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James wrote:

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Cool pics Hugg!

I also think it's cool that you are able to fix that older machine using modern parts. That's something all too many people think "why bother?" just because they think it's easier to get a new...whatever device is broken. SOmetimes it IS better to just get a new one but not always. And, as you said, the machine you are fixing is a "workhorse" so it will likely outlast a new machine.

In a way the machine is like a 1957 Chevrolet, other than that there isn't really an aftermarket for parts. You can almost literally build a 1957 Chevrolet from the ground up using no original GM parts. Sadly it's not the same story for a 1993 Markem. I think that's a shame. People are buying these machines, running or not, and stripping them for parts. But after actually running these machines since February, I've gained an entirely new appreciation for them, and I realize I was very hasty when I condemned this machine. I was looking at it subjectively, basing my opinion on others comments. But now I look at it with an open mind and have a different opinion. Now I have ulterior motives...

I want to build these machines - part-for-part interchangable with the original Markem presses. This means I have to be able to make EVERY part on this machine. Well sir, here I go - I don't have to make every part to make this machine operational, but if I fail here, I have to eat crow and admit I can't do it. That's what the company sees. But the bigger agenda is personal - if I cannot succeed at the simpler task of making this machine operational, then for sure I'll never be able to make all the parts and assemble it. So there is a lot more riding on my success or failure and the company does not know this. At the very least I want to be able to make replacement parts, parts that are needed but you cannot get and sell them to others. I have at least two companies that could help me with marketing - they are major aftermarket suppliers in the industry. If I could get a small shop with a band saw, a lathe and a Bridgeport (eventually some sheet metal tools, a brake and a shear), I believe I could build that machine. Patents are only good for 14 years, so if I duplicate the machine, any patents for a 1993 machine have expired and any of my inventions would not be pertinent. Some parts of the machine were state of the art at the time but they are obsolete now. A major supplier for industrial electrical & power transmisson components is a very good company to deal with and I call them "The Wal*Mart of industrial controls". I could probably build these machines new and sell them for around $20,000-$25,000, and make a good profit doing so. Competetive machines these days run about double that. I could just sell it for $10,000 less than a competetive machine AND have parts available that would fit the original Markem presses as well (and the better parts could retrofit the originals)...with a little work I think I could do very well. I know I'll never get ahead as long as I'm working for someone else.

There is another company on the other side of the state that has 17 of these and similar machines. The owner has already told me that if I'm successful in my quest he'd be very interested in buying at least one, plus parts for the others.

I hope everyone remembered that they had to change the clocks before going to bed. You want to set them back an hour. As the comic strip character Ed Crankshaft once said "spring up, fall down!"

Halloween was a bit disappointing. There were fewer kids than there have been in previous years. When my parents got home from my Dad picking my Mom up from work they said they saw a lot of kids over on Toepfer (we live between Toepfer and 8 mile). Last year wasn't a great year as far as having tons of beggars....I mean "trick or treaters", but it was much better than this year was.

I have always liked Halloween. It is one of my favorite times of year. It just makes me sick to see it fall by the wayside the way it seems to be doing.

Well, that's about all I have to say for now.

Catch you all later!