For Machinists (off topic)

Tommegow

Tommegow

Joined
Dec 16, 2004
Messages
678
I am really excited after several classroom nights, I worked my first ever piece of metal in my machine and tool class. I had to grind a cutting tool then
clean up a piece of odd round stock.Can y'all remember back that far? I decided to produce the following

2" stepped .250 to 1" most were several thousands off, but one was 15 off. I had a blast took 2- 2.5 hours
 
i still have my first piece...i guess its 10 years old now...looks very similar...


good luck

-adam
 
Yeah, I remember doing something like that. Except it was like thirty years ago!!!! Crap, that's hard to believe. I first worked on a metal lathe in metal shop when I was in 8th grade back when schools had strong shop programs.

I was hooked immediately and took a lot more classes and then finally worked in the trade for short time after high school.

I never got so far that I'd call myself a machinist, but after being away from the stuff for 20 years or so, I was finally able to indulge myself and build a shop with a lathe. Lif eis good now, even though I'm still not a great machinist, but I have resumed the pursuit of a craft I love and am getting better as time goes on.

It's pretty gratifying to grind a tool blank into a cutting tool and then cut steel with it eh? Just wait until your shop teacher makes you grind a single point threading tool :)

Congrats on your work.
 
The shop program was dying when I took it in high school. There was a lot of very good equipment, but not a lot of qualified instruction.
The only neat thing I built on the lathe back then was a motar for lanching loquats (That's what I think they're called--yellow-orange fruit about 1.5 inches dia.)
Just drop in some carbide rocks and little water, stuff in a loquat, touch it off and pow!. We must have launched dozens of those babies throughout the neighborhood--stupid kids that we were! People are probably still wondering how this great little fruit tree ended up in their yard.
 
I did mechanical drawing and machining back in high school (early 70s). One thing the industrial arts teacher had us do for a project was a hunting knife with a stacked red plexiglass handle and brass guard and pommel. Another one of out projects was a turned and milled ashtray. Good times!
 
JCaswell said:
The shop program was dying when I took it in high school. There was a lot of very good equipment, but not a lot of qualified instruction.
The only neat thing I built on the lathe back then was a motar for lanching loquats (That's what I think they're called--yellow-orange fruit about 1.5 inches dia.)
Just drop in some carbide rocks and little water, stuff in a loquat, touch it off and pow!. We must have launched dozens of those babies throughout the neighborhood--stupid kids that we were! People are probably still wondering how this great little fruit tree ended up in their yard.
Click to expand...

In Idaho we call that a spud launcher. Pretty popular around here on the 4th.
 
Yeah, I remember my first piece. Back in the late seventies. Been retired three years now and the only machining I do now is on the knives. Its fun but I sure do miss using the CNC machines every once in a while.
 
I taught Advanced Machine Shop at the U.S. Army Ordnance School way back in the late '50's.

Are any of you guys old enough to have been one of my students??rolleyes: :) :( :D
 
I learned my machining in the late 50s and it came in very handy many times in my career .And things like drawing , I can draw things as fast as the youngsters do it on a computer !! Pattern making, foundry, sheet metal, machining ,metallurgy -all HS courses !! Don't know what they learn now .
 
Yeh what a blast. I finished my Machine tool program in 1998. Made a similar piece but each step was also threaded. One standard, one metric and one acme. I just stopped by the school yesterday to see what else is up. Thinking about going back to play with the new machines. Tha knowlege obtained from my programs has been extremely valuable in my production of knives. Also has made it possible for me to be self employed.
 
I took 6 years of wood shop in school and never touch metaluntil 1988. I took 4 quarters of night school machine shop in the 90s. We made screw jacks. There was almost every kind of operation in it. Very cool class. My knives took a great start upward after that. I reccomend a machine shop class for anyone.
 
i'm just learning to use the lathe at my high school but i'm doing it by myself on my own time because it's not actually a class that they offer anymore so i have to do it before school, but it sure is fun! right now i'm working on a fancy goblet, next i'm going to try to make a small box with a snake coiling around it.
 
