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This thread is just what I needed! I've been wondering about metalwork as a hobby. It seems like it would be a fun and useful thing to be able to make poo poo I need. So far the things that have caught my eye are casting, welding, and milling. I'm thinking of trying to get started in that order but the entire thing just seems daunting. For now I'm just reading like mad. For casting: is this worth buying and building? Small-scale seems like a fairly logical place to start and I'm a poor college student. This seems like the simplest of the things I want to try. That's not saying much. Second, welding. The main thing here seems to be expense. Seems like there's a pretty substantial minimum outlay to get a welder worth having, and it also sounds like having too little oomph causes big problems. The processes I was looking at are MIG, Oxy-acetylene, and SMAW. I obviously have to pick a process but I don't know which one. I don't really have any specific projects in mind, either. The general impression I have is that MIG seems nicer for small scale projects, and has the benefit of being cheaper. Acetylene welding seems to be not too bad for small scale either, and has the benefit of being a cutter too. Some people seem to really like SMAW, and some people seem to prefer other processes. Is this just a Chevy/Ford kinda situation or is each process good at specific things? Which process should I start with, and how much power should I be looking for in my situation, and does anyone have any specific recommendations of where to hunt for one? So many options. Let alone figuring the technique out.  Milling and lathing seems like it'd be quite useful. Are the minimills and minilathes you can find at Harbor Freight or Ebay or whatnot (and info on the minilathe website) worth having? I don't have huge piles of cash to spend here but I don't want to spend more time fighting bad equipment than learning the technique. It sure makes those castings look nicer (that flywheel). I have to have something to mill, though, so it seems like maybe I should learn these in the order cast, mill, weld? Finally, classes. I'm really considering trying to take a welding class this summer. I have Washtenaw Community College right on my doorstep. Seems like I could eventually figure out milling and lathing but the whole welding thing is so large and confusing. I'm probably reading too much about it and I need to get my rear end into a class, but still. Worth taking?Also, preparing to be mocked for not knowing where to start. Such is the life of the beginner. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Oct 9, 2008 around 03:43 |
| # ¿ Oct 9, 2008 03:23 |
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| # ¿ May 18, 2013 10:32 |
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dv6speed posted:First question... do you have a suitable work space, such as a garage and yard? Propane burners look like the way to go, from the internet at least. quote:Yes. Half of the expense is stuff like running a good electrical circuit to power the welder, and getting accessories like safety gear, and the tools for measuring, grinding, and cutting metal. My home is rather well-wired as I recall. I'm not sure if I have a 220v circuit in the garage though. Wouldn't surprise me either way. quote:A good MIG machine is not cheap! MIG can be fairly "easy" to learn to do, but that doesn't mean any idiot can do it. Skill level aside, the main advantage to MIG is in production environments where consumable and labor costs are important factors, or hobbiests who have an assload of projects they need to get built ASAP. quote:A welding class is always worth taking. You can read all the technical info you need about welding on the internet, but there are lots of little pieces of info, tips, and tricks you'll never hear about unless you go to a class or work in the industry. Also, watching an experience weldor work, and having an instructor who can watch you weld and give you instant feedback will shave months/years off of the learning curve. quote:As far as what order to start learning and doing various metalworking disciplines in, I would say start with welding. Being able to cut, measure, and weld steel will help you a very long way in getting a good foundry setup. You will probably want to start machining last, simply because good milling equipment is very expensive. Noted. Thanks for the response. I'm a stupid newbie on this one, and I can admit it. Did anyone ever get around to posting a guide to jewelry casting? Looks cool but there's obviously some tricks to it. I don't want to be like the guy a couple pages ago and fill a nice bit of gold full of impurities. I'm even farther away from being able to afford it, but at least if there's a guide posted I can get distracted by the shiny objects. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Oct 9, 2008 around 15:52 |
| # ¿ Oct 9, 2008 13:29 |
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I think I can get into a welding course this summer. My father's interested in welding too.  Also, it turns out that the sweet old man we all have for a neighbor? Well, turns out in my case the dude was a machinist, and supposedly he still has a lathe in his garage. I am 100% sure if I ask him he'll teach me, and I'll probably end up with some decent cheese or something too.  He's a really nice old grandfatherly italian dude.
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| # ¿ Nov 18, 2008 17:44 |
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Slung Blade posted:That's awesome man, my dad sometimes helps me out when I'm at the forge, but not very often. I wish he'd come weld with me sometime. He's keen on oxyacetylene welding, because the equipment's pretty cheap. I'm thinking more MIG or SMAW. I've got some projects in mind that are essentially sheet metal fabrication, for which it seems MIG would be nice, but it really seems like SMAW is the jack of all trades. He's not so keen on spending the cash on a nice Miller. edit: I kinda think he likes oxy-acetyl welding because he's kinda cheap. I'm not so keen on it, it seems like it's been largely replaced by SMAW. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Nov 19, 2008 around 02:11 |
| # ¿ Nov 19, 2008 02:07 |
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dv6speed posted:What size sheet metal? With SMAW your base metal thickness can't be thinner then the electrode diameter. This means you are limited to 3/32", maybe 1/16" if you can find any electrodes that small. This won't be an immediate project, I'm not stupid enough to think that I could jump into a project that huge. But, someday I'd love to make pulsejet engines for model aircraft, which will need some pretty decent stainless. 16-14 gauge for some of the stronger sections, I would guess. Interesting, I didn't know that SMAW had that limitation. Are there any such limitations on MIG? How big would be needed to do some stainless that thick? It seems like that would be a stretch for a MIG setup's power, since I know stainless conducts heat better.
