04-17-2012, 03:28 PM
I just like working with my hands, plain and simple. I spend a good part of my adult life working as a motorcycle mechniac at a dealership. My hero at that shop was a grouchy old bike type, he could fix anything. Picture an old biker, and you'll have a good picture. Long gray beard, pony tail, a Harley that isn't shiny or pretty, just covered with dust and bug guts.
If he wasn't such a grumpy old recluse, I'd love to take pictures of his home shop. The stuff he builds is amazing.
Anyhow, this guy was who I learned a lot from. If there was something no one else could fix, or parts weren't made, this cat would wander over to the worn out South Bend 9" lathe and 10 minutes later, everything was good to go. I had run a lathe a bit in high school shop class, but after seeing what a skilled operator could do, I knew I wanted a lathe in my garage.
Right after high school, I spent some time at a large tool and die company as an apprentice, but I never got to use the lathe or mill. I was a surface grinder on a Parker Majestis, and ran a huge wet grinder. I'd some day like to own a grinder, I enjoyed that job.
I'm getting off track. One day, when I was no longer a mechanic, I was a motorcycle salesman, a guy walked into my office and told me he had a metal lathe in his shop he never used, knew nothing about and wanted rid of. So I went to look at it. It was a decent old Atlas 12x36. It was complete, all parts were there, and some tooling. I of course was interested. I asked how much. He thought for a second and said, I dunno, is $100 a fair price... Um yeah, here's your money.
So I had my lathe and I was off and running. I tore it down, replaced all the brearings, cleaned it up and painted it. Fast forward 10 or so years and I have a deposit on a mill to be picked up this weekend (work permitting).
So back to the original question. Why do I have a lathe? Several reasons, actually. I love my tools. Next to my house, my tools are about my biggest investment. I get huge satisfaction from having a problem, and walking into my garage and knowing I have just the tool to fix it. I love that. If I'm building a chopper, bobber or cafe racer and I'm fitting a wheel toa bike that was never designed to accept that wheel, I love that I can just turn out a wheel spacer.
Here's the other thing: I love taking these old tools and tearing them down, cleaning, inspecting, replacing and rebuilding. The money I spent for my 40's era lathe was worth every penny, even if I never turned it on. It's sort of my version of model building. I don't care if it's a car, motorcycle or machine, I like fixing and building. Whe I finally get my mill home, half the fun will be setting it up. Getting it tweaked and adjusted. Getting it clean, then getting it making precise cuts. Then, after I've had some fun with it, I'll probably tear it apart, clean it good, replace anything needing replaced, then paint and assemble. And if I never use it, I'll sell it and use the money to buy some other old heap. And start all over again. That heap may be another mill. Or another old bike, I've even done a few old boats. The nice thing about restoring the old machine tools is this, having them help me with restoring the other stuff. Having a 1967 Johnson boat didn't help me restore my lathe. But having the lather helped when I restored the boat!
But now I'm just rambling. Sorry. ;-)
If he wasn't such a grumpy old recluse, I'd love to take pictures of his home shop. The stuff he builds is amazing.
Anyhow, this guy was who I learned a lot from. If there was something no one else could fix, or parts weren't made, this cat would wander over to the worn out South Bend 9" lathe and 10 minutes later, everything was good to go. I had run a lathe a bit in high school shop class, but after seeing what a skilled operator could do, I knew I wanted a lathe in my garage.
Right after high school, I spent some time at a large tool and die company as an apprentice, but I never got to use the lathe or mill. I was a surface grinder on a Parker Majestis, and ran a huge wet grinder. I'd some day like to own a grinder, I enjoyed that job.
I'm getting off track. One day, when I was no longer a mechanic, I was a motorcycle salesman, a guy walked into my office and told me he had a metal lathe in his shop he never used, knew nothing about and wanted rid of. So I went to look at it. It was a decent old Atlas 12x36. It was complete, all parts were there, and some tooling. I of course was interested. I asked how much. He thought for a second and said, I dunno, is $100 a fair price... Um yeah, here's your money.
So I had my lathe and I was off and running. I tore it down, replaced all the brearings, cleaned it up and painted it. Fast forward 10 or so years and I have a deposit on a mill to be picked up this weekend (work permitting).
So back to the original question. Why do I have a lathe? Several reasons, actually. I love my tools. Next to my house, my tools are about my biggest investment. I get huge satisfaction from having a problem, and walking into my garage and knowing I have just the tool to fix it. I love that. If I'm building a chopper, bobber or cafe racer and I'm fitting a wheel toa bike that was never designed to accept that wheel, I love that I can just turn out a wheel spacer.
Here's the other thing: I love taking these old tools and tearing them down, cleaning, inspecting, replacing and rebuilding. The money I spent for my 40's era lathe was worth every penny, even if I never turned it on. It's sort of my version of model building. I don't care if it's a car, motorcycle or machine, I like fixing and building. Whe I finally get my mill home, half the fun will be setting it up. Getting it tweaked and adjusted. Getting it clean, then getting it making precise cuts. Then, after I've had some fun with it, I'll probably tear it apart, clean it good, replace anything needing replaced, then paint and assemble. And if I never use it, I'll sell it and use the money to buy some other old heap. And start all over again. That heap may be another mill. Or another old bike, I've even done a few old boats. The nice thing about restoring the old machine tools is this, having them help me with restoring the other stuff. Having a 1967 Johnson boat didn't help me restore my lathe. But having the lather helped when I restored the boat!
But now I'm just rambling. Sorry. ;-)