[trial.rec.metalworking] home machining?

pollack@dendrite.cis.ohio-state.edu (Jordan B Pollack) (01/03/91)

I recently came across a journal called HOME SHOP MACHINIST which
makes it appear as if there is a thriving American subculture with
precision metalworking equipment at home. There seem to be only a few
editor/contributors (who also advertise their own vanity press books),
and all of the articles were serialized. But there were quite a few
large advertisements, which means either they are very cheap to run,
or someone is responding to them.

The discussion in this tiny group so far seems to be about
blacksmithing.  Has anyone moved up the technology ladder from
smithing to machining?  Anybody playing with PC-driven Hobby CNC
machines, or import combination mill/lathes?  

--
Jordan Pollack                            Assistant Professor
CIS Dept/OSU                              Laboratory for AI Research
2036 Neil Ave                             Email: pollack@cis.ohio-state.edu
Columbus, OH 43210                        Fax/Phone: (614) 292-4890

jstewart@ncs.dnd.ca (John Stewart) (01/03/91)

In article <POLLACK.91Jan2193344@dendrite.cis.ohio-state.edu> pollack@cis.ohio-state.edu writes:
>I recently came across a journal called HOME SHOP MACHINIST which
>makes it appear as if there is a thriving American subculture with
>precision metalworking equipment at home. There seem to be only a few
>editor/contributors (who also advertise their own vanity press books),
>and all of the articles were serialized. But there were quite a few
>large advertisements, which means either they are very cheap to run,
>or someone is responding to them.

Where to start? Years ago, the magazine "Live Steam" used to contain
machining articles as well as model construction serials. Somewhere
down the line, people started complaining that there was too much
(if they were live steamers) machine shop construction articles,
and of course, the machine shop constructors did not like the model
building serials. So, sometime around 1980, Live Steam stopped running
machining articles, and home shop machinist was born. Unfortunately,
both (IMHO) would have been better under the same cover.

Many people have metalworking equipment. Most are older, but some
in our local club (like myself) are 30's or younger.

I used to get "Live Steam" from 1971 til 1978, now I subscribe to
the British publication, "Model Engineer" (M.E.). M.E. still has a 
wide range of articles. (and it is published twice per month!)

>
>The discussion in this tiny group so far seems to be about
>blacksmithing.  Has anyone moved up the technology ladder from
>smithing to machining?  Anybody playing with PC-driven Hobby CNC
>machines, or import combination mill/lathes?  

M.E. had an article about converting a Myford ML-10 to CNC a while
back. Most people seem to either 1) be afraid of computers, or
2) enjoy the mechanical aspects of machining. Me, I'd hate the
thought of having a computer do what I find is really fun. Also,
when model locomotive building, there are many parts that would
be complex to program, but are fairly trivial to machine.

"Import combination mill/lathes?" I assume that you mean buying
equipment. New metalworking equipment of good accuracy is pricey
stuff. For a fully equipped Emco Super-11, one would be looking
at around $20,000. I'd love new equipment, but for probably
$2,000 I have a fairly good workshop consisting of a 9" lathe,
7" shaper, drill press, bench vice, drills, taps, reamers, etc.

What are your interests?

John Stewart
jstewart@ncs.dnd.ca

jstewart@ncs.dnd.ca (John Stewart) (01/04/91)

In article <1991Jan3.215435.27905@src.honeywell.com> vestal@SRC.Honeywell.COM (Steve Vestal) writes:
>Anyone remember the old Unimats?  If you were willing to work small (something
>like 3" swing, 6" between centers) it was a fairly amusing gadget for $149.
>Like Barbie dolls, I suspect the profits were in the attachments.  I still
>have mine in the basement.

I sold mine for $400.00 (cdn) and bought an old - but in good shape - 9"
metal lathe for $300.00. I wish that I had kept it, as it was good for
turning (and milling) really small stuff. Yes, the attachments were (and
still are) very expensive.

I have seen a small metal lathe by "taig" (?) as advertised in the
classifieds of Popualr Science, and for the money, it seems like a good
machine.

>The same company used to make something called a Maximat, essentially a larger
>version for $2K or so (not counting attachments, of course).  Am I to
>understand that nothing of this sort exists any more?  Does anyone know of any
>better sources for relatively inexpensive machine tools than bankruptcy
>auction notices in the classifieds?

Yes, they (emco-maier) still exist. You are looking at $3 or $4,000 for
an 8" swing lathe with vertical head, to somewhere over $10,000$ for the
11" top of the line model. Yikes.

Some places sell far-east machine tools. Some of these are very good,
others are not so good (from what I have heard) There are some discount
places, again, look in the back pf popular science.

If you are willing to wait, classifieds in the local paper (including
placing your own) are a pretty good bet, especially if you know what
you are doing. :-|

Also, as I mentioned to another reader, local schools and colleges
have evening classes. I have just signed up for a new, local one,
and it works out to be 25 hours for $50.00 cdn. For doing things that
are out of the range of my equipment, it's a good bet. One word of
caution on this approach, though, I have found that in years past,
coming home a well equipped from night school to my home shop was depressing!

John Stewart
jstewart@ncs.dnd.ca

jones@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) (01/05/91)

From article <POLLACK.91Jan2193344@dendrite.cis.ohio-state.edu>, by pollack@dendrite.cis.ohio-state.edu (Jordan B Pollack):
>
>                 Has anyone moved up the technology ladder from
> smithing to machining?

That's the only reason I follow this group.  I own no machine tools more
complex than a drill, but I'm interested in inexpensive ways of doing
relatively precise machining.  The most complex job I've done with my
drill is to use it to drill a 1/8 inch hole the length of a 6 inch rod.
The fairly well-known trick is to clamp the drill in a vise and chuck
the rod in the drill.  I had to drill from both ends of the rod, and the
two holes met quite nicely at the midpoint.  Keeping the tool fixed and
rotating the workpiece serves to keep the borehole centered on the axis
of rotation.
				Doug Jones
				jones@herky.cs.uiowa.edu