GaryE
Active Member
Hello Gang.
I stumbled across this forum while doing some lathe research and thought that it would be good to join. I'm glad to see that there's a dedicated Canadian forum for all things metal.
My interests lie in repairing anything that's broken, restoring old things back to running condition, and knife making. I'm surprised I didn't see this site sooner given my normal reading topics on the web.
I'm Gary, 55 yrs. old, and I live in the eastern suburbs of Toronto. My early schooling and career was all focused in technical areas. Electronics, electrical, hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, welding, etc. Troubleshooting and repairing various types of equipment and devices. For the past 22 years, I've owned a successful financial planning business, and I will be retiring next year. Since helping my dad change the oil on his car at the age of 5 or 6, I've been working on mechanical things pretty much my whole life.
At this point in time, my two car garage is my workshop, so space is limited. My wife and I have already purchased our retirement home further east of Toronto, and I have built my 40x60 dream shop. The shell is up, but I still have lots of finishing details to do. Floor sealing, painting, plumbing, electrical, & lighting. Once I get the floor sealed this summer, I'm in a position to jump on the right opportunity for some of the larger shop tools. I already have many of the small tools, (as much as can be jammed into a 2 car garage), so I'm now starting to get serious about some of the larger purchases.
My hobbies are basically focused around fixing or repairing old mechanical things. I have three old family Gravely walk behind tractors. The youngest one from 1968 has been used regularly for the past 12 years by me with the bush hog attachment, but the engine is currently in pieces in the garage for it's first bottom end rebuild since 1968. Pretty impressive considering it ran for over 50 years without a cylinder rebore. The other two Gravelies are from the 50's and are slated for full restorations. I ride a modern day motorcycle (but it looks old ) , but have 4 old ones from the 70s all awaiting restorations. In my retirement future, I also see an antique pick up truck (M37 or a Model A), one or two hit and miss engines, and maybe an antique tractor. I don't have one specific thing that I focus on. I like variety just as long as it's old and mechanical in nature. Knife making is something that I've become interested in in recent years. I have refurbished some old knives, but I'm looking forward to getting more involved in making them from scratch. I have accumulated most of the small tools required, but still have yet to jump in with the larger knife making tools. I have purchased plans for a 2x72" belt grinder that will be my first serious tool construction project. I have a small anvil and all the parts to build a small forge, but just like the previous new member to the forum mentioned, I don't think that my hands and arms will be able to stand the pounding, and I don't think I'll be a serious enough forrger to justify a power hammer. I think I'll be primarily focused on the stock removal process.
It's for the restoration projects I have in mind (and to just have some fun) that I have started looking around a little more seriously for a lathe and a mill. For those of you that are into restoring 50 -100 year old machinery, you know that some of the parts are made of unobtanium. The only way to get them running again is to make a new part, and the only way to do that cost effectively is to do it yourself. Yes, I know you can have A LOT of parts made for the price of a lathe and a mill, but where's the fun in that? I'm not interested in a large mill or late to do large/specialised machining jobs. I'd just like to be able to make smaller parts that tend to go missing if somethings has been sitting around for decades.
I'll spend a bunch of time reading through all the posts here so that I can ask some semi-intelligent questions. Unless I get schooled otherwise, I think I'm looking for a relatively small lathe ( 9-12"? ) and small mill. I'd like them to be DRO capable, and accurate enough to make parts for 50+ year old machines. If I can find an older mill or lathe that isn't clapped out, then I'm open to that. If the newer/cheaper Chinese machines are accurate enough for what I'm trying to achieve, then I'm OK with that solution too.
Well, that's it for me for now. I'm looking forward to the process of researching and tracking down a mill and lathe, and at some point, a heat treatment oven too. Any help from the forum members will always be appreciated. Maybe some day I'll have the knowledge and experience to help others in these areas, but I have a feeling that for now, I'll be absorbing more information than I'll be providing.
Take care, stay safe, and all the best in to everyone in the new year.
Cheers.
