Misplaced Dreams

[MossRoad]

Geeze that's a tragedy.

 

[GeneV]

I recently had an epiphany and that I missed the boat for a very interesting career. The skills and aptitude of a Machinist that is good at his craft is truly amazing. What they can machine out of a chunk of metal is art.

Our one and only local Machine Shop will soon be gone due to the ageing owner and I doubt if there is anyone else in the area that has the knowledge and skills to take over.

I'm to old to learn that trade but I am thinking about purchasing a Magnetic Drill so I can at least use annular cutters to drill holes in some of my heavy steel projects. No way to convert my puny benchtop drill press to use these cutters either. Twist drills are from the stone age compared to what an annular cutter can do. I so enjoy dreaming.

First off, about mag drills, I like this idea:

Now let me tell you something else, you could totally do machining. Will you be a hack machinist? Probably. Is there anything wrong with that? Absolutely not! If you have the space, get yourself a knee mill and lathe (not a mini lathe, get a 14"x40", something like that). Don't be afraid of getting some chinese bs from enco or grizzly, who cares? For your purposes, it will be perfectly fine. Life is short, do what strikes your fancy while you still have air in your lungs.

 

[GeneV]

:thumbsup::thumbsup: And I look at it as you are 'making a living' and a happy one. Maybe just not putting food on the table with it.

Word!

 

[Doofy]

Success without spending a ton of money. I bought a small set of Rotabroach hole saws and they worked great. Drilled several 3/4" holes in 1/2" steel after welding the wallowed out holes closed. The secret is to use cutting oil and to keep the cuttings out of the hole while drilling. First hole was using the drill press to get the hang of it and then used a cordless drill. Every time progress slowed, I would blow out the chips with the air gun. Took maybe 1 to 2 minutes to drill clean, perfect holes. Very impressed.

 

[metalbender]

Have a set to 1 1/2. Used sparingly on projects requiring more precision. Good stuff to have.

 

[Doofy]

Have a set to 1 1/2. Used sparingly on projects requiring more precision. Good stuff to have.

Agreed. I will probably never use twist drill bits again except for the small ones.

 

[BukitCase]

Doofy, I'm glad you had success; I feel the same way, between the small rotobroachs and the big mag drill (and my "drilling station") 1/4" is about the biggest twist drill I use any more.

A couple weeks ago I added a pipe adapter for the big mag drill - couple 2" long pieces of 4" angle, welded onto a leftover 3/4"x3" x10" long piece of flat bar, it self-clamps onto any pipe from 3/4" up to at least 4". Did it for a specific job but it worked so well I'll probably even PAINT it :laughing:

Took a couple pics on my phone, but getting 'em into the 'puter tends to be a PITA. Still, if anybody wants 'em just ask, I'll give it a shot... Steve

 

[Doofy]

I wish I would have known about Rotabroachs and Mag Drills and Annular Cutters years ago during my working years. They would have sure saved a lot of time and effort. I'll bet I have at least 50 pounds of assorted twist drills and hole saws in various stages of sharpness.

 

[ruffdog]

Doofy...Being a machinist in a big shop has its trade offs too. I started out running Boring Bars from 3" up to 9" and one was a large traveling column G&L with a 22' index table and 300" of travel. It also had large floor plates for big parts! The heaviest part I machined was a 80 ton casting. I then went into CNC and ran a KT Moduline machining center with 2 pallet stations, 50 tool capacity with probe attachment. Later I moved into a shop that I was able to complete jobs by welding, heat treat, machining, grinding, etc. from start to finish.

It is factory work and normally there were no windows to even get a glance of the outdoors. Then there are the cutting fluids like coolants and oils seeping into you body everyday. Then the noise...either you protect your hearing, or you lose it. Depending what your job is, the pressure of being "in tolerance" can be great. Most times I was supported by very good tool cribs so I had good tooling. Not all shops have that, especially today. Then there is always a chance of injuries, like cuts, squashed body parts, lung issues, vision loss, and death.

It was a very satisfying career having to calculate everything using your math skills and creating a finished product. Too bad good life long companies are disappearing.

 

[Doofy]

Doofy...Being a machinist in a big shop has its trade offs too. I started out running Boring Bars from 3" up to 9" and one was a large traveling column G&L with a 22' index table and 300" of travel. It also had large floor plates for big parts! The heaviest part I machined was a 80 ton casting. I then went into CNC and ran a KT Moduline machining center with 2 pallet stations, 50 tool capacity with probe attachment. Later I moved into a shop that I was able to complete jobs by welding, heat treat, machining, grinding, etc. from start to finish.

It is factory work and normally there were no windows to even get a glance of the outdoors. Then there are the cutting fluids like coolants and oils seeping into you body everyday. Then the noise...either you protect your hearing, or you lose it. Depending what your job is, the pressure of being "in tolerance" can be great. Most times I was supported by very good tool cribs so I had good tooling. Not all shops have that, especially today. Then there is always a chance of injuries, like cuts, squashed body parts, lung issues, vision loss, and death.

It was a very satisfying career having to calculate everything using your math skills and creating a finished product. Too bad good life long companies are disappearing.

I envy your skills and knowledge but the stuffy factory setting would have not been for me. I enjoy the great outdoors, fresh air and the beauty of nature to much to stay locked in a windowless building. I am certainly glad you survived that.