Ccecil

I typically use DHL which has my EIN in my account. This has been true since at least 2016. They do not deliver unless you give the info and pay the fees.

Most of my international customers who order bulk require my EIN (and theirs) to be on every invoice.

Nothing new here... I suspect if there is any change it is due to the de minimus being removed. There was major fraud happening in this area...it is a shame it is gone though since I was hoping to be able to order small things without major costs.

This is all very common practice. Has been for at least a decade. Some companies require this info for them to purchase from you as well.

This is one of the benefits of being a company. You use the tax ID instead of your social security number.

I will reply to this post to clarify (although I will be responding to several).

"Living wage" in my area is $40/hr. That is just to live, not thrive or gain.

Rent prices have gone insane [1], which in turn have drove up COGS. Since COGS have gone up the real estate investors have raised their prices on rents/housing to make up for the increase. The feedback loop has gone on too long...I am concerned the only option is collapse and for a lot of investors to lose money. This will feedback into the system even more...it will not benefit either the renter or the investor. As they say..."the market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent".

I run a very small company that is largely bootstrapped. I fix all my own machines, do my own setup, move my own equipment. Personally, I work on every step from design through packaging (janitor>CEO). There is not enough money to pay a living wage for others...so I end up doing everything myself. 70hr weeks are not uncommon. (I also cook my own meals, fix my own car and bake my own bread...otherwise I would not make it)

If you have not been a renter for the last 10 years you may not have noticed. Building more is not helping since the only things being built are done so they can set them to the new "normal" price. It is to the point where they consider an "affordable home" as $400k (in my area they literally named this development as "Miracle on Britton"). Meanwhile the average renter makes <$40k/year.

I have not been outsourcing more due to this. Just working harder myself...but even so I barely get by. 5 years ago I gave up the hope of ever buying in this area [2], currently I am just working to stay here long enough to take care of family. If I did not have that I would be long gone.

Doing what I can to bring back manufacturing to the area, but I am a small fish working mostly in Opensource Hardware. If the project starts making money again very likely it will be cloned to the point where there will be no way to make profit (already happened once).

[1] https://www.zillow.com/rental-manager/market-trends/coeur-d-... [2] https://www.zillow.com/home-values/136166/coeur-dalene-id/

I run some used Manncorp/Autotronik equipment. Pnp, oven, bunch of hand tools and such for rework (Metcal irons). If I didn't have this I would likely build a line using an openpnp based machine.

Making boards for the Smoothieware/Smoothieboard project. [1]

Mostly small SMT stuff on there. 0402, BGA, etc.

[1]https://github.com/Smoothieware/Smoothieboard2

Looks interesting. As a US manufacturer/designer I will be keeping an eye on this closely.

Currently, all assembly is done in house (in the US) but bare PCBs typically are still made in CN. We used to produce everything overseas and just do the QA/test in the US but during the chip shortage I ended up setting up the production line to attempt to eliminate any possible shortages/tariffs.

It is a difficult struggle manufacturing commercial products in the US (doubly so with an openhardware project) since the final cost is the major blocker but I decided it was worth it for many reasons. Big issue though is knowing that even if I pay someone 2x the going rate for an employee it still will not be a living wage. Not sure the fix there. I see you are planning to lean heavily on automation/AI for this, will be watching to see how it all progresses.

There are still some major blockers in the US. Commercial/Industrial real estate being a big one. Costs are not going down...even if employee count is minimized.

I wish nothing but the best for the project.

Until he shipped them the "pinball machine parts" he was working with terrorists.

Not sure there would be a distinction.

You forgot the part where Doc Brown purchased parts for the vehicle through funding by terrorists.

Nice. I have been following the project since the beginning (I work with the Smoothieware project which was used primarily in the beginning).

Some of the things developed in the project I used to modify my commercial PnP to use the Siemens feeders (Bilsef's controller board). [1]

So a project that came from our project is being used to mod my machine to make more boards for the original project :) Circle of opensource.

If you have any posts related to your mods that you can share I would like to read them to see more about what people are doing.

[1] https://www.robosprout.com/a-story-of-right-to-repair-hackin...

Look into OpenPNP. Most of the PnP work is already done (vision, motion, feeders, etc). Just a matter of making the Prusa frame react to the commands.

Delivery driver showed up early though....

https://www.uscp.gov/media-center/press-releases/uscp-arrest...

I'm reminded of the words of "Smokey" Yunick who said "I never cheated a day in my life. I just read the rules better than the people who wrote them."

That is what I see with this case. Aside from the debit card thing I am not certain any laws were broken. If making "bots and socks" to manipulate for profit is illegal there is a lot more areas that I would love to see them gone from.

That's what they taught us in Boy Scouts. Very first step is to get help.

