A new Redmond business seeks to combine old-fashioned service with new technology in fabricating, machining and designing parts.

John Bouc opened Eddy B’s Machine Shop at the beginning of the year, at 337 SE Railroad Blvd. He said the business is different than most modern shops because it doesn’t specialize in a particular area.

“We can make a small bracket, or, right now, I’m doing aircraft parts for Stratos air across the street,” said Bouc, 49.

Bouc decided to open his own shop after working as a machinist for 20 years. He worked for Bend Machine and BMC Motorcycles, the latter of which he still performs jobs for.

But Bouc decided to set out on his own when he saw companies charging minimums of $100 to $200 for jobs. He wanted to make his services available for smaller jobs.

“There are not many shops around here that do little jobs,” he said. “Everything is geared for production and major manufacturing. They don’t have time for small jobs.”

Bouc can finish smaller jobs within a week, while larger shops can take three or four weeks because they have so many other projects going on, he said. As the shop’s only employee right now, Bouc said he keeps overhead costs low.

“I don’t really have a minimum (cost),” he said. “I charge by the job.”

Bouc is getting large and small customers. Among them is Stratos Aircraft across the street, which is working on its lightweight single-engine jet airplane.

Bouc has been valuable in producing parts, said Chris Robinson, manufacturing manager for Stratos.

“He’s local, he’s right here, he’s convenient,” Robinson said. “I don’t have to pay shipping. A lot of our vendors are across the mountain or out of state. He’s made himself very available.”

Bouc is also reasonable to work with, Robinson said.

“We have a lot of things we have to do right now,” he said. “He’s very accommodating in that fashion.”

Bouc said he can work with people on products they are trying to develop to help make them more practical.

“I offer a service where I can tell them what is feasible and not feasible,” he said.

Bouc uses computer-aided design to help him draw the products he wants to make. He then enters information, along with the needed tools, into a computer numerical control, or CNC, machine that can make various parts.

“The computer basically tells the machine where to go with what tool,” he said.

He still uses some manual machinery but would like to switch to a computer-operated lathe for rotating cutting, Bouc said.

Bouc named the shop Eddy B’s after his father, who died last year.

“I didn’t want to name it ‘John’s Machine Shop,’ so I named it after my dad,” he said. “He was always telling me I should start my own shop, that I’m too smart to be working for people.”

— Reporter: 541-548-2186, gfolsom@redmondspokesman.com