Non-CNC Machinist Courses... for FUN!

wildo

wildo

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Help me out here. I would love to find some kind of manual machining workshop- maybe a weekend course, or perhaps a night time once a week course. I live in Indianapolis and am shocked to spend an hour on google looking for something like this and coming up entirely empty!! Even my community colleges only seem to offer CNC classes. I've taught myself how to machine by YEARS of binge watching youtube videos by the greats. But I really feel like I could learn a lot from some in-person instruction. As with most hands on skills, there are small nuances that make massive differences in results. Am I searching for the wrong thing?? Have these kinds of classes gone the way of the buffalo?? Surely there are weekend workshops out there somewhere, right??
 
They are out there. Know there’s a person in Doniphan Missouri who advertises on Craigslist offering classes. Vincennes isn’t an easy drive, but I do think they have SOME manual machining courses as well at V.U. You could probably advertise a help wanted ad on Craigslist and find someone who’d be interested to teach you some things for a fee.
 
Maybe try placing an ad on Craigslist or facebook etc looking for a retired machinist for some one on one lessons. There has To be a retiree in your area looking to supplement their income whom posses the skills you wish to learn that would enjoy teaching someone the skills and knowledge they've honed over the years. Hell you may get real lucky and find a new friend who would enjoy doing as much for the companionship aspect alone but either way dont forget to at least look into that "Well" cause its most certainly not dried up!
 
I took my very basic courses at a local maker-space. They had lathe, vertical mill, metal cutting and HSS bit grinding.
 
I contacted my local makerspace today. They don't currently offer any machining classes (though they do have a machining area). They have offered classes in the past but they were VERY basic. To be fair, I'm not even sure what I want to learn. I feel quite competent in my own shop. I've produced cool stuff that requires hitting .000x" precision. I've made assemblies with lots of parts, etc, etc. It just seems like there's a wealth of knowledge out there from doing something *in person* that I could pick up on. Maybe I have a bad habit that I don't know about, you know? I guess I kind of want a semi-advanced machine shop class.
 
Best way to learn is " just do it " . ;)
 
Something like this: http://www.trinidadstate.edu/gunsmithing/nra_courses.html? Some are very gunsmithing focused, others are general machining.

No affiliation, other than being an NRA member and still considering one of the summer classes if I could figure out my schedule....

I also took a class at a local makerspace. Very basic, more of an intro to the machines and how not to hurt yourself.
 
Are there no HM members somewhere close to you? I should think one of them would be willing to mentor, or at least show you how he does stuff.
 
mikey said:
Are there no HM members somewhere close to you? I should think one of them would be willing to mentor, or at least show you how he does stuff.
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Nobody has mentioned being in Indy anyway. So I'm not really sure.

...The gunsmithing classes look interesting, that would certainly be one way to focus on machining. I'll have to look for local classes in that regard.
 
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