# Early workshop development-    A  Blast from the past



## core-oil (Apr 19, 2012)

Hi Guys,

     JUst been thinking tonight on my early days & developments in home shop machining, & I think back on this sphere to the more basic machines --E.G. a really beat up little screwcutting lathe, home made pillar drill , basic hand tools etc  Throw into the melting pot, the occasional nugget of knowledge passed on by various old helpful guys, (now gone)  & one has basically my early development in this game  I will follow up with some stories of this era as & if the thread should develop

   Now i would like a response from the members on the following,  When you all started making things, Did you feel a greater sense of achievement in your work, When you were struggling with more basic tooling?  This early development for some of you may like me be many moons ago, or, it may be yesterday, Did you get a fair bit of mentoring by your fellow man also , & is there any machine or item of tooling or other workshop item you remember from the past with some  degree of affection?

  Lets get a discussion underway folks.


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## bcall2043 (Apr 19, 2012)

Long, long ago I got the chance to use a small lathe in my uncle's automotive garage along with a welding torch. I liked the feeling so I took machine shop rather than wood shop in school. My first real job was with a small privately owned manufacturing shop. There we could use the machines for personal projects so long as we did not tear down a setup. The best early memory making a real project is using a Bridgeport to make a straight-line floor shifter for my automobile. Of course the machinist there were glad to help keep me out of trouble with the machines and taught me a lot. Shortly after that I just had to have a lathe and drill press at home, then a welder and .......... it never ends. 

Benny


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## Tom Griffin (Apr 20, 2012)

My first experience with making something out of metal was in my 7th. grade industrial arts class. One of the projects was to make a wooden foundry pattern and cast it in aluminum. That exercise bridged the gap from wood to metal and I never looked back. From there I took every machining, welding and sheet metal class that was available and even got a degree in Machine Tool Technology in college before going on to teach it. That was definitely the start of my obsession with making things out of metal.

By the way, I still have that first casting.

Tom


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## Alaskan (Apr 20, 2012)

The first time I was exposed to a lathe was at my friend’shouse in 1974 his dad was building some thing or another, I thought it was verycool. My friends and I used it to cut down drive shafts for the junk cars wedrove around. When I got out of the Army I went to school to learn how to weldand made a few things but then kind of got away from it until about 2003 when Istumbled upon Gingery. 
I started with the foundry and then the lathe and shaperbeen hooked ever since. I was really interested in how things were done yearsago without all the fancy tools and tech, and since I live in Alaska we reallydon’t have the convenience of just going to the store to pick somethingup.  We can order it but shipping is outrages. 
Ken


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## 12bolts (Apr 20, 2012)

TLGriff said:


> By the way, I still have that first casting.



Fess up then.
Pics....or it didnt happen.

Actually this could be the start of a great thread. "The first thing that you consider you crafted from raw materials."

Cheers Phil


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## Alaskan (Apr 20, 2012)

Pics-- These are a few   -


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## Tom Griffin (Apr 20, 2012)

12bolts said:


> Fess up then.
> Pics....or it didnt happen.
> 
> Actually this could be the start of a great thread. "The first thing that you consider you crafted from raw materials."
> ...



So here it is...complete with pattern. Guess the pen and holder didn't survive as long as long as the casting.

Don't laugh, I was only 12 years old. :biggrin:

Tom


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## 12bolts (Apr 21, 2012)

very nice Tom,
OHS probably would run screaming if they knew 12 yo's were playing with molten metal nowadays
Now I cant think what is the oldest thing I made that I still have in my posession:thinking: Makes me wish I didnt get rid of stuff I didnt think I wanted to keep. Have to go and have a poke around in the shed and see what ol memories come back.
Thats a pretty good job on the pattern Tom....... and for it to have lasted what ............70-80 years........

--->Alaska, your pic links dont work for me.

Cheers Phil


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## Alaskan (Apr 21, 2012)

Can anyone else see the pics? Don't know if I did it right or not.


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## Tom Griffin (Apr 21, 2012)

Alaskan said:


> Can anyone else see the pics? Don't know if I did it right or not.



Nope, no pics. 

Edit your post, click on the picture icon on the edit page above your text and select either "From Computer" if your pics are there or "From URL" if they are online.

Tom


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## Alaskan (Apr 21, 2012)

Thanks, hopefully they are there now.


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## core-oil (Apr 22, 2012)

Hello again folks, It is nice to see the response to the thread, & the diversity of the replies, from a widely spaced out places on our old planet     From what everyone has said, there seems to be latent within all on the forum a desire to manufacture items in metal or wood, purely for the love of the craftsmanship  The examples of the work turned out are nothing short of excellent  Using the tools & equipment tp hand.

