ever buy tools you don't know how to use?

[gerber boy]

months ago having coffee at my parents and mentioned i wanted to new drill press in passing.
couple weeks ago get a text from mom saying her friend has some sanders and a big drill press for sale. told her i bought one but who knows if the price was right maybe???
ended up getting a couple of pics and was told it will be cheap......

short story long i came home with this and a couple of big vertical sanders. i have no knowledge of machining whatsoever but the price was to good not to buy.

 

[ThePanzerFuhrer]

Best way to learn is by trying it. My machining skills are all earned through trial and error. Worst thing about machining is the tooling and measuring tools will be a multiple times more expensive than the machine itself.

 

[subybaja]

Youtube. Tons of hobbyist channels.

 

[gerber boy]

Youtube. Tons of hobbyist channels.

ive just started going through her videos. some pretty good info so far.

 

[gerber boy]

Best way to learn is by trying it. My machining skills are all earned through trial and error. Worst thing about machining is the tooling and measuring tools will be a multiple times more expensive than the machine itself.

yeah this didnt come with anything for tooling, other then 2 hold-downs and 1 bit. i have been pricing some stuff out but being in Canada its always more money and harder to find

 

[Steve300xcw]

Best way to learn is by trying it. My machining skills are all earned through trial and error.

This is so true.....Course then you start thinking you know what your doing, only to have somebody that actually knows what he is doing come into the shop. And "wtf are you tryin to do? no no no no no no" lol

 

[00nissanguy]

Bought my cnc plasma table with zero cad experience, that was a steep learning curve

 

[RustyC]

I bought a Tig welder. I'm glad I can tig now. Wish I had a machining tools though. I'm jealous.

 

[billybob_81067]

Looks pretty much spot on to my Harbor freight clone of a 6x26 knee mill... I'm sure they were sold under many different brands. Get yourself some 80% lowers and a jig and start building some AR lowers!

 

[clodhopper]

I bought a Tig welder. I'm glad I can tig now. Wish I had a machining tools though. I'm jealous.

Hunh. I bought a tig welder and I still can't tig.

 

[SomeGuyFromOlympia]

Bought my cnc plasma table with zero cad experience, that was a steep learning curve

same here
didn't kill us

 

[RunningProblem]

Other than a hammer or a drill I don’t really know how tools work. I was looking at a mini mill then asked myself ‘what would you even do with it if you have it?’ My answer is usually ‘nothing. Other than let my friends use it if they know how.’

 

[mjlogan88]

Looks like a great size mill for a home shop

Nice thing about a mill is that if nothing else it is the best drill press you've ever used. Grab some cheap tooling, watch some youtube, and blow some stuff up. Or if you prefer books the answer to just about every milling question is in the machinery's handbook.

To get started it is really all about finding zero, zero and figuring out how much material you can remove while keeping in mind cutter offsets

 

[bunk]

Backlash. Learn it, live it, love it.

I got a bead roller, still in the box. I figured it was a way for me to stop hatin tin work. Nope.

 

[bgaidan]

Hunh. I bought a tig welder and I still can't tig.

 

[gerber boy]

Looks pretty much spot on to my Harbor freight clone of a 6x26 knee mill... I'm sure they were sold under many different brands. Get yourself some 80% lowers and a jig and start building some AR lowers!

im in the land of snow and syrup, if i got caught doing that id be in jail longer then most murderers up here. i cant even get a replacement magazine shipped up here for an A bolt.

 

[gerber boy]

Looks like a great size mill for a home shop

Nice thing about a mill is that if nothing else it is the best drill press you've ever used. Grab some cheap tooling, watch some youtube, and blow some stuff up. Or if you prefer books the answer to just about every milling question is in the machinery's handbook.