No decent schools around here in this part of central Texas! I have a new knee Mill in my shop. Don't know what It's for, but it sure looks pur'dy sitting there! Mike
 
Mike.

You have one of the most versitile machines you could have purchased there. For slotting guards, surfacing material, seeting up pin holes and even drilling handle material. You really need to find out how to use your knee mill. It can be just a very accuarate drill press or much much more.

Chuck
 
mete said:
I learned my machining in the late 50s and it came in very handy many times in my career .And things like drawing , I can draw things as fast as the youngsters do it on a computer !! Pattern making, foundry, sheet metal, machining ,metallurgy -all HS courses !! Don't know what they learn now .
Click to expand...
We made 50 caliber black powder cannons in shop class.. Fired them into the woods.
I made 3 velocity stacks, on the lathe, for my tri-power setup on my 68 !/2 428 GT mustang fastback !
I also built a 10 HP go-cart, in the tenth grade, after hours, with coach Morrison ( shop teacher).
In Junior high we had archery and marksmanship as part of P.E.
The guns were Remington 521 Junior target models from the fourties- fifties.
Police officers came in and showed us how to properly handle a revolver and open a semi auto ( Hi power or 1911) to render it " safe"
I carried folders on my belt all through school.
Boy scouts all had knives.



America was a great place to be.
I miss her. :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 
Boy you said a mouthful Gringo :( Could you imagine a highschool machine shop teacher using those projects in this day & age ???? He would most certainly , 1-loose his job ; 2-probably end up in court & 3-End up on CNN with the headline - "Can you believe what this teacher is teaching his Students" . I also carried a Blade through my whole school experience. I swear to you ( God is my witness ) had my Dad bring his RUGER Mk 1 into school for show & tell. I vividly remember this,& it went just fine.
Back to Shop Talk ; I had a really great Machine Shop Teacher ( Mr. Warner ) who taught me from 7th to 12th grade AWESOME TEACHER ! I then moved on to serve a MOLD MAKER Apprenticeship. I've been making chips for 30 + yrs . I really do love it :thumbup:
I think Mr. Lovett is pulling your leg about not knowing how to run his mill :D
 
Shop class was cool but mostly wood working, welding and some machine tool
I got most of my machinist start as an MR in the Navy over about 35 years ago
then Tool and die maker after I got married. I think that was the best job I ever had,,
I just picked up another lathe the other day, sweet little old Dalton 6 :D
it came with a bunch of attachments and a milling attachment,,it may come in handy if my Vertical mill dies on me:D
 
I have been in class for over 30 years now.
I was lucky enough to start in a real shop on a pratt and whittney star turn cnc lathe with a fanuc 5t. Never look back. Ran everything from vertical lathes to 5 axis bed mills in between. My favorite is still a 80 HP cnc lathe that takes .5 depth of cut at .025 IPR..:eek:. Nothing like the sound of chips hitting the door.
It sounds like bacon frying.
Had some shop class in school.
It was fun.
We got to forge a chisel and heat treat it for our first project.
Good luck . The project is very cool...
 
Well OK! You got me! I know a little. But there is so much more that I would like to know! Just wish there was a decent school around here! Very Little industry here, even though my shop is not far outside the gate of the worlds largest military base. for years I was in Huntsville Alabama. They built the Space Shuttles there. you could find, see, do anything you could imagine, from production, to proto-typing. Every day materials to the most exotic. It's so advanced there, that titanium, laser, water jet, cnc, edm, are all decades OLD HAT! Here in central Texas, I've recently had people come to my shop very excited to tell me about the newest mirical machine. A Water Jet! Should I tell them? (Here a Plasma cutter is Rocket Science!) I don't even tell people here, for the most part what I do All I would get is blank stares. That and broken into. Seem that burgurly, is the number one industry here, well right behind bars, used cars, strip clubs, and Pawn Shops!!! Wonder why pawn shops do so well here? Mike http://www.lovettknives.com/
 
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