Let's See Your Lathe

[EdK]

SP,

See if the seller will throw in the chart shown hanging above the lathe. That will be one of your most used tools out of all of them.

Oh, and by the way, when you're ready to upgrade from the Craftsman lathe, let us know. We are good at helping people spend their money.

Ed

[DaveH]

SP,
Nice lathe and with lots of goodies

DaveH

[TOM REED]

You have a right smart setup there it is capable of some awesome work, excellent purchase, you will find that all the tooling is worth as much as the lathe, if you later want to move up to something larger there is a great market for machines like this or you may just decide to keep it for smaller work. Enjoy the forum it's the best one on the net we have members of all experience levels and everyone likes to help. tom

[Rickabilly]

(08-20-2012, 03:05 PM)SnailPowered Wrote: I am literally starting from scratch. I know virtually nothing about machining but I think I'm basically jumping in with both feet lol. I have been interested in it but didn't realize until recently that a home shop wasn't a $100K initial investment. I actually would like to have a machine shop and be a stay at home dad after I get out of the military so this is where I will be starting!

I hope you can acheive your goals but just a word of advice, think about a specialty area of machining if you want to make any kind of living out of it,

I speak from experience when I say general machining is a cut throat game where some folks will lose money for three years out of a four year contract just to make a little in the fourth year and only do slightly better than break even, complete madness I know, but I have seen it, along with the more common case of shops going out of business working for less than break even thinking they are working their way out of debt but only serving to reduce everyone elses chargeout rates.

But if you've got a specialty that no-one else can do, then you can set your own price, the only trick is finding that specialty.

And as a hobby you will be lucky to find any other more rewarding pastime.
Regards
Rick

[SnailPowered]

My specialty idea might be a problem because I'm not sure how many people would REALLY want a supercharged or turbocharged R/C model Seriously though my plan is to make custom firearms. I will also do smaller jobs and once I'm done with the Army and I can attend school full time I plan on getting a Mechanical Engineering degree with a minor in Explosives Engineering from New Mexico Tech. I also have a couple friends that have similar interests in firearms but have saved a LOT of money and one of them has already talked about being a partner. I do the work and he buys equipment. I have a couple crazy projects that I have bought the software to theoretically test. The machine is to help me get into the actual building of my idea.

I'm also extremely interested in automotives, motorcycles and small aircraft (not an inexpensive hobby in the house, my fiancee loves horses lol) and I plan on making things for that. I'm hoping that I may be able to contract some of my engineering skills after I get my degree. My dad is currently 53 and has a plan to retire in 5 years that I think he started a year or two ago. He is talking about contracting engineering work that he can do at home and possibly getting some machines to do work at home. My fiancee just finished her Masters degree in nursing and wants one of us to be home enough that when we have children we don't need daycare or a baby sitter.

I have a feeling that I will also be machining things for aquariums which is another hobby of mine. I have a good friend in El Paso that owns an aquarium shop and I'm sure he will have plenty of ideas for things that could be turned on a lathe.

Well, there's my novel of dreams and aspirations

[Rickabilly]

Well, it seems to me that you have a few specialties there so develop on them and you'll be OK, but don't underestimate the value of a little professional training as well just to give you a head start if you want to "go pro" It is probably well worth the time and effort.

Best regards
Rick

[SnailPowered]

I have gotten to know a great guy that owns a custom firearm machine shop and has offered to help me learn if I can get stationed closer to Daytona, FL. That will be my biggest leg up I think. After that I intend on taking every machining class they offer at NMT that I can afford. I figure I have the next 4 years to play with it while receiving a steady paycheck. After that the budget will get much tighter.

[Rickabilly]

(08-21-2012, 04:42 AM)SnailPowered Wrote: I have gotten to know a great guy that owns a custom firearm machine shop and has offered to help me learn if I can get stationed closer to Daytona, FL. That will be my biggest leg up I think. After that I intend on taking every machining class they offer at NMT that I can afford. I figure I have the next 4 years to play with it while receiving a steady paycheck. After that the budget will get much tighter.

Good plan

[Mayhem]

Any chance of getting transferred to the Army's machine shop (I'm sure they have a proper name)? Why not let Uncle Sam pay you and teach you a trade. Much safer dodging blue chips than lead slugs!

[SnailPowered]

Well my current occupation in the Army is Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD aka The Bomb Squad) and I do really enjoy it. I don't even know if the Army HAS machinists anymore but if they do it is not a MOS (military occupational specialty) that is critically short like my job. I'm afraid that MOST of the Army's machining is likely contracted now which is a can of worms we won't dig into.