To get started it is really all about finding zero, zero and figuring out how much material you can remove while keeping in mind cutter offsets

my buddy has the same mill or very similar, he said he would show me a bit.. he is a bit choked that he drove 5 hours one way and paid over 3 times what i did for mine haha

 

[posford]

You're going to want a vice, an edge finder, and a drill chuck. The cutter you have will get you by for the little bit of shaping you'll need at first. For slotted holes you'll want 3/8" or 1/2" endmills with the correct holder. Try finding the correct sized collet set that fit it, but don't sweat it or order anything drastic.

Something like this works great for positioning since you don't have a read out. stick it on a non-moving part, with the indicator on a moving part, and you know "hey, I just moved the table by .050 or .500"

https://www.amazon.com/Mighty-Mag-Westhoff-Locations-Indicator/dp/B07SQF8M9C

 

[willis_racing]

Handy Reference Book

This should help with some basic concepts and operations as well.

 

[Bebop]

ever buy tools you don't know how to use?

All the time. How are you supposed to learn ?

 

[arse_sidewards]

You're going to want a vice, an edge finder, and a drill chuck.

I'd rather have a generic stud and block hold down set than a vise but maybe that's just a reflection of the kind of work-pieces I deal with.

Either way he needs parallels to go with. Cheap Chinese is fine for a beginner.

I'd rather have an ER32 collet chuck set than collets and a drill chuck.

Something like this works great for positioning since you don't have a read out. stick it on a non-moving part, with the indicator on a moving part, and you know "hey, I just moved the table by .050 or .500"

Boring old indicator on a mag base will do the same job and will also do a lot of other jobs.

The dude is on a budget here.

 

[posford]

I'd rather have a generic stud and block hold down set than a vise but maybe that's just a reflection of the kind of work-pieces I deal with.

Either way he needs parallels to go with. Cheap Chinese is fine for a beginner.

I'd rather have an ER32 collet chuck set than collets and a drill chuck.

Boring old indicator on a mag base will do the same job and will also do a lot of other jobs.

The dude is on a budget here.

Making t nuts and straps is great beginner projects. Hard to do without a vice Often easier to just throw something in a vice than strap clamp it to the table, size permitting obviously.

Mighty mag and indicator set I linked was $44. The mag base you're thinking of is that alone, for a cheapie. IDK I use the fuck out of a might mag.

Parallels are great, but even harbor freight ones are similar price to the indicator setup I linked (tHe DuDe Is oN a BuDgEt HeRe), and aren't essential to the level of machining he's going to be starting out on.

ER32 collets? Really? Of all my wants I've had in the industry, that hasn't ever been one of them

 

[arse_sidewards]

Making t nuts and straps is great beginner projects. Hard to do without a vice Often easier to just throw something in a vice than strap clamp it to the table, size permitting obviously.

He should get a hold down set now and wait for the $50 vise to come along at his leisure rather then spending $100+ on a vise right away. The vice is a nicety. The hold downs are mandatory, IMO.

Mighty mag and indicator set I linked was $44. The mag base you're thinking of is that alone, for a cheapie. IDK I use the fuck out of a might mag.

$13. Import dial indiactors are $20 online if you don't mind metric.

Multi-Position Magnetic Base with Fine Adjustment

Amazing deals on this Multi-Position Magnetic Base at Harbor Freight. Quality tools & low prices.

www.harborfreight.com

ER32 collets? Really? Of all my wants I've had in the industry, that hasn't ever been one of them

Damn near my bit of tooling thing in the shop. Everything gets a collet chuck and one set of collets goes in everything.

I'll agree that parallels aren't strictly necessary.

 

[sdmuleman]

Usually try to know something about it, but pretty much everything I own is self taught on how to use.

That being said, the bigger tool you get the more important it is to know how to work it.

"Learned" how to run a dragline at an operating equipment show a few years back, but didn't really understand how the swing worked or what not having a swing brake meant and took out a parts engine they had sitting there when the bucket swung further than I expected. Damn lucky no one was sitting there at the time. Needless to say, it went off to a machine much further away from anything after that.