Gary
I stumbled across this forum while doing some lathe research and thought that it would be good to join. I'm glad to see that there's a dedicated Canadian forum for all things metal.
My interests lie in repairing anything that's broken, restoring old things back to running condition, and knife making. I'm surprised I didn't see this site sooner given my normal reading topics on the web.I'm Gary, 55 yrs. old, and I live in the eastern suburbs of Toronto. My early schooling and career was all focused in technical areas. Electronics, electrical, hydraulics, pneumatics, mechanics, welding, etc. Troubleshooting and repairing various types of equipment and devices. For the past 22 years, I've owned a successful financial planning business, and I will be retiring next year. Since helping my dad change the oil on his car at the age of 5 or 6, I've been working on mechanical things pretty much my whole life.
At this point in time, my two car garage is my workshop, so space is limited. My wife and I have already purchased our retirement home further east of Toronto, and I have built my 40x60 dream shop. The shell is up, but I still have lots of finishing details to do. Floor sealing, painting, plumbing, electrical, & lighting. Once I get the floor sealed this summer, I'm in a position to jump on the right opportunity for some of the larger shop tools. I already have many of the small tools, (as much as can be jammed into a 2 car garage), so I'm now starting to get serious about some of the larger purchases.
My hobbies are basically focused around fixing or repairing old mechanical things. I have three old family Gravely walk behind tractors. The youngest one from 1968 has been used regularly for the past 12 years by me with the bush hog attachment, but the engine is currently in pieces in the garage for it's first bottom end rebuild since 1968. Pretty impressive considering it ran for over 50 years without a cylinder rebore. The other two Gravelies are from the 50's and are slated for full restorations. I ride a modern day motorcycle (but it looks old
) , but have 4 old ones from the 70s all awaiting restorations. In my retirement future, I also see an antique pick up truck (M37 or a Model A), one or two hit and miss engines, and maybe an antique tractor. I don't have one specific thing that I focus on. I like variety just as long as it's old and mechanical in nature. Knife making is something that I've become interested in in recent years. I have refurbished some old knives, but I'm looking forward to getting more involved in making them from scratch. I have accumulated most of the small tools required, but still have yet to jump in with the larger knife making tools. I have purchased plans for a 2x72" belt grinder that will be my first serious tool construction project. I have a small anvil and all the parts to build a small forge, but just like the previous new member to the forum mentioned, I don't think that my hands and arms will be able to stand the pounding, and I don't think I'll be a serious enough forrger to justify a power hammer. I think I'll be primarily focused on the stock removal process.It's for the restoration projects I have in mind (and to just have some fun) that I have started looking around a little more seriously for a lathe and a mill. For those of you that are into restoring 50 -100 year old machinery, you know that some of the parts are made of unobtanium. The only way to get them running again is to make a new part, and the only way to do that cost effectively is to do it yourself. Yes, I know you can have A LOT of parts made for the price of a lathe and a mill, but where's the fun in that?
I'm not interested in a large mill or late to do large/specialised machining jobs. I'd just like to be able to make smaller parts that tend to go missing if somethings has been sitting around for decades.I'll spend a bunch of time reading through all the posts here so that I can ask some semi-intelligent questions. Unless I get schooled otherwise, I think I'm looking for a relatively small lathe ( 9-12"? ) and small mill. I'd like them to be DRO capable, and accurate enough to make parts for 50+ year old machines. If I can find an older mill or lathe that isn't clapped out, then I'm open to that. If the newer/cheaper Chinese machines are accurate enough for what I'm trying to achieve, then I'm OK with that solution too.
Well, that's it for me for now. I'm looking forward to the process of researching and tracking down a mill and lathe, and at some point, a heat treatment oven too. Any help from the forum members will always be appreciated. Maybe some day I'll have the knowledge and experience to help others in these areas, but I have a feeling that for now, I'll be absorbing more information than I'll be providing.
Take care, stay safe, and all the best in to everyone in the new year.
Cheers.
Gary
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