A quick survey, just for fun...

[ArmyDoc]

How long have you been doing this?

What machine in your shop do you use most?

What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?

Knowing what you know now, if you had to start over again, what would you buy first, second and third? Assume you need to wait a year between each purchase.

What is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out, or that they did tell you that you wished you had listened to?

 

[Larry$]

1. 5 yr,
2. mill,
3. mill, (mill & lathe are a set)
4. mill, lathe, band saw, (not counting small tools)
5. You "need" way more stuff than what you ever thought. 5 1/2. Everything takes a lot longer than what it should.

 

[macardoso]

1. 10 years (I am 26 now)
2. CNC mill, although lately the lathe is catching up
3. Mill
4. I went straight into CNC, although I wish I had started with a manual knee mill if I had the space. There are a lot of times I have a simple part and it takes longer to make on the CNC than a manual. Second, I wouldn't have waited so long to get a lathe. I'd do the CNC third.
5. I'm just learning that it takes much much longer to make parts than you'd expect and it is hard to match the quality of a fine tuned CNC production machine. Setup accounts for a majority of time rather than machining, except in production.

 

[projectnut]

How long have you been doing this?

What machine in your shop do you use most?

What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?

Knowing what you know now, if you had to start over again, what would you buy first, second and third? Assume you need to wait a year between each purchase.

What is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out, or that they did tell you that you wished you had listened to?

1. How long have you been doing this?
About 35 years

2. What machine in your shop do you use most?
It's a toss up between my Sheldon lathe and my Bridgeport mill. They both get used about equally. One week the mill may run 30 to 40 hours, the next week it might be the lathe. It all depends on the job at hand.

3. What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?
Most probably the Sheldon lathe. Most operations that can be done on a mill can also be done on a lathe. The difference is the ease and complexity of being able to do them. The mill excels at many operations that could be done on a lathe, but makes them easier and faster.

4. Knowing what you know now, if you had to start over again, what would you buy first, second and third? Assume you need to wait a year between each purchase.
Purchases in order: bench top drill press, lathe, bench top grinder, vertical milling machine, belt/disk sander, arbor press, floor standing drill press, hydraulic press, bandsaw, horizontal milling machine, second lathe, shaper, surface grinder, power hacksaw, etc., etc.

That's pretty much the order I bought thing in. One tool required another to support it, or the job was just easier on a dedicated tool.

5. What is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out, or that they did tell you that you wished you had listened to?
I had good advice and counsel all along the way. Having had experience in the business I was familiar with what basic tools to start with. As time went on and I felt the need for additional tools I enlisted several former co workers to offer opinions, and assess potential purchases. I must admit I had advantages along the way that most hobbyists don't. I was able to purchase equipment when shops were upgrading or downsizing. I rarely had to go looking for machinery. Most of it was offered at more than reasonable prices.

 

[maspann]

Wow, good questions!

I've been at this a long time, sorta. I bought a Lincoln 225 buzz box when I was around 13 and I am now 66. I am a mechanical engineer and have worked around welding and precision machining most of my professional career at the Oak Ridge National Lab (I've been retired for a year). I have also been around cattle and farming for many years so the welding and equipment repair/modification has been a part of my life. So, I've had basic tools, a drill press for years. However, it was when my boys were in high school band that my fabrication/machining/welding got more serious.

For the uninitiated, high school bands are very competitive and many of the percussion instruments (big bass drums, xylophones, marimbas, etc.) were not designed to go onto football fields. As a result, I started my band parent career repairing the frames and even some of the instruments. Another band parent and I got the ideal to build some more robust frames with bigger casters. When the band director saw our first creations, he suggested I go into business. So in 2002, Spann Engineering (www.spannengineering.com) was started. It is certainly not a big time operation and I never intended it to be, but it has funded some cool tools.

First purchases were a Lincoln 110V Mig welding machine and a 6" ENCO horizontal band saw. Within a year or so I bought a used Enco 9 X 49 mill with DRO off of Ebay. That has been my most used machine by far.

