1st NUT JOB

R

riversidedan

H-M Supporter - Silver Member
H-M Supporter - Silver Member
Joined
Feb 17, 2021
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466
so I got a bar of that 1/2 in. hex mild steel that was recommended and it worked out great. below is a pic of my 1st M6 x1 "Not job, now Im really hooked!! :D
 

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Machine work is one of those hobbies that is like a fish hook. Once it sets in, it's extremely hard to get out. That ought to be an interesting nut to use, what with a metric screw and imperial wrench.
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dont have to tell me about being hooked, been in the model hobby 50yrs and Im not hooked LOL actually I been doing it so long got burned out so the machine hobby is taking its place atleast for now
 
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Norseman C.B. said:
Mine was my first wife, then my second, third is manageable.............................. :laughing:
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Ive had one next door for the past 7 yrs....perfect candidate for a lobotomy .......thiers some sick wackos out thier closer than you think!
 
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riversidedan said:
dont have to tell me about being hooked, been in the model hobby 50yrs and Im not hooked LOL actually I been doing it so long got burned out so the machine hobby is taking its place atleast for now
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Been a railroader all my life. Made the transition from toys to models so long ago I can't remember. Some time in the '50s?. . . It actually was the impetus for studying "fabricating" early on. The two are so interelated it's hard to differentiate the two. I started with Pop's electric drill chucked up in a vise as a lathe and it went down hill from there. Been NMRA life since 1971, and doing serious machine work (with my own lathe, a UniMat DB200) for about the same time. I still do models, and machining, and electronics, and carpentry, and electricity, and whatever strikes my fancy. They are all hobbys, and I made a good living knowing them.

I would venture to guess that as soon as you find something to make with metal that is usable on your models that the two will become inseperable. Models of anything mechanical (trains, airplanes, tractors, cars, stationary engines) is a drop in for machine work as a progression. I assume you have links into the mechanical hobbys such as NAMES. (That one is easiest to remember. . .) Don't let go of the hobby, just progress with the machining until it becomes another part of model building.

The most impressive model I've ever encountered was a 1/8(?) scale B-17 years ago. About 18 ft wingspan assembled. Even the engines were hand built. It was a beast, then the builder fired up what I (mistakenly) thought were chain saw engines and it went beyond comprehension. I never saw it fly, but I'm sure it was RC controlled. A friend had taken me to a WW2 airfield in N Florida for an RC meet. I can only wish I was that good. I couldn't even be an apprentice to that guy.

Been in a wheelchair the last couple of years, from one too many strokes. Much of my modeling is now done on paper, doing "prints" of stuff I have done and will someday do when I can walk again. If I can't do it at my desk, it gets drawn up and put on hold for a while. But it still gets done. Hobbys are like that, and I still say your's has the hook well set.

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hopefully you can do some machine work sitting at a bench?? as for me now that I have the basic skills and looking for "useful projects, but building with balsa all these yrs am having a hard time dreaming anything up, which Im sure thier are many! just dont have the "metal construction " frame of mind right now, however making small parts are good for the brain! am considering some kind of basic trade school activitys for more knowledge and ideas but would love to to find someone around here that does machine work to pick up ideas from......
 
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Perhaps you can find a local club. I know of three in Oregon (Mid Valley Model Engineers, Corvallis; Emerald Valley Model Engineers, Eugene, and <somebody>, Portland). Unfortunately, they're all a mighty long drive for you. But I'd be willing to bet that there's at least something up in your area ... gotta be lots of former Boeing folks around. You might want to check with Boeing, get in touch with their retiree's club. Or else, visit Grizzly in Bellingham. They might have a bulletin board, or know of a local club or two.
 
Reading the reference to Balsa wood implies airplanes to me. Taking that, how about retractable landing gear under RC control. You have been in the hobby a long time, surely you have built some serious models. I am not into airplanes, my interest is in steam engines, so I can't be more specific. But you may have developed blinders from so long at one hobby.

Most model work involves structural work of some sort, with machine work being an adjunct to, not the main point behind, those models. I would suggest, as others have, that you learn to make tools. Something small that can be used with models. As you progress, insight will arise into more complex tools, which will then progress into some mechanical contraption that strikes your fancy. Machine work is more complex than airplanes, and has a longer learning curve. So be prepared to learn as you go, with airplanes in the back of your mind as you do. Understanding of metalurgy will come as part of that learning. Metalurgy is a part of machine work, a nail will work as a punch, one time. But for repeated use as a punch, you need good "crucible steel". The difference, well that's metalurgy.

My background is with electricity. Old school magnetic control, none of this modern stuff. Much of my background in machine work came from my finagling repairs for "unrepairable, replace" parts. Finding such a field to pursue will generate a lot of tooling for such work. As a starting point, how about punches and a couple of good hammers. Learning machines in general is related to, but distinct from, airplanes. It has been mentioned several times in other posts here, the Henry Ford Trade School book has a good introduction to hand tools. Available on eBay and Amazon both, it is a primitive but direct instruction for hand tools. Well worth the cost. Something in that book may strike your fancy to make, using the tools introduced and requiring basic machine work to complete.

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Ive seen some guys on youtube turn out some neat stuff that looked complex but itll give a guy incentive for sure////////Im not much of a reader rather hands on, that way some of us rememeber it better. Last year got interested with re-winding brushless motors, that was real interesting not to mention a challange just like this machine stuff, Whats crazy is the chinese turn those motors out by the 100s and cheap too! so thiers really no market for them unless someone wants a custom wind for a certain KV and thats rare, but winding one is still fun.... Ha, I still have my winding gear but havent touched it in a long time...what caught my eye was "brushless motors for these lathes! thier so damn cheap anymore all ya need is a motor and speed control and your set>>>>>>>>>>AMAZING how they can jackup the price for mentioning "Brushless, when thier so simple and cheap not too mention "Very functional and efficient.............anyone done a conversion yet???
 
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