I talked with Eric on the phone yesterday (2/5/24). He said he put the "so long, farewell" message on there himself. He told me it all started with Covid. He can't find good machinists, and too many of his parts are made out of country. He's closing "for now".
Can you identify the source of your replacement band heater?Originally Posted by Springfield
The world has really changed because of the computer. China virus was the final kick that really put the cultural revolution into high gear and not for the better in my opinion. We are in serious trouble.
Thinking logistically here, would any of the commercial casting companies, or Magma's partners, be in a position to take over such an operation? With the wealth of knowledge now out there on the internet, setting up more modern control panels, etc isn't too hard for someone with the staff. I guess the other thing is: "are there enough customers". As a small business owner/operator myself(who has also 5yrs of metal fabrication/welding experience in my resume), I'm wondering if marketing was simply the necessary tool needed to ensure healthier cash flow? While I personally detest "selling", posting to social media(a platform many of us youngsters use regularly/daily) can help inform/alert people to what you do, and can offer.
There are A LOT of people using social media, who are in the shooting sports. As someone alerted to earlier, finding suitably qualified people is one thing, but paying them a wage that will keep them coming to work on their face is another equally important part...
Definitely a pickle ****uation...
-Dan
That thing looks awesome!!
Don Verna
He used to advertise in hand loader magazine but quit doing so. As far as I know which is not much he (magma) had plenty of business for sometime as in more orders than they could quickly fill.
I am with Plate Plinker on this. Lack of orders does not appear to be the problem.
Sourcing parts could have caused issues but there is nothing really special in making these machines. It may have been too much effort to redesign the melters to accept heaters from another source but that seems far fetched.
Molds could have been outsourced to one of the custom mold makers or even dropped as an offering if labor was tight. That would have Magma doing their core business and a business no one else is doing.
It doesn't make sense to me to throw in the towel unless he got tired of it, or had family or health issues to deal with. He seemed like a really nice guy when I talked to him so I wish him the best.
Hopefully other companies will look at taking on the business. I believe it has value and he could cash out instead of walking away and letting it die.
Just saddened by it all. Reminds me of when Star died.
Don Verna
Actually, I just conversed with the guy at Schupter two days ago via his Facebook account on the topic of molds. I suggested that with the demise of Magma, it would be in his interest to adapt his machine to take Magma molds. I told him there are plenty of us dudes out here who already have the molds and will not appreciate having to buy completely new ones. He agreed, and asked if I could provide him with the dimensions of Magma mold blocks so he could devise an adapter to be made available.
When democracy becomes tyranny, those of us with rifles still get to vote.
Atfsux, any idea of price?
Don Verna
When I spoke with him yesterday, he mentioned he had been doing this for 50 years. The conversation definitely left me with the impression he might be ready retire and not have the stress of running a business.
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Nope. He is not actually in production yet, so that is apparently a premature question.
When democracy becomes tyranny, those of us with rifles still get to vote.
Just for the record, Star lives on. At least the reloader side.
Bruce Williams
Star Machine Works - Owner
The Original Blue Press - Made by Machinists not Machines.
NRA Patron Member
Bruce, do you have dies for the Star Luber?
So,...an update from elsewhere on the internet. I also am a member of the Facebook group "Magma bullet casting equipment owners" and this is from one of the members on there;...
"It's a sad day.
I just got off the phone from a motorcycle shop located 1 door down from Magma Engineering.
The person I spoke to knows the owner and relayed the whole story to me. He even walked outside to say the owner's truck in the Magma parking lot. He suggested I stop by to chat with him personally, but I'm up in Vancouver, WA.
The owner of Magma is retiring and preparing to go fishing. They are in the process of closing the operation and are planning an auction to sell off all assets.
There you have it. Short and sweet. We are on our own."
Since I live across the Phoenix metro area from Magma, I'm guessing I need to go over there and find out about this supposed auction and get ready to bid. There's no way I could afford the shop, but I might be able to score some lots of existing spare parts inventory.
When democracy becomes tyranny, those of us with rifles still get to vote.
If I answer that question someone will think I am trying to sell something, delete the post and give me a strike. Best to ask questions like that via PM.
Star Machine Works - Owner
The Original Blue Press - Made by Machinists not Machines.
NRA Patron Member
For molds the claim is this is who make them https://www.nwesti.com/?fbclid=IwAR3...k_D4utKejQiclw
Is that just the casting portion of the business or does that include the steel sales also?
Last edited by M-Tecs; 02-07-2024 at 11:50 PM.
2nd Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. - "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
"Before you argue with someone, ask yourself, is that person even mentally mature enough to grasp the concept of different perspectives? Because if not, there’s absolutely no point."
– Amber Veal
"The Highest form of ignorance is when your reject something you don't know anything about".
- Wayne Dyer
I do not know,...yet. I have an appointment to drop off my UTV at the dealer today for some warranty work. But if I have time, I'll drive over to Magma and see if I can talk to someone face to face. If not today, then Friday morning for sure. I'll share what I find out, if anything.
When democracy becomes tyranny, those of us with rifles still get to vote.
This stuff happens all the time to long time businesses. When there is none else in position to take over like a partner or child. The owner has only the option of selling the whole business or liquidating. I’ve seen it here with very successful restaurants and a huge gun shop and grocery and furniture stores. All of them were successful and very busy. But the owners were old and their kids were not interested in running the business foe various reasons. So the closings are just out of necessity when they got older. They want to retire someday and maybe just go shooting and fishing too.
