Well guys,
I guess the lathe i find the pleasantest machine tool to work, On two counts The first being The lathe is "The king of machine tools" & the second being the lathe is the machine tool i first had the pleasure to operate when i was a youngster coupled to those aforementioned facts, watching the cuttings spiralling off & the workpiece developing into the shape or configuration i desire, Is pure therapy I sure guess the Lord has blest me with four nice lathe from a nice little Boley & Leinen up to a big toolroom 8" centre height Holbrook
after that for an enjoyable machining experience I would say operating a 6" stroke slotting machine i own also. (to our brothers over the pond from here a vertical shaper) This also along with my shaping machines i find peaceful, the ram of the shapers & big slot rythmically peeling of the cuttings is pure relaxation The same goes for a little hand operated double column planing machine seeing the workpiece developing a really nice silvery ,accurate finish, & knowing that such a workpiece is being manufactured by hand power, puts me in unison with the engineering brethren of two hundred years ago, the ancient old pioneers in the great works of Maudsley Sons &
Field of Lambeth in London, where the screwcutting lathe, planer , shaper, & slotting machine were born.
When it comes to milling I find it a means to an end, fascinating though it may be Except for a pretty little instrument mill i own, the bigger mill does not "float my boat" I find operating it a chore & a messy one at that Maybe because i do not like the make of mill i own ! Where i worked at one period, we had a big Milwaukie Now that was a pleasure to operate effortless production engineering
Nobody has mentioned their drilling machine , A nice thing to operate & where would we be without them, Back to the primitive stone age? & do not forget the best skill of all, being able to saw file & scrape accurately.