Things that will not turn you into a machinist

[DMS]

Every once in a while somebody starts a post like this, which generates a lot of controversy, but also a lot of conversation, which I like. The thing I really like about the OPs original statement is that it is a reminder to us all that while there are a lot of fancy gadgets out there that can make our lives "easier", they don't make or break you, and most projects can be completed without them. We may each have our opinions about items that shouldn't belong on that list, and it's good to hear why people think that they think.

I've always been interested in old methods, and my girlfriend has gotten me several reprints of turn of the century machining books. Very interesting stuff. Lots of conversations about forging lathe tools out of carbon steel, not high speed steel, or carbide. People mention not being able to cut hardened steel without carbide tools, but traditional watchmakers do it all the time when cutting pivots, using a hand held graver. Our predecessors were pretty sharp, and they did amazing work with tools that most of us would think of as primitive today; but they were still machinists

 

[george wilson]

I have spent many hours reading those old books,too,and have gleaned many good,useful things from them. If you read my tips,many are from old ways of getting by with simple means that I either read,or got from the old timers I used to hang out with,learning what I could from them.

 

[iron man]

I started in a machine shop when I was 16 I was taught by guys in there 60's and 70's a couple from Germany they start you off by giving you a hacksaw and one blade and you where to cut through a 4" steel block just so you would apperciate what machines can do for you.. Ray

 

[OrangeAlpine]

Micrometers: Don't you measure your work? Most of the time I use dial calipers,but when measurements get critical,use a mike.

Yes, I do. But lets face it, most work is comparative. It makes no never mind if the mating parts miss the mark by 5 thou, just that they mate properly. If the dimension must be true or very accurate, I get out the mics. Does not happen very often. I grew up with mics, but find they are a major source of error, I misread them more frequently than calipers. I also have found the dial calipers are superior to digital, they provide a visual indicator of the work left to do. Digitals just give me numbers, but no visual reference and being somewhat dyslexic, do not always register quite right. Also, being vertically challanged, I find the digital calipers difficult to see. Screen blacks out if not viewed directly.

So you see, I do pay attention to what I am doing and measure the snot out of things. I also own some of the stuff on my list.

Bill

 

[Ulma Doctor]

i'm the worst kind of tool junkie, i buy in preparation of disaster. so, take my comments with a grain of salt.

tools do not make the machinist, but a machinist without tools is useless.
i say the more tools the better, you never know what kind of work you may run into.
if you already have it, it doesn't make you a better machinist, unarguably it gets the job done now.
most times there are many ways to accomplish the same thing, with or without specialized tooling.
i have on many occasion sacrificed a tool to make another tool to GET ER' DONE, which is the bottom line always....
The desire to produce higher quality work is most likely responsible for most tool purchases, second only to necessity, in my opinion.
i worked as a diesel mechanic for a small drayage company for a little while as a youngster, i took great pride in having tools in my box that the boss would ask me to use, because it made a difficult job easier,or possible in the first place. Every place that wagon train of tools has rested has produced thousands of dollars in revenue for the company i was employed and rolled thousands of jobs out the door.

i heard a saying one time i found amusing..
We have worked so long, with so little. We are now qualified to do anything with nothing!
(unknown origin)

arguments/ debates are appreciated an welcomed..
mike)

 

[samthedog]

My time is in very short supply. If I can buy something that will save me time in the short or medium term, I will be smashing the piggy bank. I want to be machining, not grinding HSS.

People assume that this equipment is expensive, but I would argue if you are patient, you can get good deals. I bought alot of the equipment mentioned used, or it came with my used machines. I bought my machines cheap since they needed repairs or a lot of servicing. This meant I had a little extra left over. Does this gear make me a better machinist? Probably not even a little. It does make the work more enjoyable and also helps me get through it faster. If every project turned into a marathon... I would quit machining and take up marathons instead.

This purist thinking causes division more than it brings people together. The goal is machining. How it gets done or what gear gets used is a talking point, not the focus and rarely the goal.

Paul.

 

[george wilson]

The purist discussions are MUCH worse among woodworkers. Threads on sharpening cabn go on for 15 pages,no kidding. And,get contentious,too.

 

[clevinski]

All the tools in the world will not make a Machinist, it's what he does with the few tools he has. ------ "Billy G"

And I think THAT was exactly the point of the original post... not that you shouldn't buy the listed items, but that buying them did not make you a better machinist.

 

[Kevin45]

I once heard about a Mercedes/BMW mechanic in town railing about using vise-grips. It went something to the tune of "Grip what you are attempting to fix with one, then round off the corners, and then destroy it so that when I get it to fix, it'll take me twice the time and effort!" Consider that he truly was old school, and in the school that he learned his trade they made their own hand tools (starting with a file), and only after two years of fabricating and metal tempering on this level did they let them anywhere close to a lathe or mill. I guess from his perspective he had a valid point. I personally like to buy my hand tools. That's not to say that I would absolutely love to possess the expertise and appreciation of the craft that comes with that type of experience. I just doubt that they teach that way anymore, or that I would have the patience to learn the craft that way. All of this is given as an example that in the not too distant past, machinists didn't have all of the "stuff" that we have and if they did they made it themselves. Ohh how times change.

That's basically what I would tell the assemblers on the floor of the shop when they would break a screw or tap off in a part. By the time I got it, everything was so chewed up that you couldn't find center of anything. I told them that when it breaks, just bring it to me and it will take me a few minutes instead of an hour or so.

 

[george wilson]

As toolmaker for Williamsburg,I made big batches of planes and saws. It was incredible how screwed up the teeth on my saws could get when some dumbass tried sharpening them. When the saw finally would come back to the shop,I often had to just cut the teeth off and re tooth the saw. Soon,I had the director put out an edict that all saws HAD to be returned to us for sharpening,and further,NOT sent to some jack leg hardware store to be sharpened.

Below: a 16 foot bench full old saws we made,all 18th.C. types. The other picture is a closer view of 2 saws I made to keep. Their handles are curly maple rather than the usual beech wood. I'm on your left. Jon,my journeyman is on the right.

Click on the pictures to enlarge them. That's my wife in the pictures over the lathe. She's younger than I am.