Thread: End of an era as Toowoomba Foundry closes..

I talked to the foundry guy in Hobart last October after I got back from the scraping course. Took him a very rough pattern just so he had something to look at, that's where we got to on pricing guesstimates. I then shelved it because of the other things I've got on. As I'm coming near to the end of the metalwork phase of boat building the woodwork equipment is going to get some use as I get into the fitout, therefore pattern making might become less distracting from the main project plan and more likely to happen.

I've no interest in the camelback patterns. They look lovely but strike me as a PITA to make & machine. My thought was an I beam type in 2 variants, one of which was wide enough to machine to an angle for spotting dovetails etc.

As I'm in Sydney for another month at least and possibly then Brisbane before I return to Hobart, nothing is going to be done by me for quite some time. Sooner or later, though, unless the foundry goes out of business, I am going to do it because I need one to work over my Monarch CY lathe. Once the pattern(s) are made, getting castings off of them is simple. It's pretty irrelevant to me how many castings I get done, the weight might be an issue for postage/freight, that's the only real concern I can see.

Point is, until I actually get the patterns sorted and at least 2 castings done, it's premature to talk about doing more for others. Too many things on the net start off with a big burst of enthusiasm & promises only to die a death along the way, with lots of bad feelings. If I get to that point, I'm quite happy to get more castings done for people who want them. Keeps some money going to one of the oldest still surviving foundries in the country. All my bronze port hole castings came from that foundry.

PDW

Online auction of the plant

CMI Sale 13 - Engineering, Workshop, Industrial Equipment

China is sucking the life blood right out of us like a giant leach on our back. At one end it is keeping us afloat buying our minerals that won't last forever . At the other end it closes down our manufacturing industry selling back a mass of cheap garbage products that don't last made from those Aussie minerals .
It is only a matter of time before we have no manufacturing capabilities left at all . Then we are ripe for an invasion as we will rely on other countries like the USA to supply us . The USA owes China , many Trillions of dollars ! Do we really want to be in that position ?

The evidence is already mounting that China's demand is slowing but we've already got all of our eggs in that particular basket. Lately I have spent a little time in China, and a little time in the industrial waste lands of North America.

China is the New World, and the west, or parts of it, are New Somalia.

Shanghai skyline, and Detroit

Originally Posted by Greg Q

The evidence is already mounting that China's demand is slowing but we've already got all of our eggs in that particular basket. Lately I have spent a little time in China, and a little time in the industrial waste lands of North America.

China is the New World, and the west, or parts of it, are New Somalia.

Shanghai skyline, and Detroit

Greg, Its hard to imagine Detroit, like it is shown in your photo.
I visited the Detroit area in the late 1960s & the Cadillac Auto factory.In particular the Bumper bar Grinding line.
It was a hive of industry, just buzzing !
Perhaps history shows everything has its time.
regards
Bruce

Bruce, have a look at this TIME photo essay. It is heartbreaking. I grew up across the river, wondered at the world of men and industry everywhere, went Christmas shopping with my parents in 1960 at JL Hudsons where the twelfth floor toy dept contained not one but two toy railroad layouts of more than 3000 track feet each. What an era.

Greater Detroit used to have a million middle class residents. I'd be surprised if there were a tenth of that now. Same story all over the rust belt. For a variety of reasons. A complete lack of an industrial policy and education system aimed at preserving skills adds up to: lost civilization.

Detroit's Beautiful, Horrible Decline - Photo Essays - TIME

Thanks for that link Greg, it is very sad to see the decline of a once thriving city.

Obviously due to a combination of factors, most of which are at play here in Australia as well.

Only this morning I was reading this article in the Age and some of the statistics quoted there are frightening to say the least.

Is the mining boom over?

Originally Posted by Big Shed

Thanks for that link Greg, it is very sad to see the decline of a once thriving city.

Obviously due to a combination of factors, most of which are at play here in Australia as well.

Only this morning I was reading this article in the Age and some of the statistics quoted there are frightening to say the least.

Is the mining boom over?

Greg & Fred
I read with interest the articles & photos of Detroit.
What makes it more difficult, is that it makes one reflect.
My background was...
Toolmaker Apprentice
Toolmaker
Design Draftsman Tooling
Completed another Engineering course 5 yrs at night whilst working through the day.
Joined 3M Co Australia as a Tech Serv Engineer
Travelled the world with that Company for 10 yrs
Saw the best of the USA & its Industry in the late 60s
Started my own business, & ran it for next 35 yrs.
That business is now finished, everything comes in from China.

