Machinists: If You Had to Teach a Machinist Course in ONE WEEK, What Would You Cover?

Boy I swore Id keep out of this one, but I aggree with Bill C Those in the front, those in the rear, and
class clowns, always was and always will be. Suppose first I would give a test to determine what page
they are on. From day one shop theory, day two old school, day three the saftey Natzis gets me, which
I dont give three hoots about. Suppose I can mentor/ teach two thats it. Where did I get this, maybe
tubal cain, kids riding a shaper like an electroic bull, gitty up. Teachers have their hands full.
 
I would not concern myself too much with how much they already know, I would just start with the basics for the benefit of everyone. Having said that the next thing I would do is get them absolutely interested in this trade. For example two of the biggest questions I had when I started out at the age of 27 were--how big is .001" and how can you possibly make something to that tolerance? .001" is the thickness of a cigarette rolling paper (you can feel it), or about 1/3 the thickness of a human hair. Then I would show them how to take 2 finishing cuts in order to have control, whether in the mill or the lathe. Now that I have their undivided attention I would basically follow the curriculum as laid out by Nelson, but not with the intent of the students becoming employable as machinists, my pre-apprentice course was 6 months, so this would only be an introduction. This is assuming there are young people just starting out that are in the course. If the students are all older then it is a different ball game and can progress much faster. I met a guy my age (59) at a tool store a while back, he just bought a metal cutting lathe and knew zero--however he was a cabinet maker and was machining fairly proficiently within 2 weeks. I also started up an aircraft machine shop from scratch, all the machines and measuring instruments were still in the box, hired 2 machinists and had the shop up and running in 2 weeks. So it does matter who is in the course and where they are at. One thing is for certain, every professional (machinist or otherwise) takes great delight in sharing their knowledge with someone who is interested. I think this is a wonderful thing to do and I wish I could do it, teach a night school course at a high school or something similar. BTW I love this forum. The only machine I have is a 7" X 8" lathe in my apartment and it does everything, lol
 
Thought I'd chip in from the other side of the fence. I'm almost 52 and fairly smart. I inherited my Dad's nack for tools and machinery and with an background in IT and database software, I've got a pretty good technical foundation I think. I've always said that I can learn anything if you give me a manual, and have pretty much proved it many times.

Now I want to finally start learning machining and as usual, I'm connecting on multiple forums and buying many books etc. I can't even comprehend someone learning enough to be proficient in one week after all I've seen and read. Wow, there's a lot to learn! This site is an incredible resource btw. I've spent several months now just with the "book lern'n" and still know that I'm completely unprepared. Hands-on is always the way to go, but I have to agree that from all appearances you're just taking a couple steps in the right direction with a week. Wish I could attend something like that though! :)
 
i believe people learn best by doing so, after a thorough safety presentation, i'd introduce them to the machine tools with demonstrations(turning the machine on and off, adjust spindle to speed appropriate for cutter and material and how to figure that, and basic operations), Q&A, and have 'em squaring up blocks by the end of the first day.
lathe would be day two.
of course i'm assuming that i'd be dealing with students with a maturity level higher than some of the guys i've worked with in the field:LOL:
 
Having taken several machine shop courses over the years, and being modestly gifted in the art, I can say that the curriculum you described is close to what we did. The one difference is that our instructor got us turning metal on the lathe fairly quick. We had to pass a test to prove that we knew what all of the controls were named, and we made our own tool bits, first out of key stock, (for practice) and then out of HSS. I think that was so that we would take it easy on the depth of cut. One thing that I have learned since and is most valuable for the hobby machinist (and life or death for someone who actually puts food on the table with this stuff) is a clear understanding of SPEEDS AND FEEDS. That was glossed over in class, and that small efficiency would have saved immense passages of time. In my brief stint of running a lathe on the weekends for a local tool and die shop, it was painfully obvious that I was inadequate in that area. I didn't break anything, but I didn't get enough done in the allotted time either.:))
 
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