Next upgrade was a Lincoln Precision Tig 175. Then a 220V Lincoln Mig and a 12" Atlas lathe. One of my most productive purchases for building percussion carts was a Baileigh 210 miter band saw, for which I built in feed and out feed tables with an accurate length gauge and stop. Since my carts were primarily 1 1/2" and 2" square steel tubing (14 gauge) the ability to get perfectly square cuts and accurate lengths was huge.

I have intentionally let my band cart work fall off over the last several years, but have continued to make some tooling improvements. Now I build what I want for the farm and am continually building things for friends (a really nice "Estate Gate", weight lifting equipment etc.).

One great advantage I have had is being friends with some really great machinist and welders over the years. Their willingness to share their experience with me has been extremely helpful. Also, this site and all the great machining and welding youtube channels have been helpful.

I'm not sure if I have answered all of the original questions or not, but this is how I got started.

And after 15 years of using a cheap vise on my mill, I have a brand new Kurt DX6 vice scheduled to be delivered tomorrow!!

 

[Flyinfool]

1. 25 years. Not counting a lot of time (10+ years) with a floor standing drill press and an XY vice that I called my "mill".
2. This is a tough one, Lathe and mill are very close to equal.
3. Mill I guess. mainly because I got my mill 4 years before the lathe.
4. Mill, lathe, band saw, (not counting small tools)
5. just how deep this rabbit hole really is. I still have not found the bottom and I am still in free fall.

I started out looking for both a lathe and a mill, I got the mill first only because I found a deal on it first. After 4 years I gave up looking for a deal on the lathe and just bought a new one for near the same money as what I was finding used ones for.

 

[derfatdutchman]

1. 35 years
2. The mill probably gets more use.
3. If I had to have just one it would be a lathe, it a very versatile machine.
4. Lathe, Drill Press, Mill, Bandsaw
5. Don't buy a round column mill, get a knee mill to save years of having to do work arounds and modifications.

 

[Larry$]

macardoso Before I retired, I owned a plant building commercial casework, mostly store fixtures. Almost all the equipment was CNC. Almost all CAD work was done parametrically so new jobs didn't have to start from scratch. We had a lot of money in CAD CAM to be able to drive all the equipment. Starting from scratch to build one-offs wasn't economic.

Setup accounts for a majority of time rather than machining, except in production.

 

[Gaffer]

1. About 2 years, but most of the time has been spent cleaning, refurbing, and acquiring tools and parts versus making parts.
2. I use most of them about equally. Prior to acquiring the mill and lathe, I'd say the HEM bandsaw, mig welder, grinder, and 20-ton press. I'm spending more time on the mill and lathe getting to know them. I'm just a weekend warrior, and there are too many times I get no shop time, but that's been changing for the better!
3. I love them all and plan to be proficient with them. It would either be the mill or the lathe. I'm not experienced enough yet but lean toward the mill because I have most accessories to do many machining operations.
4. This is highly dependent upon what I'm making, so I'll answer it from the projects I began with: drill press, grinder, bandsaw, welder, 20-ton hydraulic press, mill, lathe. At some point, I'd like a surface grinder, but I have my hands, and garage, full at present.
5. I wish I'd spent more time with dad on projects. We didn't have a lathe or mill, but he fabricated amazing things. He was an electrical engineer due to necessity, but his passion was mechanical engineering.

 

[NC Rick]

How long have you been doing this?

What machine in your shop do you use most?

What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?

Knowing what you know now, if you had to start over again, what would you buy first, second and third? Assume you need to wait a year between each purchase.

What is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out, or that they did tell you that you wished you had listened to?

How long have you been doing this?

if "this" is messing around with "machinist stuff" id have to say since high school shop class which gave me the bug Which included part time work in a couple machine shop places. 50 years easy, YIKES!!!

What machine in your shop do you use most?
lathe.

What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?

I can really calculate this but I'd say: Drill Press

Knowing what you know now, if you had to start over again, what would you buy first, second and third? Assume you need to wait a year between each purchase.

I don't think it matters much, I think it would be like it was and depend on what you find and could afford: lathe. A lathe is a wonderful thing.

What is the one thing you wish someone had told you when you were first starting out, or that they did tell you that you wished you had listened to?

I never listen enough. I'm ok with the way it went and is going. I am predisposed to learning the hard way.