Suggestions On Tooling For New Machinist

safety glasses
micrometers (inside and outside)

You are done machining (and several other things) if you lose your eyes.
You need to measure what you need and what your have made.

Investing in good inspection pays off.
It doesn't need to be state of the art. Merely accurate and precise.

Daryl
MN
 
I use a file all the time but I rarely use a hacksaw. When you have to have one tho nothing else will do.
 
Don't go nuts with buuying toys for the mill. Start making some projects and tool up as you go. Measuring equipment is always necessary for every project so a good indicator stand and indicator is essential. Also some digital calipers are very ueful. A deburring tool is also useful however you can use a small file for this just to break the edges. Safety gear goes without saying...

My suggestion is to squirrel money away and stock up on end mills and materials. Most hobby machinists are limited by a lack of materials and clapped out consumables like drill bits and end mills. These items degrade with uuse so it's always worth snapping them up when they become available at a reasonable price.

Also, once the bug bites, you will likely want to upgrade to a larger mill to handle larger work that also allows heavier cutting. If (when) this happens, you don't want to have too much equipment that is specific to a small mill. You want nearly everything to be transferrable to your larger machine.
I followed my own advice so when I pgraded to a Deckel FP1, I kept nearly everything I had accumuulated.


Paul.
 
+1 on what samthedog said.

After some calipers and an indicator, a basic work holding clamp set. You'll be surprised what you can get accomplished with that little bit!
 
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