle. Much of your equipment weighs tons and to move without damaging is mind boggling. You need a million subscribers in the youtube which is a job of its own to get the amount of money needed. I have had surgery and woke up to see doctors using walmart cheap drills, poor grade handsaws etc, they spent more money on the stereo they listened to than what was used on me... One other draw back I see in your trade is the equipment is getting so big that no little shop less than hundred thousand square feet can compete.... You just are getting me started as some of the people who watch are keyboard engineers who have never held a piece of metal bigger that that they feed themselves with

[@anthonyrivers8395]

I don’t wanna sound the horn of doom and gloom, but maybe we could turn your shop in to a museum😂😂. Maybe even a School.?? maybe something for international students??

[@TopperMachineLLC]

I'll keep it going as a side gig and continue to support existing customers. But I'm already started preparations for my next career path.

[@mrricky3816]

Thanks!

[@TopperMachineLLC]

Thank you.

[@MarkThomas-k1b]

Merry Christmas

[@RobertRidgley]

Merry Christmas

[@life.is.to.short1414]

Merry Christmas

[@seancasey2444]

Merry Christmas