I'm A Retired Machinist And A...

[Treetop]

...wanna be Hobby Machinist!

I started my 4 year tool and die maker apprenticeship in 1972 and just retired this last May 31st, as a maintenance machinist. It's been a little over 3 months now and I'm going through terrible withdrawal symptoms. I had no idea how much I would miss having access to a lathe and milling machine!

I have found an old (1954) round ram J head Bridgeport and what looks like a similar vintage Carroll- Jamieson 16 x 72 lathe. They belong to my cousin, her husband passed away about 10-12 years ago and now she just wants them out of her garage! She lives about 200 miles from me, so I haven't seen them in person yet.

From the pictures, they don't look too bad at all. The lathe has a 4 jaw, two 3 jaw chucks, face plate and a what looks like a Jacobs collet chuck. It also has a steady rest. I didn't see a follower rest or a taper attachment.

The Bridgeport has a nice 6" vise, it looks like an old Bridgeport vise. Not many collets or end mills. It does have a nice Jacobs keyless drill chuck mounted on an R-8 collet.

I'm going to have several questions in the future because:

1) I have never moved large equipment. We always used professional riggers.

2) I'll need some on line tooling supply store recommendations because all we did was request tooling, within reason , and a week or so later it would be in the tool room.

I'm sure that I will have other questions and I may be able to answer some members questions. I certainly don't have all the answers but I've been "cuttin iron" for a long time.

Thanks for accepting me into the Hobby-Machinist ranks. Treetop

 

[hvontres]

Good luck getting your machining fix

As far as moving equipement, it seems a drop-deck trailer is one of the handiest ways of moving machines. They will drop down low enough to allow you to use a pallet jack to load and unload the machines. And of course a pallet jack will be useful as well.

For online places to buy tools, I use e-bay a lot, but make sure you are good at setting limits on how much you want to spend on an item. You may need to let several item pass by before you get a good deal. Craigslist might work, but I have not have had too much luck out here, other than finding my lathe

For new stuff, I like to pile up a list and wait for Enco to have one of their 20% off+free shipping deals.

 

[brav65]

Hey Treetop I am just a baby machinist, I got my first machine about a year ago. I can see what you are having withdrawal. I love working with metal and the tooling is incredible. I look forward to your sage wisdom.

 

[T Bredehoft]

Welcome, Treetop, I retired from the toolroom 15 years ago after 30 years, hung around the house feeling sorry for myself until I found this site. Since then I've bought an unused 35 year old Clausing Atlas lathe and what you would call a mini-mill (new from Taiwan). Never had so much fun, didn't realize what I missed.

 

[coolidge]

A 16x72 lathe sounds pretty heavy. I mean a new Taiwan 16x40 weighs over 3,000 lbs and you are talking old iron. I'd consider hiring a rigger and trucking company to do what they do best with the proper equipment. It won't be cheap but neither will hospital bills, a funeral, or having multi-thousand pound machines tumble out onto a roadway. I'm just saying.

 

[Karl_T]

Yep, that lathe is in Pro territory...

Folks have taken that size mill apart and moved them with an assortment of die carts, pallet jacks, dolleys, portable engine hoists, etc.

More important, what project area interests you??? That 16X72 lathe might be a poor choice if you're doing all very small parts like say model steam or IC engines.

I'm semi retired too. For myself, I settled on buying old cut up military weapons (called parts kits) and rebuilding them into functioning rifles. I got enough work to keep me busy till I'm 120. If old firearms interest you, might be a good fit. There's are hundreds of different designs and you need to refit it back to semi auto. i find it quite the challenge - keeps me thinking about how to do it all night long.

 

[Charles Spencer]

A 16x72 lathe sounds pretty heavy. I mean a new Taiwan 16x40 weighs over 3,000 lbs and you are talking old iron. I'd consider hiring a rigger and trucking company to do what they do best with the proper equipment. It won't be cheap but neither will hospital bills, a funeral, or having multi-thousand pound machines tumble out onto a roadway. I'm just saying.

I agree. If you still have contact with your old employer they may be able to suggest somebody reliable.

 

[JPigg55]

There's a listing of some resources on this forum here: http://www.hobby-machinist.com/forums/resources-for-home-shop-machinists.198/

 

[george wilson]

I have gotten a lathe larger than that pulled up onto the SMOOTH STEEL BED(VERY IMPORTANT TO BE A SMOOTH STEEL BED) of a tilt bed wrecker truck. Then,it was taken to a concrete floor garage where we wanted to keep it. The truck backed into the garage,and the lathe,still secured by the 1/4" steel cable,was lowered to the floor when the bed was fully tipped down. When the foot of the lathe contacted the floor,the truck slacked off the cable,and slowly drove out from beneath it. This left the lathe fully inside the garage. Then,it could be shifted with steel bars placed beneath the pedestals.

Of course,we were not 200 miles from home!

Lathes are very easy to tip over,and if you are not pretty familiar with moving them,you would be well advised to get professional help.

A lathe placed on a trailer will need to be securely lashed down so that it cannot fall over. If it falls over,a large amount of breakage WILL occur if it falls on its face. The carriage controls will suffer,and the levers sticking out of the quick change gearbox can be broken off.

What really aggravates me is the amount of damage that I have seen fine machines suffer from being knocked over by stupid,incompetent fork lift operators also.

 

[rafe]

I moved my 14 1/2" SB myself, with two friends and the PO helping (40 miles)...It was doable with a come-along and rollers ...depending on your access to them and access to getting them into your space at home . I am going to move a bridgeport 42" J-head soon and that is more of a challenge because it is top heavy...I may disassemble it .....If you are being given them or getting them at a low cost, You might still be way ahead of the game hire a pro to move them in .....Welcome to a great forum!