Suggested Sticky

[matthewsx]

Personally I think a beginners guide to machining would be the best. It could list different machines, their uses and tooling required. Maybe even arrange it in sections for zero experience, novice, advanced etc.

You mean like this one?

A BEGINNER'S FORUM (Learn How To Machine Here!)

This forum is for beginners and newbies to learn the skills they need to begin in hobby-machining. Do not be afraid to ask anything you want to know in here.

www.hobby-machinist.com

John

 

[Jim F]

Personally I think a beginners guide to machining would be the best. It could list different machines, their uses and tooling required. Maybe even arrange it in sections for zero experience, novice, advanced etc.

This is more focused on helping new people select the correct machine for them.

 

[Jim F]

I've actually been working on something similar for the 10" and less size.

Also you may not be getting notices because I think we have mostly moved over to the Working Group thread

I was just looking at 10x22 lathes, they have about the same capacity as SB9's.
Do you have any others than PM and Grizzly ?

 

[matthewsx]

This is more focused on helping new people select the correct machine for them.

Sorry, I really didn't mean to be snarky about it.

I just don't think we're likely to be able to make a resource that will cover the topic sufficiently for all new members. Main problem being that there are so many variables ranging from individual experience, local machine availability, budget, space, power, and at least a half dozen more I haven't thought of.

I've been a contributor to many of these threads and it doesn't bother me to answer the same questions over and over. If I get tired I'm confident another member will chime in with helpful advice and that's what makes this place so awesome. Yes, I do wish people would think about their use for machines and be clear about limitations they have, but with such a big topic it's inevitable that folks just don't know what they don't know.

Some people will read the whole beginner section first but many more will just jump in and that's okay with me. I love the fact you can come on here with the cheapest little thing from China and get good, honest advice from folks with 50 years professional experience. I'd hate to see that change, I suffered for months in the "antique" section of another forum before I found this one and although people were honest about the limitations I'd face with my hundred-year-old machine they never discounted my questions or told me I wasn't welcome.

So, while I think it would be great if we could match everyone with the right machine I don't think it's possible with all the variables and evolution each of us make in our path to machine tool satisfaction. Active participation from manufacturers, dedicated sub-forums for different manufacturers, a wide open general section and excellent reference material is a good start though.

However, it's been very satisfying for me to watch the evolution of several active members from where they started with their questions to adding excellent advice for newbies based on the experience they've gained along the way. I often encourage folks to search @DavidR8 for a good example of this process.

I'm on my 4th lathe now so just a newbie myself....


Cheers,

John

 

[DavidR8]

Sorry, I really didn't mean to be snarky about it.

I just don't think we're likely to be able to make a resource that will cover the topic sufficiently for all new members. Main problem being that there are so many variables ranging from individual experience, local machine availability, budget, space, power, and at least a half dozen more I haven't thought of.

I've been a contributor to many of these threads and it doesn't bother me to answer the same questions over and over. If I get tired I'm confident another member will chime in with helpful advice and that's what makes this place so awesome. Yes, I do wish people would think about their use for machines and be clear about limitations they have, but with such a big topic it's inevitable that folks just don't know what they don't know.

Some people will read the whole beginner section first but many more will just jump in and that's okay with me. I love the fact you can come on here with the cheapest little thing from China and get good, honest advice from folks with 50 years professional experience. I'd hate to see that change, I suffered for months in the "antique" section of another forum before I found this one and although people were honest about the limitations I'd face with my hundred-year-old machine they never discounted my questions or told me I wasn't welcome.

So, while I think it would be great if we could match everyone with the right machine I don't think it's possible with all the variables and evolution each of us make in our path to machine tool satisfaction. Active participation from manufacturers, dedicated sub-forums for different manufacturers, a wide open general section and excellent reference material is a good start though.

However, it's been very satisfying for me to watch the evolution of several active members from where they started with their questions to adding excellent advice for newbies based on the experience they've gained along the way. I often encourage folks to search @DavidR8 for a good example of this process.

I'm on my 4th lathe now so just a newbie myself....


Cheers,

John

Thanks John, that’s a very kind thing to say. From mini lathe to surface grinder in a year and a bit. 99.9% of my journey is guided by the sage and kind advice of our members, for which I am extremely grateful.

I’d say I’ve got the bug for which there is no vaccine.

 

[Jim F]

Sorry, I really didn't mean to be snarky about it.

I just don't think we're likely to be able to make a resource that will cover the topic sufficiently for all new members. Main problem being that there are so many variables ranging from individual experience, local machine availability, budget, space, power, and at least a half dozen more I haven't thought of.

I've been a contributor to many of these threads and it doesn't bother me to answer the same questions over and over. If I get tired I'm confident another member will chime in with helpful advice and that's what makes this place so awesome. Yes, I do wish people would think about their use for machines and be clear about limitations they have, but with such a big topic it's inevitable that folks just don't know what they don't know.