I just reflect, & often wonder what the future holds for young people in Australia.
I have always told my kids to concentrate on 2 things
1..... Being self sustainable, no thought of any handout..
2...... Having a "Tangible job"
They have accomplished both, but what about their kids... my grandkids.
I dont have any answers. I think I will just go into my workshop & do "Tangible things"
Thanks for your input, sometimes I think its just me, thinking this way.
regards
Bruce

but what about their kids... my grandkids. sometimes I think its just me, thinking this way.

Unfortunately not. I'm happy to be middle age with something tangeble behind me. The thought of being young again and starting out just doesnt bare thinking about.

I still have a job (for now). As long as their is enough people who are after a decent job made with good materials. The place I work for has to keep taking on what many others wont touch in order to help bring the $ in. Yeah we all groan about it here, but if that means we are still able to show up and not have the gate slammed in our faces, I'm happy enough.

Being small helps to stay flexible wrt what we do and not having to pay out heaps to pay off/rent a large enough space to operate makes quite a difference. The boss isnt backward in telling it like it is. I think most of us would rather be told the truth.

It doesnt appear to be a hugely profitable business and the pay aint great, but we are reasonably well looked after. As for being able to actaully retire one day, well I aint relying on super alone thats for sure.

The local manufacturing scene (whats left of it) seems to reflect the shift towards being small (as in less than 20 personnel). Theres not much here now that would employ more.

I have my own thoughts on this discussion. As Australians, we have enjoyed the good pay packets through a fair days work for a fair days pay policy, trade unions did that for us in the past, so our generation could prosper.

Come the new entrepreneur onto the Australian scene, don't want to pay the same wage, as what the union fought for, can make their new widget cheaper in China, pay a few Yen per month to employees, ship product back to Oz, sell cheaper, make a good tidy profit.

I buy local, don't care if it is dearer then what can be bought online. When I go into shop, I see young people getting an Oz wage, and I am supporting them, people whinge about how expensive our local products are, they forget that the business owner has to pay an Oz wage and turn a profit. Think about that next time you walk into an oz business. Think about it next time you buy something online. Think about that nail you are driving into local business.

Here in the West, Rio Tinto have a huge building at Perth airport, that building controls their autonomous mine site, driverless trucks, that's the future of mining. BHPB have their,s in 5 central floors of their new building in the city and are trialling a autonomous D11 at their nickel mine.

The future is bleak gents.

It is certainly a double edged sword, this online business. I make my living here, or at least I do right now. The company that I work for competes with foreign businesses whose staff pay little or no income tax and hence can work about 40% cheaper than I can. We also provide a caring workplace for our employees here, with paid leave and support policies that reflect the enlightened society in which we live.

The problem is that everyone tries to stetch their income, and if that means getting the services from a cheaper airline, then I and my cohorts lose. Never mind the intangibles such as: we sell tickets, not chances.

When we go shopping I always try to buy a locally made item where such is available. That does not stretch to buying locally branded, sourced from China. When it comes to buying internationally available items then I buy where the price & service are the best. Often that means I go offshore. Local retailers can suffer at the hands of rapacious distributors and other parasites driving their costs up. Not my problem.

Greg

It is interesting to see different views. However I tend to focus on that tactical part as that is what I know best . I am not qualified to be thinking to much , finance or Industrial policy and such. What I see is that the West and Europe is getting weaker and China and some other Asian countries are getting stronger.
I know that over the decades industrial might has moved around he world and come and gone from many places but even if China does slow down it still makes a huge amount of money compared to the free world countries. Like the Chinese Government has a distribution company for tobacco products . It makes taxes and profits of 9 billion a month from just selling cigarettes to it's people.
A month ! China will have the money and industrial capability to threaten the whole world in the not too distant future . We can only pray that they become more friendly as time goes on but population growth will put huge pressures on their abilty to feed the nation , they have only so much land and sooner or later will want ours.

Further to .RC.'s post about Grays CMI Toowoomba auction

Here's the link to Grays page with the various auction listings for CMI. The catalogue of items usually shows up on the start day of auction.
Manufacturing - Buy Manufacturing Online, Manufacturing Australia | GraysOnline Australia
There are ten auction listings for CMI on that page at the moment.

Look at the CNC machines listed in sale 5.

I'm hoping that I'll be able to get up there for inspection day on 3rd or 4th Sept just to have a gawk in the place, be interesting.

Cheers.

Well the auction has started... A lot of the bigger items have a $600 or more loading fee....