Good Morning, New Member here. Not really new to the metalworking hobby. I got into it as a way to try and repair some old air rifles and maybe try to earn a bit of side cash making parts. This allows me to justify to my Wife the cost of my hobby.
Starting out with a small manual Sherline lathe and milling machine. Graduated to to a Myford ML7 lathe for a while. (I regret selling the Myford) Now I have a 13 inch South Bend lathe that needs a bit of work. An Atlas horizontal mill. And a South Bend 7 inch shaper. I have been fortunate to adopt these machines for a while.
The 13 inch South Bend lathe is a bit of overkill but it was one of those buy it now situations. I made the mistake of selling the Myford to make room for the South Bend. Not something I would do again. The Myford was a beautiful lathe but it had size limitations. I should have made room or dismantled it and carried it to the basement workshop. I don’t have a heated garage so I’m not as motivated to work in the winter. I want to open up the headstock of the South Bend and replace the oiling felts.
The Atlas mill was a good purchase. I thought at the time I over payed for it. It came with almost every factory accessory except for a 1inch arbour. Now that I see the cost of the vintage stuff going through the roof I’m glad I didn’t haggle on the price.
The South Bend 7 inch Shaper is a gem. I traded it for a Drummond hand shaper. It works. It has a few minor issues. The main thing is that it has its original vice. I understand that this is important with the smaller bench top mills and shapers. I am still learning how to run it safely. It’s wonderful to watch while it does it’s thing. It puts a whole new angle on how parts can be made. And it’s forgiving because it’s slow.
I guess I am a bit of a tool hog. Always on the hunt for tooling. I try to upgrade my machines when I can. I like the hunt. I’m looking down the road in about 10 years or so when I officially retire. This way I should have most of my big purchases taken care of.
I’d like to focus my machining skills on some dedicated projects or machines. I can make parts and pieces for an existing machine if called upon but I’d like to see if I can start making something from scratch. Hopefully I’ve come to the right place. Robert
Starting out with a small manual Sherline lathe and milling machine. Graduated to to a Myford ML7 lathe for a while. (I regret selling the Myford) Now I have a 13 inch South Bend lathe that needs a bit of work. An Atlas horizontal mill. And a South Bend 7 inch shaper. I have been fortunate to adopt these machines for a while.
The 13 inch South Bend lathe is a bit of overkill but it was one of those buy it now situations. I made the mistake of selling the Myford to make room for the South Bend. Not something I would do again. The Myford was a beautiful lathe but it had size limitations. I should have made room or dismantled it and carried it to the basement workshop. I don’t have a heated garage so I’m not as motivated to work in the winter. I want to open up the headstock of the South Bend and replace the oiling felts.
The Atlas mill was a good purchase. I thought at the time I over payed for it. It came with almost every factory accessory except for a 1inch arbour. Now that I see the cost of the vintage stuff going through the roof I’m glad I didn’t haggle on the price.
The South Bend 7 inch Shaper is a gem. I traded it for a Drummond hand shaper. It works. It has a few minor issues. The main thing is that it has its original vice. I understand that this is important with the smaller bench top mills and shapers. I am still learning how to run it safely. It’s wonderful to watch while it does it’s thing. It puts a whole new angle on how parts can be made. And it’s forgiving because it’s slow.
I guess I am a bit of a tool hog. Always on the hunt for tooling. I try to upgrade my machines when I can. I like the hunt. I’m looking down the road in about 10 years or so when I officially retire. This way I should have most of my big purchases taken care of.
I’d like to focus my machining skills on some dedicated projects or machines. I can make parts and pieces for an existing machine if called upon but I’d like to see if I can start making something from scratch. Hopefully I’ve come to the right place. Robert
