Zcratch Productions – Dedicated To Z Scale

Here’s a bit of an update for you all;

A day was used up this past week getting paperwork completed for changes made to the LLC (Zcratch LLC to be exact), along with all the other paperwork that needs to be changed over when one updates things legally. A big pain in the “you-know-what, but it needed to be done.

And let me tell you, it really has been altogether one heck of a week… but we now have a brand new metal working lathe. The new workshop is coming along nicely and right on schedule. We’re still waiting for a few things that were recently ordered (a few tiny mill ends and a few new lathe cutters). The resin casting station has been put together along with the metal etching station. The next thing needed is a low-temp (800 degrees), high speed metal “melter” in order to do some softer metal casting. And with the recent purchase of our new cutoff saw, Phase One is almost complete.

In Phase Two, along with a few other things, we’ll be looking for a high temp furnace for brass and bronze. We also may need a new metal cutting band saw at this point in time. Or maybe those purchases will be “Phase One and One Half”? Again, time will tell.

Updated 4/27/2011

My, how things change!   Hi, my name is Joseph D. Wager-Smith Sr. and I welcome you! This “journey” started as a website where I could display some of my projects in the hopes I, personally, might be able to help a few people, as well as maybe sell a few items and give my opinion on the state of Z scale along the way.  Well Zcratch is no longer an I, it is a “we” as  Zcratch now has a “silent partner” (very silent, I might add).

Yes, things have really changed and in an effort to professionalize this website, you will no longer find an “opinion” here, unless it possibly describes a preference for one manufacturing technique over another.  Opinions and such have been moved to ZRailroads.com.

Along with still trying to help people, and maybe sell a few items, this site will now be chronicling the journey from founding a company, Zcratch Productions, and the humble beginnings using simple hand tools (and a dremel roto tool or two), to production machinery such as milling machines, lathes and/or injection mold machines.

The first purchase was a milling machine in mid-April 2011.  Next it will most likely be a lathe.  Then an injection mold machine.  The order of new machines purchased may however change, it depends on which direction the company goes.  One step at a time, and all that.  And we have some LLC changes we’d like to make before we go much further too.  All in time, all in time.

Since this whole idea was rather spur of the moment and not saved for “dollar-wise”, and since machinery is a lot more expensive than simple hand tools, we’ve taken on one backer so far, and we’ll probably be taking on more along the way.  If you’re interested, feel free to get in touch.

To learn more about this site please read the Mission Statement, available from the top menu (Inside Zcratch).