Any machinists out there?

[Taylortractornut]

I took machine shop classes in HS and later 2 years of it in college. I was always facinated by a shaper. HS the school board deemed our 2 shapers unsafe and mad e the shop disconnec the big one as a slacker walked infront of the clapper tool post and got a big square bruise on his gourd. I used a smaller one in that shop but we didnt have alot of tooling for it and I really didnt have time to learn alot about it in 3 hours each day with Welding and mill work and lathes to use.

In College we had a medium shaper and a few more tools with it. I did a few projects on it but not many. I liked it for a fe jobs over a Mill.

Im now getting back into machining more and more at the shop and am rebuilding one lathe and working on the motor of another. I got a nice Enco fullsize knee mill 2 weeks ago. A freind of mine that got me into machining as a kid had a freind that was parteners in a Fastener company. They sold out due to the recent illness of the owner. My friend told me I could getthe mill for less than scrap if I paid cash for it before the auction as they had to empty the building. I thought it might be kinda worn out, but to my surprise its like new. Very wel ltaken care of. Came with a pressureize lube and a ower feed and DRO. Its super tight, I found out the mill was a few years old. I got it and a face mill, Bridgeport Boring Bar, and Jacobs chuck , coolant system and a Kurt vise for 500 dollars.


Also in the load was a few bits of tooling like jobber bits. On to the point about a shaper, I have a friend that bought a lathe and a mill and shaper that came with it. He didnt want to sell is as it had a good vise for his drill press. He made a deal with me if I got him a vise I could have the shaper and tooling. I mentioned that to my freind and they had started scrapping it. THey threw in the vise in the deal. My other friend liked the vise and traded the shaper for it. I hope to use the shaper mainly for cutting internal keways.

I know they are a good bit dated but Id like to learn about them to keep the knowledge of them around.

 

[charlz]

Seems like quite a few people on the homeshopmachinist.net forums have shapers, have rebuilt them etc etc. Probably some on practicalmachinist.com as well but that is mostly 'real' machinists and they don't look to fondly on some of the home shop grade equipment and Chinese discussions are banned Myself I only have a lathe but plan on getting mill at some point.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I was on practical Machinst for a while but the attitude there was pitiful. I grew up in machining and warked for a while as a professional. I have all commercial machinery too. My former mill was a toy grizzl mill. I didnt use it much as it didnt have capacity. It paid for itself a few times over o n key ways.

I plan on adding a small horizontal mill one day to. Theres several places over stocked on older mills and lathes. I have 800 in my 24 inch swing lathe, My logan lathe was free, I gave 150 for my surface grinder, 20 for a power hacksaw, and 500 for the mill. Ive got a large drill press Im rebuilding it was in a junk yard and working when parked. I finally got the owner to sell it. I dont plan to make a full time living with it but its nice to have it all around the shop. Lots of folks now are rebuilding and repairing now instead of replacing.

 

[charlz]

Machine shop was something that was not available when I was in high school. I took welding, small engines and all those but always wanted to learn some machining. Idaho is pretty sparse when it comes to machine shop tools. When they do come up they command decent money. Any old Bridgeport or clone will run you $4k+, guys in other parts of the country can buy them for less than $1k all day long. Portland, OR seems to be the closest place with decent prices, around $2k for the same machine. If I do go there (8 hour drive one way) to buy one I might buy two and resell one to pay for the trip I recently picked up a nice Southbend 13" lathe to replace the 12" Atlas/Craftsman I started with, it originally went to a high school and is in great shape. I had to drive about 800 miles round trip to bring it home. :confused2: Hadn't seen one before or since that was in this part of the country and remotely in driving distance.

 

[czechsonofagun]

I got my Logan 10" cheap few years ago and use it more than I would ever imagine. The mill is a need that pops up more and more, I get around it somehow but would love to have a mill.

As far as internet, I love this forum:

The Home Shop Machinist & Machinist's Workshop Magazine's BBS - Powered by vBulletin

check the shop made tools just to get the idea

Classes? I never took any, but my first masters is Mech.Engineering - I am well educated theoretican My major was in machining too.

 

[Taylortractornut]

THanks for the links I took a look through the shop tools and was amazed. My first lathe is a Logan grandad picked it up after WW2 THe lathe was made on Febuary 8 1942.


I asked a question on PM one time that was fairly significant and got flamed over it. I did the job anyway and got through it no sweat.


I was lucky I got to have Mr Brown in shop class he was a master welder and machinist and liked his job. We got to build all sorts of things and often all our jobs were mixed together. He retired after his health went down. The school wouldnt let kids go through one class like metal trades but 2 years Mr. Brown found a way to get us that wanted to take it 4 years to take it that long. It paid off. The county has cut Ag shop, Carpentry and building trades, and Refrigeration and AC over the last coule years. And I figure Metal trades will be next. Its sad because all the folks I know around here my age that made someting of them selves all started or still work in the trades that were shut down.


I wished I d have know you needed a mill there was 3 others that sold for 550 Each. I started to get another but im running out of room.

Surplus industrial in SHeffeild AL has a good stock of mills at the moment. Ans they can ship them.

 

[ultrarunner]

I've got a Bridgport NC Tape Mill and a Southbend lathe... always wanted to upgrade the lathe and now, just don't really have the inclination...

Worked for awhile in a Tool and Die shop that had everything... it was real small pre WWII and then expanded... sadly, a huge fire turned most of the equipment to puddles on the floor... the aluminum parts.

Machine Tool prices in the Bay Area have fallen dramatically with the exodus of manufacturing...

Shapers can do a lot with inexpensive tooling... a big plus for those on a shoe string...

 

[sweettractors]

Retired in 1980 from Machinest/Tool and Die/Mold Maker for PR Mallory and Co. I really miss the work, however, don't have time to devote to a hobby shop......Grandkids and Honey Do's Ken Sweet

 

[sal64]

machinist cnc prog 31yrs, its a dieing trade in the past 10 yrs sean 80% of work go to china.

 

[Taylortractornut]

I miss it alot some times. I didnt do alot of the fancy projects in college I did all the big turning and setups that took some doing. I had the tool and die teacher baffled one day I needed to turn down a 30 inch diameter Flywheel off a hit and miss motor. My machinshop teacher gave me a go ahead to pi$$ off the T&D teacher. TD told me we dont have a lathe with the swing you need. I made a center arbor and put it in the biggest rotary table in the shop then put it in the mill. 30 minutes later I hd a newly turned flywheel. I did work in a few small and older shops in school, and after I worked for Geartek running running a CNC after I refused to . I was supposed to work in the manual shop I did a few months after I told them Id quit. That was a bad job with worse bosses. I kinda burnt out after that and went back running equipment.



Now that Ive gotten alot of time on the side now and need to stay near home since Ill bee a dad in a few months I wanted to get back into it a bit.

I have a small foundry to that a bit interesting on casting small parts.