A quick survey, just for fun...

How long have you been doing this?
About 4 years for metalworking. 30+ for the woodworking side.

What machine in your shop do you use most?
Probably the mill. Mostly because I also use it as a drill press, even though I have a floor standing drill press.

What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?
As others have said, probably my lathe, but a mill is so capable also.

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 still don't know what I don't know so now I don't know :)
Maybe lathe first, mill second. My lincoln TIG is invaluable but so is my metal bandsaw. See, I just don't know.

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?
Not sure at all about this because I had no mentors or friends that were into machining. So, it was the internet and the great bunch of guys on here. Any question I ask here, no matter how seemingly stupid it is, gets answered. I have learned so much here, so all I can say is "Thank You!"
 
How long have you been doing this?
I have always been a "Maker" Started with summers in my Grandads Laundromats when I was 10 or so. but really no formal training. In the 80's I made a living building personal computers and turned that into a carrier in I/T that has done well to pay the bills. Lots of building stuff for fun mostly with hand tools.

What machine in your shop do you use most?
The 6" belt sander probably gets used the most but the vertical bandsaw is a close second. Almost everything starts or ends with one of these two.

What machine in your shop could you not live without? In other words, if you could have only one machine, what would it be?
while I think the lathe is the more versatile I tend to find projects that can be done on my Mill so I would say that my CNC Mill is my most useful (to me) and hardest to duplicate what it does for me with hand tools

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. 1. Mill, 2. Lathe 3. Bandsaw

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? While I have had a great career in I/T, I sometimes wish I had been exposed to the Machining or engineering when I was in Highschool. I really like building stuff and solving the everyday type issues around how to efficiently build stuff.
 
mmcmdl said:
APG ? Cool , right up the road from me . Where did you do your apprenticeship if I may ask ?
Click to expand...
Yup, APG, was a memorable 4 months! As for my apprenticeship, that was a five year indenture (took a lot less because we worked 55 hours a week not 40) that I served that at a shop in Milwaukee named Banner Tool and Engineering.

Richard
 
Mini Cooper S said:
Yup, APG, was a memorable 4 months! As for my apprenticeship, that was a five year indenture (took a lot less because we worked 55 hours a week not 40) that I served that at a shop in Milwaukee named Banner Tool and Engineering.
Click to expand...



I had family that worked up APG and Edgewood Arsonal . Did you ever hear of Middlestadt Machine or AAI back then ?
 
Okay, I'll play....
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
How long have you been doing this?

I'm sitting next to my dad's workbench that must have been built when I was a toddler and he started teaching me when I got troublesome by taking apart alarm clocks and such. So I'll have to say most of my life (I'm 55 now)

What machine in your shop do you use most?

Computer - come on, lets be honest here.... Next is probably the drill press

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

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.

Drill Press, Grinder, Lathe (this is assuming I had access to a hacksaw and some files)

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?

Honestly, the best thing for me is when my dad made me take chemistry instead of the machine tool technology class I wanted to take my junior year of high school. He was an engineer who could build the things he designed and probably knew that if I had taken that class I would have ended up working in a factory somewhere and not gotten as far as he wanted me to go in my career.

I love my hobby machine shop and totally respect our members in the trade. I probably would have worked for some great companies, bought a house in San Jose, married young and had a bunch of kids, and had a great life building stuff if I had gone into the trade but my dad worked very hard to give me other opportunities.

For him being an engineer was proof that he was just as worthy as his white colleagues and he correctly saw that my ease with people and quick wit (back when I was young) would make me an excellent lawyer or politician. I tried my hand at the latter but not the former.

All this is to say that although I had a good friend who's dad owned a machine shop that made some of the first digital watch enclosures I am truly grateful for my dad knowing that working in a factory wasn't the path he wanted for his son. I did work as a parts finisher back when I was a teen but I'm happy my path led me to me working in information technology rather than production. I'm proud to be working in a manufacturing company but my dad had experience working in a foundry in the 1950's so he understood how hard factory work could be....

I know this is probably more than you asked for but this is my story.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

These are not machine tools but no shop is complete without them IMHO

Oxy-Acetylene torch
Cold Chisel
Drilling and Ball Peen Hammers
Hand drill
Pop Riveter
Aircraft Snips
Good Vise - I mean a quality tool like a Wilton
Clamps - many
Channel Lock Pliers
Diagonal Side Cutter
Mirror
Magnet
Flashlight
Bottle Opener


Cheers,

John
 
hman said:
1. Learned how in graduate school, about 1972 or thereabouts. Frequently used machine tools while a design engineer at Hewlett-Packard (retired in 2005). Started buying my own machine tools in about 2008.
2. Most frequently used - Scotchbrite wheel! Just about every part gets the edges deburred every time I finish cutting a face, then a final "pretty-up."
3. Tough one - they all "feed" each other and "depend" on each other. Right now, I kinda favor the mill.
4. In general, I'm happy with the sequence I followed - $$ was a big factor, and I bought what I could when a) I needed it and b) when I could afford it. If I had to start over NOW, I'd probably start with a mill, H-V bandsaw, and drill press.
5. I'd like to have (and still plan to, eventually) take a few machining courses at Mesa Community College. One specific skill it took a while to "get" was parting on the lathe. I've received uncountable chunks of good advice over the years,
Click to expand...
Should have taken those classes at MCC when I lived in Mesa....

John
 
maspann said:
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!!
Click to expand...

Would love to hear more about your journey. I was a jazz band dad, our daughter would only tolerate one year of marching but played piano for 4 years. I never used my machine skills but helped out with sound. Post some pictures of the drum carts, I played in rock bands but never found a greater thrill than playing the cymbals for the Star Spangled Banner....

John
 
Yes, good questions.

1. I'm 62, so I have been running various pieces of equipment for around 40 of those years. Spent the first 8 years after getting out of high school in the military. The day I got out was the first day of work at a defense company (VerVal Enterprises) in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida.

2. Machine wise, probably a tie between my horizontal band saw and my manual lathe. Certainly the computer gets by far the most use!

3. A manual lathe for sure. Band saw next. My first purchase about 40 years ago was a small Enco 9" swing lathe. To this day, that little machine made me more money than anything else - mostly by luck through being in the right place at the right time, but it bought me my first HOUSE!!

4. Lathe (manual), then a band saw, and third would be a manual knee mill.

5. Just to go in - deep. Learn everything you can as early as possible. Take a menial job sweeping floors in a job shop, and be the hardest worker in the place. You'll get noticed and won't be sweeping floors for long.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top