After 6 months and yet still a novice at MIG and TIG welding, I have a good base to move forward on my own. . .
It would be great to just buy an entry level lathe and make chips... However, I do not have a place for a lathe at this time. . .
Perhaps a thread could be started with those white beards, silver backs, and grey wizards that would be willing to lend a hand and teach those of us that are deprived of the power of the Lathe and Mill. . .
Please accept my apology if I come off heavy-handed here, but this is a subject of continuing interest to me as a craftsman and teacher.
Your questions seem to be centered on the TEACHING, rather than the LEARNING. As we work with any new technique, the one single element that is the most critical is PRACTICE. Now that you have familiarity with welding and a burning desire to make things from metal, precisely what welding projects have you been doing? What would you like to do? Have you acquired the equipment necessary to get started on welding projects?
Same thing goes with the lathe. I know hobbyists who make stuff on their lathes working in an apartment, not a garage. If you get yourself a tiny hobby lathe and get started doing stuff, you'll learn faster than you might imagine as you screw up, recover, screw up again, and get some things done for fun. Without continuing access to a lathe, I wonder how anyone could learn anything but the fundamentals that would have to be relearned later.
What, precisely, do you want to make? This question may seem like some kind of test, and that's because it is.
Every week, I talk to folks who want to learn to play guitar, banjo or another instrument. My first questions are, "What style of playing do you want to do? What songs do you want to learn?" When I hear the answer, "I don't really know - I just like the sound of a banjo," I can be fairly certain that person will not learn to play. If I hear something very specific, I have the sense that this person may be headed for fun.
Just met a man the other day who wanted to find someone to teach him to build a guitar. He'd bought a kit almost 30 years ago, and he wanted someone to show him step-by-step how to put it together. I told him just to do it and see how things came out. His response: "No way - I don't want to make mistakes." Clearly, he will never do it.
It's all about learning. It's all about making mistakes. It's all about practice. It's the journey, not the destination.
I meet novice guitar builders all the time, and see their work - some of which is amazing, and some clearly not so good. One thing I can tell for certain is those who are committed to the experience. They pretty much all "just go for it."
As a hobby machinist/metal guy, I got a late start (60) into serious work. I still make LOTS of beginner-type mistakes, and I'm still learning some really simple lessons, such as "how rigid is a rigid setup supposed to be, anyway?" I do know that for me, all the serious learning has taken place when I was working solo. I read everything I can on the subjects of my craft and interest, and I check in to these Internet forums at least daily, so I've picked up an incredible amount of information here as well. In fact, it's ALL here, and has been all along. I just wasn't able to absorb it until I was personally needing to solve the specific problems myself.
Sorry for the rant. . .
