Just heard through the g****vine that Cast Iron Mike is closing the doors. He's been a savior of many a hunk of old arn. Cast Iron Repair Spe******ts 16129 Smokey Point Blvd, Marysville, WA 98271 (360) 657-7660 He was so good for so long, none of us up here have a Plan B. jack vines
We are all getting older. Retirement (often forced by things beyond our control) has, is, or will come to all of the people that built those great businesses we have all come to use without concerns of poor quality. It really is just a matter of time. The decision to close a long time business is harder and probably more painful on the guy that built it from the ground up then it is for the customer that may have supported it for years. We may well miss the business, but please give grace to the guy that chose to close it, I can ***ure you it was not an easy decision for him to make, and he may not have had any choice in the matter. Some of those businesses are taken over by equally qualified new people, we need to step up and support them as we have their predecessors. Remember the new people are not the old people, they may have different approaches and different talents then the old people had, but at least they are trying to fill the big shoes and keep the empire going. Without our support, they may not make it in this current tough business world.
Down here we have never had a really good cast iron repair shop so we mostly just trashed cracked stuff. The machine shop I have used for 40 yrs is on the verge of closing, the owner is tired and there is no skilled help to hire.
Sorry to hear that. I have never used them but have referred people to them. Over the years I have watched a couple of the best cast iron repair guys get old and retire. I learned a lot from them just by watching and talking. One was in the "U" district and one was in Ballard. The one in Ballard was a ham radio type so that is where I initially met him.
There was a place in Spartanburg, SC that had a little of everything, Spartan Automotive. In the main building car and pickup parts were when you came in the front door. All wooden floors. Around to the side was the counter for the big truck parts. In the ba*****t was a fully equipped automotive machine shop. Across the parking lot in the back was a separate building for small engine parts. Sometime in the 70's they opened up a new building for import parts. I'm not sure if they did any welding, Pop always did anything we needed, until I learned to do it myself. I took my daughter there once when she was small, and also got a haircut, and a Home Depot visit. When we got home she told her Mama " We went to Man's town". I never knew who owned the place but it left a big hole in our world when it all got shut down.
About six years ago, I had Mike weld a Model B block and head for me. During the couple to times that I was at his shop, he mentioned trying to find someone that would take over his business. He was in his eighties then. I would imagine that he just has run of of gas and needs a rest. His phone is still working and goes over to an answering machine. He might still be open.
Such a bummer that another old timer, is calling it quits. Even worse, is all of that experience and knowledge, isn't being carried on by the younger generation. I know what you mean, @Pete1 , when one of our local machine shop and welding guru's and all around metal fabricators, "RICK YOUNG" of Walrus Machine, closed his doors here in Ballard and moved his shop to Everett, that was pretty much the end of era around here. Sadly Rick p***ed away on November 10th 2022.
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