Have someone call 911 (or whatever number in your country) immediately. If nobody is nearby start yelling.

Only one time in my life have I had to perform CPR (was already too late) but it is amazing how much of what I learned when I was 11 years old stuck with me.

Get help, check airway for obstructions...etc. Most importantly...take a CPR class sometime in your life and do what they say. The "ABC" of airway, breathing, circulation they taught us may not be current advice.

Sidenote: Don't be too hard on yourself if you don't save a life...even the pros say unless the patient is young/healthy you likely won't.

Edit: The feeling when the pros actually show up (in the case where I was doing CPR within minutes) is one of the biggest reliefs I have had in my life. Even knowing CPR...you feel helpless until they show up. And once they do, ask immediately if they need you. If not...get out of the way.

To be fair though...I haven't used a through hole resistor in a long time.

Once you get down below 0603 there are not even labels on most resistors.

Yeah I learned the color codes way earlier in to my training...but it is largely irrelevant nowadays.

Also, it isn't just brown/dark red. Gold band can look like brown at times. Causes issues on 5 band resistors where the multiplier is gold. [1]

I had someone in industry with a board they were testing techs with that had one of these snuck in. I was the only one to figure it out...took me 10min. Some of the long term techs never fixed it. (I suspect one of the assemblers did it on purpose because they all knew the answer when I found it).

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_color_code#Decoding...

Agreed, My uncle worked as a tile setter for most of his life. Was very good at it, had his own company and contracted to other companies. I only ever heard good things about his work.

His knees were dead before he was 50. Never made it to "stable", has never owned a home, now living in a van in his 70s.

There were many other issues in his life which prevented things...don't get me wrong...but his case is more the norm from my observations of workers. It is much easier to be a good "worker" than it is to be a successful one.

Also, Drug/alcohol use in the trades is incredibly common. As is the habit of planning your life around claiming unemployment every winter (at least in my area).

I was kinda wondering the same. Only issue will be when insurance companies refuse to insure you because they can't get the "commonly available" data.

Kicad can import dxf and svg files directly now. So you can use that on your "edge cuts" layer to make the PCB shape very easily.

Also works for artwork.

Kicad has options for hand solder footprints on some components.

Always good to think about if you can get an iron on there during design...not only pad size but component orientation/location.

At times the difference between "easy to rework" and "impossible to rework without removing other components" can be just a 90deg rotation.

Holdover beliefs from back when only White, male, landowners could vote.

These tactics don't work as well if you are a homeowner that has stayed in the same (gerrymandered) area for an extended length of time.

Be sure to double/triple check before going.

More than one of these listed was clearly on private property but the listing had no mention.

Quinn hot springs [1] in Montana being one. It is listed as "roadside" with "camping nearby" but in reality it is a paid resort on private property.

[1]https://glaciermt.com/listing/quinns-hot-springs-resort

Diesel prices certainly have cut back on the "rolling coal" and loud chipped diesel trucks that are everywhere in my area.

I absolutely believe this is going to hit a lot of people hard in the wallets. Not only do they have an expensive truck payment but the fuel has become a major issue. Not that the Premium fuel my car requires is that much cheaper...

*not sure if North Idaho counts as "heartland" but this article certainly applies.

Heh... I think it was a bit earlier.

The Groovemount was the "standard" for a while there (Makergear, Jhead, etc) then when E3D came in they used the same idea but changed the measurements. It was pointed out to the devs...they left it the way they modified it.

So E3D was incompatible with the mounts that were the "standard"...others later followed and also made their own mounts.

The E3D clones advertised themselves as "jheads" and "E3D" when they were neither...rode on the popularity of other hotends via false advertising. It also happened with the electronics that were popular at the time leading to a lot of issues when people were confused about what firmware would run on the boards they purchased.

I was an op in there. Haven't been back in over a year.

Filled with socks and bots. No room for development.

2011 #reprap @freenode is long gone unfortunately. Glad to have experienced it.

Your points seem to be valid. I don't have a solution either.

Where I live used to be the rural area that people made fun of you for being from (Idaho). Also, my county is 70%+ MAGA voters. So I understand your point about disproportionate amount of power...that is another topic entirely (as is the Redoubt movement and other things attempting to profit off the imbalance).

This is happening everywhere around me. Montana is just as bad. Locals have nowhere to go and cannot afford to stay.

I don't have a solution...just pointing out my observations of the issues I have encountered personally.

Funny you mention Makera.

They use a fork of Smoothieware. [1]

We were happy/surprised to see they shared their mods. It is rare.

[1]https://github.com/MakeraInc/CarveraFirmware

I think a more clear statement would be collusion/manipulation in the rental market. Both commercial and residential.