 

[Beat95yj]

I buy tons of tools for my girlfriend that she does not know how to use. I know how to use them but I’m not able. Does that count?

 

[AlxJ64]

I cut my teeth on a Clausing Cabinet mill similar to the one the OP is asking about. I built lots of neat little parts while I had it before stepping up to a Bridgeport and now I have the big Cinci no 2 that I hope to get up and running soon. I had never run a mill before buying my Clausing but after breaking a few end mills and realizing that it had its limitations I learned a lot. Trying to do too big of work on too small of a machine will teach you a lot real fast about rigidity and feeds.

Just be safe, and read as much as you can. Youtube can be a good plethora of machining guide but not all of it is exactly correct and not always the best way to do something. Tubalcain (MrPete222 on youtube) has a lot of starting machinist videos that seem like high school shop class type instruction and is a great way to learn. Its addictive to me. I want to own all the big ridiculous machines that I can, even though I'm not that great of a machinist, but its fun to pretend. I have a universal tool grinder that I have NO IDEA how to use, but I paid less than scrap price for it and its a running nice machine so I damn well will figure it out.

Ohh, and one more thing; asking questions here vs some of the machinist forums will most likely get you an actual answer vs being told to "jump off a bridge newb" that you will get from the average machinist group. They are some grouchy, have to be absolutely correct, rude ass group as a whole with a few outliers of really nice smart MFrs mixed in. Its the quiet ones that rarely speak up that usually know the right answer and will actually help you, so long as you are asking the right questions and listening to what they say.

 

[gerber boy]

I cut my teeth on a Clausing Cabinet mill similar to the one the OP is asking about. I built lots of neat little parts while I had it before stepping up to a Bridgeport and now I have the big Cinci no 2 that I hope to get up and running soon. I had never run a mill before buying my Clausing but after breaking a few end mills and realizing that it had its limitations I learned a lot. Trying to do too big of work on too small of a machine will teach you a lot real fast about rigidity and feeds.

Just be safe, and read as much as you can. Youtube can be a good plethora of machining guide but not all of it is exactly correct and not always the best way to do something. Tubalcain (MrPete222 on youtube) has a lot of starting machinist videos that seem like high school shop class type instruction and is a great way to learn. Its addictive to me. I want to own all the big ridiculous machines that I can, even though I'm not that great of a machinist, but its fun to pretend. I have a universal tool grinder that I have NO IDEA how to use, but I paid less than scrap price for it and its a running nice machine so I damn well will figure it out.

Ohh, and one more thing; asking questions here vs some of the machinist forums will most likely get you an actual answer vs being told to "jump off a bridge newb" that you will get from the average machinist group. They are some grouchy, have to be absolutely correct, rude ass group as a whole with a few outliers of really nice smart MFrs mixed in. Its the quiet ones that rarely speak up that usually know the right answer and will actually help you, so long as you are asking the right questions and listening to what they say.

ive been watching a bunch of different videos so far, definitely have a better understanding of it still no real knowledge so far. but yeah, definitely plan on using the "will 35's fit with a 4" lift" questions to this pace haha

 

[posford]

Its addictive to me. I want to own all the big ridiculous machines that I can, even though I'm not that great of a machinist, but its fun to pretend.

I can relate to that. After running an old Universal EYE-DENTICAL to this one (just in color) I want one at home in the worst way

 

[bgaidan]

I can relate to that. After running an old Universal EYE-DENTICAL to this one (just in color) I want one at home in the worst way

I've seen two very similar HBMs on FB this week for around scrap value. I have no room or one would already be on my trailer.

 

[PAToyota]

couple weeks ago get a text from mom saying her friend has some sanders and a big drill press for sale.

I'm still trying to process this statement...

My parents in general give me grief for just about anything I pick up... My mother doubly so. I can't imagine her passing along information about anything like that. Well, or having friends that were getting rid of anything like that.