  From my own perspective, making things at home became a Saturday afternoon excercise for Dad & yours truly when Mum went to do her shopping, Although the items turned out were to help eke out the meagre housekeeping budget 

  how did i begin? Well simple at woodwork class at school & the technical drawing class also, Upon leaving school i enrolled at night school & instead of taking woodwork as a leisure pursuit as everyone else was doing, I opted in the lonely country secondary school near to where we then removed to, I opted to take metal work, I was the only one in the class (nowadays that would never be heard of - Health & safety)  The old teacher would show me how to make a forging , or use the old cone drive lathe , or do some drilling &metal filing & get on with it!

  In this class i manufactured a fireside poker, fork, small shovel &brush holder for mum in brass Which she polished to her hearts content it was her pride &joy,  Sadly about thirty years ago we gave it away to someone I regret it now

   About this time in the mid 1950/s  we lived within about twenty miles of a large Scottish airport, which also was an American base, & some of the U.S. army lads used to frequent a local model aircraft shop to buy kits for aircraft, A bit of bartering went on, one of the guys used to give the shopkeeper back numbers of American Machinist, which he passed on to me  I was hooked on home shop machining from then on.  Wish i still had them, Even just for the adverts alone which were amazing

   Back to the old lathe , it was driven from an overhead countershaft, by belts to a three stepped cone on the headstock, It was a nineteen twenties Colchester Bantam, I was fortunate to pick one of that particular model up some few years back.
   Later on i will fill you all in on my workshop development & my subsequent metal bashing pursuits over the years when i get a little more time, soon-- Watch this space!


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## core-oil (Apr 27, 2012)

Hello guys I am back,  At the latter period in the year i was attending my leisure class, and operating the old colchester lathe, I started my apprenticeship in a local iron foundry, a year later i was removed again , due to a family reorganisation to a large industrial town in Scotland, It was a total cultural shock for me 

 Things were hard money wise , but one day passing a small second hand shop, there in the window was a little three inch centre height screwcutting lathe, minus chuck & half her change wheels, She was pretty beat u, but i bought this old thing & subsequently knocked it into shape (after a fashion!)  For some reason the tailstock, was off the truth by about ten thou towards the front, so by experimentation, i was able to drill parrallel & keep the tailstock centre parallel by the judicious application of a small piece of brass shim between the front guide vee & the front of the bed, I used this old machine for many years, and even built two Stuart Turner engines on it, in conjunction with a small "Mickey mouse" home made drilling machine,  I still have one of the little engines yet, It is now 48 years old
 Now one of my reasons for raising all these points is simple  I always think in many ways when using tools & working on a shoe string one has a feel good factor as regards overcoming a challenge

    This though can be at the expense of accuracy & time, and the latter is of the essence, It is not infinit, over the years we run out of it Sadly! 

    Times have moved on and i have a nice workshop with good equipment, Nowadays i wonder upon occasions as to the rather haughty arrogant attitude of many model engineers  They over here in the U.K. frequently brag, they have a connosuire  a Myford!   Seems they have arrived , even the adverts on Ebay, state "Suit Myford" Even although they are selling some rusty files    Amongst my lovely machine tools i also have a Myford Super 7  But i do not let it go to my head,  I am more than grateful the Good Lord, has blessed me abundantly

 Keep your feet on the ground guys, remember the blessing of being able to make things is a gift, cultivate it, let it grow, I frequently ponder upon how my workshop experience led me into an engineering based career, & raised my skill and accuracy level, But i still think with some rosy thoughts on the early days.


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## dickr (Apr 27, 2012)

PAYCHECK ?
Okay not funny but that was so long ago I'm gonna have to ponder a while!

dickr


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## core-oil (Apr 29, 2012)

Dickr

   Yes Sir paychecks were a problem, in those days not enough in them!  however this is not always a bad thing, because one lears to "make do &mend" for a few months i did not have a four jaw chuck, and wanting to get on with building a model, i soon learned to bolt pieces of aluminium to the faceplate, &make them into work holding fixtures, I was lucky in that score as waste pieces collected in the work sufficied 
 Learning to be self sufficient is not a bad thing


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## dickr (Apr 29, 2012)

Well let me try & recall. when I got off the covered wagon I needed to get a job really bad so my father inlaw got me one in a assembly plant drilling holes in aircraft bodies (kid on the way, he wasn't gonna pay) drill press operator, lathe op., mill op.,etc. and job shops from there. Finally started my own biz so the boss wouldn't fire me. The only shop school exp. was 7th grade, 1/4 metal shop & made a tin cup, 1/4 drafting, 1/4 wood shop, & 1/4 don't remember. That's impressive. So the start in this business for me was truly I needed a job! I think the one thing I remember from the 1st 3 yrs was becoming very proficient at sharpening drill bits. Small shops didn't have drill bit sharpeners except the operator. No exaggeration .050 on up. Not any more cause I've loss my depth perception but nobody sees my drilled holes except me now!
One thing I would recommend to folks that find sharpening bits difficult is to buy the drill sharpener on the market today. A good one is only approx $150 and does a decent job and makes a split point.
Sorry if I digress but I'm allowed that:biggrin:
dickr


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