In my town there is a constant raising of rent. People moving away, tons of new overpriced apartments largely vacant. Huge number of short term rentals. Affordable houses are torn down to make condos which are owned by people who don't live there (vacant most of the year, held as investment).

So many vacant commercial units with prices that don't match what businesses can afford to pay...but it drives up the rest of the rental prices to people going "site unseen". If you were not from here you would assume there is a huge demand for those buildings at that rate...this is not true.

These investors are not planning on using these units to help the housing crisis...and they have the ability to "stay irrational longer than renters can stay solvent". Overall this will come back to bite them...but in the short term they can reap the rewards.

Some commercial loans allow "interest only payments" if the unit is vacant. This allows investors to buy several locations...keep half vacant at higher prices and drive up the rents in the area. Through collusion and catering to out of area investors (who don't know better) they can hold the properties for a few years and double their money without every renting the building or paying on the principal of their loan.

This is what I mean by "overinvestment". Locally...why would you invest in a company (US or not) when you can just call dibs on essential services and rake in cash.

My county last I checked was over 35% retired. Most of those who I speak with moved here from out of state and bought multiple houses with the goal of renting them out to pay for their retirement...but when COGS go up that means rent needs to also to support the lifestyle they are accustomed to. Renters are expected to "quit buying coffees" so they can pay the rent...but nobody seems to ask the real estate investor to take personal responsibility for their part in the problem.

I know people say more investment in real estate drives prices down...but that is not the case. Nobody here is building housing to make it cheaper...they are building it because they heard they can get more money than last year. "If they build a new building it should be worth more than an old one right?" So prices keep climbing. Average renter here makes $30-40k (last I checked) but to live in a way that allows you to save you need to make $70k/year.

There is no housing shortage (in my area). There is an "affordable housing" shortage...and that will not be solved by building more unless there are major changes made to the way commercial loans (or personal ethics) are handled.

The only hope is people learn to practice ethical capitalism.

That wasn't exactly what was said...

"it is now popular to just have someone else do it...be it AI or a factory in another country"

And sure there are some people interested in reprap but they have been scattered to the wind. #reprap IRC has become an advertising/support channel for commercial printers. If you go to most of the channels/forums where the development used to happen and mention you want to build a printer you will be flooded with responses about how stupid that is and provided with names/links of the printers you should be buying. Making things is a fool's errand.

Maybe my observations were different...maybe not...but from what I saw at about 2016 the whole DIY machine thing switched.

I wouldn't trade that time spent on my printers for anything. I wrote a post about this recently [1]

There was way more valuable things learned in the process than just making Benchy.

For years I have been trying to tell people this. The value of Reprap was not just "to have a printer".

[1] https://www.robosprout.com/thank-you-reprap-for-all-of-it/

Speaking from my personal observations...

It is not just tariffs. The cost of living in the US, especially housing, has approximately doubled in my area since 2019. There is a massive overinvestment in real estate. When housing costs go up it forces companies to pay their employees more to adjust which then drives up the COGS. This becomes a feedback loop because the real estate investors see the prices go up and say "well we have to raise rents because COGS are going up."

Competing with any offshore becomes impossible (especially when compared to countries which subsidize their production). Companies close instead of attempting to compete. Why would you when simply investing in real estate, crypto or AI would net more money? The parts needed to produce in the US are typically not made in the US.

Tariffs hurt...a lot...the companies I work with directly (including mine) have been struggling with them for a decade now. But it is a lot more than that...there is a general lack of interest in making things that are real. Plus, the cost if you attempt to do so puts you in a position where you cannot be competitive.

Sad news. First, Openbuilds now this.

Not a surprise to me though since I am operating in the CNC industry I have seen the same struggles and changes, albeit, from a slightly different perspective.

I work with the Smoothieware/Smoothieboard project. It seems, from my observation, that most people are not working with hardware like they were a few years ago. The "homebrew" machines and shadetree makers are becoming few and far between.

The lie has been heavily sold to the maker community that you are "wasting your time if you make something yourself" since it is cheaper to offshore even small 3d prints and machining projects. Not only that but people have been convinced that they don't have the ability to make a machine.

Instead of spending time learning something new/valuable (i.e. Reprap) it is now popular to just have someone else do it...be it AI or a factory in another country with subsidies that create massive differences in bottom line.

The ability to make things at home is disappearing. People cannot/will not learn to make their own machines. Companies that make machines that care about their community and customers are disappearing.

Maybe it's by design? I don't know.

Funny you mention that...

I know a local bar where there are 4 bartenders who have all been there over 25 years.

Recently I started asking them "How many pregnancies do you suppose you have caused throughout your career?". The most common response was to laugh but all of them also said "I know of a few at least".