Some people will read the whole beginner section first but many more will just jump in and that's okay with me. I love the fact you can come on here with the cheapest little thing from China and get good, honest advice from folks with 50 years professional experience. I'd hate to see that change, I suffered for months in the "antique" section of another forum before I found this one and although people were honest about the limitations I'd face with my hundred-year-old machine they never discounted my questions or told me I wasn't welcome.

So, while I think it would be great if we could match everyone with the right machine I don't think it's possible with all the variables and evolution each of us make in our path to machine tool satisfaction. Active participation from manufacturers, dedicated sub-forums for different manufacturers, a wide open general section and excellent reference material is a good start though.

However, it's been very satisfying for me to watch the evolution of several active members from where they started with their questions to adding excellent advice for newbies based on the experience they've gained along the way. I often encourage folks to search @DavidR8 for a good example of this process.

I'm on my 4th lathe now so just a newbie myself....


Cheers,

John

I agree, but I have seen people recommending machines without first asking about the new users limitations.

 

[davidpbest]

As I was scrolling through Instagram getting updates from my friends, I came across the following photo and thought to myself, maybe the first question to ask on this topic of "which lathe" is this: Which kind of person are you?

 

[Aaron_W]

Sorry, I really didn't mean to be snarky about it.

I just don't think we're likely to be able to make a resource that will cover the topic sufficiently for all new members. Main problem being that there are so many variables ranging from individual experience, local machine availability, budget, space, power, and at least a half dozen more I haven't thought of.

I've been a contributor to many of these threads and it doesn't bother me to answer the same questions over and over. If I get tired I'm confident another member will chime in with helpful advice and that's what makes this place so awesome. Yes, I do wish people would think about their use for machines and be clear about limitations they have, but with such a big topic it's inevitable that folks just don't know what they don't know.

Some people will read the whole beginner section first but many more will just jump in and that's okay with me. I love the fact you can come on here with the cheapest little thing from China and get good, honest advice from folks with 50 years professional experience. I'd hate to see that change, I suffered for months in the "antique" section of another forum before I found this one and although people were honest about the limitations I'd face with my hundred-year-old machine they never discounted my questions or told me I wasn't welcome.

So, while I think it would be great if we could match everyone with the right machine I don't think it's possible with all the variables and evolution each of us make in our path to machine tool satisfaction. Active participation from manufacturers, dedicated sub-forums for different manufacturers, a wide open general section and excellent reference material is a good start though.

However, it's been very satisfying for me to watch the evolution of several active members from where they started with their questions to adding excellent advice for newbies based on the experience they've gained along the way. I often encourage folks to search @DavidR8 for a good example of this process.

I'm on my 4th lathe now so just a newbie myself....


Cheers,

John

I'm of a similar thought and concern. There has been more discussion of this in the posts that VTCNC linked to, and one option might be to have a sticky "so you want to buy a lathe" kind of post but still leaving it wide open for people to just blast away with what lathe should I buy posts.

I agree, but I have seen people recommending machines without first asking about the new users limitations.

Yeah, this happens all the time. We are focusing on getting people to make better what lathe to by posts but there still is a real issue of posters not reading through the thread and offering sometimes nonsensical suggestions for the particular situation. Baby steps.

 

[vtcnc]

So, while I think it would be great if we could match everyone with the right machine I don't think it's possible with all the variables and evolution each of us make in our path to machine tool satisfaction. Active participation from manufacturers, dedicated sub-forums for different manufacturers, a wide open general section and excellent reference material is a good start though.

However, it's been very satisfying for me to watch the evolution of several active members from where they started with their questions to adding excellent advice for newbies based on the experience they've gained along the way. I often encourage folks to search @DavidR8 for a good example of this process.

I think that is the spirit of what we should be working towards. While I think it is too daunting of a task to publish a Lathe Buyer's Guide, it seems to me that the dialogue I'm reading on this thread says we should at least try to point out some scenic views for newbies to stop and take in along their journey. For me that means pointing to certain questions, sub-forums and other users like you indicated. Having more sub-forums that contains or at least focuses on that topic can help focus one's attention in that direction. If we do this well, (notice I didn't say correctly) then we will create more active participation, more dedicated sub-forums, more wide open exploring of all the great sections here and more excellent reference material.

 

[davidpbest]

I'm anxious to help if I can. I still very much like the original worksheet that VTCNC posted (attached) with maybe some refinements from the other suggestions. If someone gave me that when I was getting started, it would have saved a ton of time getting to a suggestion that was actually within a range of suitable options. At the time I got a lot of brand-name specific recommendations ("Grizzly is the greatest") and suggestions for everything from a 7x10 to a 16x40. Tons of advice that was heavily skewed with confirmation bias, and without a lot of thought as to the issues brought up in the attached worksheet.