Travis Johnson
Member
- Messages
- 2,369
Maybe its a mid-life crisis that has been delayed too long, or maybe its a great idea. I am not sure either way but my father has got me mixed up in a business venture that is...well...kind of creepy. He wants to build caskets.
I was as shocked as you when I heard the idea, and I was not to thrilled. But then I realized maybe its a good business venture to get into. Its not like there is a lot of competition. Either way he toured a nearby Casket Making Facility that closed down in 1995. Its owner is now 85 years old and is really looking to sell. Not the factory, but everything in the factory.
I have not yet seen the place but my father said the the tooling in there is old. In fact the way he described a "radial Arm saw" it sounded like it was an old swing saw. I am not sure, but that is what it sounded like. He asked me in any case if I thought buying these old tools were a good idea. Its a hard question because I do not know the price, but it seems to me if they were running when the plant shut down, then they should be good. I know they were maintained, because I know the guy that maintained the sewing machines that lined the caskets. My thinking is this, if he does buy the tooling, at least he will have ALL the machines that made the caskets in a production setting. They may be old, but he could replace the outdated machines with more modern ones as business increases. What do you guys think about buying old tools for a new business?
As I said, I am not thrilled at making such a grief stricken wooden project, but my dad has selling power. He has got an order to make a bunch of these caskets already and the contractor that is putting the addition on my house has his crew make them for my dad on rainy days.
I was as shocked as you when I heard the idea, and I was not to thrilled. But then I realized maybe its a good business venture to get into. Its not like there is a lot of competition. Either way he toured a nearby Casket Making Facility that closed down in 1995. Its owner is now 85 years old and is really looking to sell. Not the factory, but everything in the factory.
I have not yet seen the place but my father said the the tooling in there is old. In fact the way he described a "radial Arm saw" it sounded like it was an old swing saw. I am not sure, but that is what it sounded like. He asked me in any case if I thought buying these old tools were a good idea. Its a hard question because I do not know the price, but it seems to me if they were running when the plant shut down, then they should be good. I know they were maintained, because I know the guy that maintained the sewing machines that lined the caskets. My thinking is this, if he does buy the tooling, at least he will have ALL the machines that made the caskets in a production setting. They may be old, but he could replace the outdated machines with more modern ones as business increases. What do you guys think about buying old tools for a new business?
As I said, I am not thrilled at making such a grief stricken wooden project, but my dad has selling power. He has got an order to make a bunch of these caskets already and the contractor that is putting the addition on my house has his crew make them for my dad on rainy days.