So I made the effort to drive completely across the greater Phoenix metro area this afternoon to go visit Magma and see what I could see. The auction will be roughly (no exact date yet) in about 2 weeks, perhaps more. The auction will be primarily to sell off the industrial machinery and tooling. I was hoping to see if there were any lots of parts laying about that I might buy up, but was informed there isn't much. Specifically, I was looking for replacement heating elements for Master Casters and Bullet Masters, since that's what goes out most commonly and several people had mentioned they wanted. But the owner, Eric Clausen, informed me he hasn't been able to get any for any of the machines for quite some time.
Apparently Eric is spending most of his time answering the phone. (And ONLY Eric, despite seeing 4 other people there today, apparently all busy getting ready for the big shutdown.) The word has gotten out and EVERYONE is calling. It seems that the successful durability of Magma machines is in part their undoing. Because they last so long and not that many are sold as in years before,...economy of scale prevents the parts being manufactured/machined via CNC processes. The automation of aerospace machining over the last 30 years has produced great efficiency for mass production here. And the cheap foreign labor in China, India, Mexico and elsewhere has seen the master prototype machinist (old school manual machining) become an obsolete vocation here except in niche jobs. None of the vocational schools here have taught manual machining as a skill (merely an introduction to programing CNC) for quite some time. If you want something prototyped today and made as a one-off proof of concept, or a small batch of experimental items, you sketch it out in CAD and send the file to an overseas sweatshop who cranks it out and ships it. So all of today's young bucks know how to CAD and/or program CNC. But making metal chips by hand on a lathe or mill? No dice. The few old timers who have that skill are able to command a premium wage now that they are scarce, not to mention years or decades of experience, which has it's own value and cost. Eric doesn't need labor of THAT level. The level of skill you used to find in a manual machinist just out of school is all he needs,...and all he has ever really paid for. Mix that with how the imbalance in wages to cost of living (across all sectors) since the pandemic began,...and there just ain't no one willing to work for peanuts to carve jems.
Totally separate from that problem, the entire globalization economy has been flipped on it's head during that same period. If you happen to watch any of the videos of geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan on YouTube, you know that China's economy, population and manufacturing capacity has been imploding and will soon collapse spectacularly. Thus, anyone with half a brain cell who has/had been sourcing stuff from China has been moving everything to Mexico, which is now cheaper and has better skilled labor. This has become a WAVE of industrial investment in Mexico, motivating even many still previously operating in the U.S. who were contemplating outsourcing to now pull the trigger, since borrowing capital is going up and will never be cheaper again. Thus, Wattco, who previously supplied the heating elements in all of Magma's machines, has moved there to cash in on the general manufacturing shift replacement of everything from China to Mexico. As a result, Wattco now has lots of new orders and business that they can service, which has left them relatively unmotivated apparently to continue stocking the old products Magma was looking for. That is but one example of Magma's supply chain woes, but there are others, Eric informs. I asked Eric if anyone had offered to buy Magma's intellectual property or patents. He said no. Unless someone does so, it seems that there might be an opportunity in a couple years for someone to do much like American Casting Equipment did with Ballisticast, and just copy their design, add a twist on it here and there, then call it their own and bring it to market. According to Eric, the auction will be handled by "ARIZONA AUCTIONS". However, in searching for an entity with that name, the closest I came up with was "ARIZONA AUCTIONEERS", https://arizonaauctioneers.com which seems to fit, since on their website they claim to specialize in "industrial auctions", with pictures of machining equipment and so on. Eric explained that the auction is primarily to sell off the manufacturing gear.
I asked if he had any completed and ready to sell products in stock, and the answer was no EXCEPT for a single Bullet Master, used but refurbished to like new, priced at $10,000. That will apparently be the very last intact and complete Magma product to ever leave their dock.
And now for some observations that would likely only be noticed by a local here on the scene. I believe part of the reason Eric is willing to give up and close his doors is because the physical location has shot up in value since they opened there. The place has nearly doubled in value just since 2020. Magma bought the property back in the mid to late 90s for about 1/5th the current value, which is just shy of 1 million. The reason is that Queen Creek, which used to be agriculture and cattle operations, has been transforming during the last 30 years of the great explosive growth of the greater Phoenix metro area. As Queen Creek has developed and gentrified, it has become rather upscale middle-class. Magma used to be surrounded by cotton fields and stinky cattle pens. But now, right across the street is upscale shopping developments, prime office space and behind Magma is rather nice residential homes and condos. Magma occupies a prime retail location, probably worth in actuality far more than the $960,000 the county assessor lists it at. So I suspect that during the last 4 years, Eric Clausen has likely received more than a couple of offers or proposals to sell the land to a developer. Between that value and whatever he can liquidate the machinery and tooling for, Eric is likely to have a nice chunk of change on which to retire and spend his days fishing. I can't blame him at all, really.
When democracy becomes tyranny, those of us with rifles still get to vote.
I spoke to Eric at Magma who has agreed to do some service work on one of my sizers and is putting together a large capacity bullet lube tube sizer. He did not mention any plans to close down the operation.
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