Well Gotta Start Some Where

[ronboley]

For many years I've kept my eye out for that old Bridgeport Mill or South Bend Lathe just sitting around unused to be snapped up by me for $300. Didn't ever happen though, so my machinist hobby and education has gone without fulfillment. While my home shop has grown and developed in other areas, my inability to do any real "machine" work has been a hole in an otherwise pretty complete assembly of useful tools and capabilities.

I made a decision...get what tools I could and learn...maybe on a small scale. Good o'l HF helped and sent 25% off cupons and put their 7x10 lathe and 44991 mini-mill on sale. For a small investment I have some basic, if not spectacular equipment to get into this endeavor. Soon I discovered the "little Machine Shop" online and had ordered a few things I "knew" I would need. An old steel cabinet on rollers that I had saved from a heavy copier 30 years ago and a home made partial enclosure became the new mini-machine shop on wheels...

At this point I'm just beginning to learn how the machines operate, what other tools and materials I need to actually build something. While watching the how to video for the LMS Oscillating Cylander Engine I realized how little I really knew about the tools and methods. By the time the video was over I had a whole list of things to get...and that's just for this first simple project. So here we go...

 

[Ray C]

All good things there... Use it, enjoy it... Be safe and be happy. That's all this is about...


Ray

 

[Terrywerm]

That's all normal, but just wait: the list will GROW!

Welcome aboard, glad to hear that you've finally made some inroads to this hobby that we are all a part of.

 

[Hawkeye]

And so the madness begins. Welcome. It won't be long before you're making parts to fix something and you realize how good it is to have the ability.

But the first thing you need to make is ... scrap. Take some perfectly good pieces of metal - mild steel, aluminum, even plastic - and reduce it to chips.

Try different spindle speeds and feed rates. Experiment with cutting tools. Do your research on cutting speeds. The right RPM depends on the material you're cutting and the material the cutter is made from, mostly. Other factors will need the odd tweak, but those two are the biggies. Here are two files I made when I started to learn the importance of speeds. Ignore the last table on the Lathe sheet. It relates to my Hercus lathe before I converted it to VFD.

View attachment Mill Cutting Speeds.pdf
View attachment Lathe Spindle Speeds.pdf

 

[chuckorlando]

Any machines a spectacular machine.

I find it very peaceful to just stand there taking cut after cut, watching something become something. Even if that somethings a pile of chips and scraped tool, it was enjoyable.

Congrats and have fun