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| # ¿ Nov 19, 2008 19:27 |
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  What you're looking at is the tool traveller for a bench lathe. It's my neighbor's, he was teaching me how to use it, and the screw that clamps the turret of the traveller and prevents it from rotating the tool holder has stripped its threads. I literally cannot find what holds it in. I want to pull the entire turret off to drill and retap the holder, but I can't figure out how the loving turret comes off the traveller. Is there any more or less "standard" design for these? It's an ancient tank of a lathe, labelled "Hayden Machinery, Wallingford, Conn" and "Cataract Bench Lathe, Hardinge Bros, Elmira NY" edit: It looks like this, except with the name plates, not repainted, and a 3-jaw chuck. Belts running through the table, which is metal instead of wood like the pic, with an ancient 230v AC motor powered by an electric motor-generator setup he rigged to convert it from 110v. I don't know why his house doesn't burn down, there's no way that poo poo meets code.  Click here for the full 1148x616 image.  Click here for the full 669x616 image. edit2: pardon my mspaint, my neighbor is 82 or thereabouts, so I'm probably using the wrong terms for things. This is how he showed me, red is the forward-back traverse, orange is the turret traverse, so rotation, yellow is the side-to-side traverse, green is the baseplate for the tool holder, blue is a crazy tool-holder-holding clamp he worked up to fit in that little slot, indigo is the tool holder, purple is the tool. I need to figure out a way to get the yellow and above away from the orange and the orange away from the red (or possibly just the orange away from the red, I'm not sure how it fits inside) so we can get this thing to come apart. We spent an hour unscrewing screws and none of them made this thing fall apart.  Click here for the full 630x480 image. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Dec 22, 2008 around 20:47 |
| # ¿ Dec 22, 2008 19:57 |
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RealKyleH posted:The red is the cross slide, the orange and yellow is the compound rest called the compound. The blues are the tool and toll holder. On that type of setup the little loop thing that holders the tool and tool holder has a screw on top. You loosen that screw and the he loop part as well as tool and tool holder should slide right out of that green part. I've never had to take the compound rest off of the cross slide which is what it sounds like you're trying to do.  vI'm trying to seperate the compound from the cross-slide, because the screw that clamps the orange rotating part of the compound down has stripped, so we need to get the turret off to drill and tap a new hole.  Click here for the full 800x600 image. In this drawing, the cross slide is red, the compound orange, the rolly bit inside is yellow. This is the best idea I have of how it works internally - there's a lower roller thing in the cross slide that I can see rolling around and that the screw clamps into. I need to get the compound (orange bit) off, because the screw doesn't thread into the compound - only the yellow rolly bit underneath. I suppose if worse comes to worst I can always thread the compound too, but I'm sure there's a reason it's like that. edit: I think the compound (orange) passes through the yellow and goes all the way through the cross slide. Updated. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Dec 23, 2008 around 05:14 |
| # ¿ Dec 23, 2008 05:06 |
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RealKyleH posted:MMK so right now the compound is loose making your lathe useless because you cant tighten down the bolt, correct? Yes, correct. Except for when my neighbor took a wedge and tried to hammer the compound off the cross slide, that jammed it up for a bit 
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| # ¿ Dec 23, 2008 05:23 |
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 Click here for the full 640x480 image. The hole is the closest one in this pic, ignore the slot for the loop on the top.  Click here for the full 640x480 image. The offending hole is in the bottom of the compound - it's that part with the bevelled edge, near the back of the pic. Just a view to let you know what the gently caress I'm talking about, because I suck at technical language.  Click here for the full 640x480 image. And here's a view of the bottom, in case it helps. The compound goes all the way through. It's not the hole at the front, it's a barely-visible circle a little farther back. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Dec 23, 2008 around 05:49 |
| # ¿ Dec 23, 2008 05:44 |
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RealKyleH posted:Ok now that I fully understand your problem, I am not sure how to help...sorry. Try Practical Machinist, Home Shop Machinist or CNC Zone forums. You may want to use some of the terminology and way of describing why you want to remove the compound as I used to avoid being asked the same questions twice. Are you using a minilathe or what? I've been eyeballing the Cummins minilathes but I don't have the money to blow.  Also, that's not a bad price at all on those bits. Let me know how they turn out. Harbor Freight has some great deals and some things that aren't worth the cost of shipping.
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| # ¿ Dec 24, 2008 03:40 |
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Someone local has an Atlas DM-59 for a grand. Seems a bit steep but lathes are just expensive, I guess. I'm curious as to what I should look for, because I too would like a small lathe to turn some cold steel or stainless. Is there any place that makes reasonably-priced leadscrews? I would love to use some to make a CNC hot wire cutter, so not much force/accuracy needed, but they all seem to be pretty expensive.
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| # ¿ Jan 17, 2009 01:46 |
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For a leadscrew, is something like this useful or would it be more trouble than it's worth?
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| # ¿ Jan 17, 2009 08:52 |
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Speaking of anvils, there's a craigslist for a "325 lb Armstrong" anvil that has popped up. Any idea what a ballpark fair price would be for it? And what should I be looking for in an anvil? I think someone said wrought iron anvils suck, but I could be mistaken. How would I tell if it's wrought? edit: It's a 3-piece anvil. Dude said it's worth $1500, but that he doesn't expect to get that. Maybe it is, but it's sure out of my price-range. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Jan 18, 2009 around 21:50 |
| # ¿ Jan 18, 2009 20:13 |
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A 9" Atlas lathe has showed up for $500 on my local Craigslist. It's not beat up, and the owner says it's never been out of air conditioning. It's got a 3-jaw chuck and some tooling. Is this as good a deal as it seems? e:     Good deal or no? Help me out on this, goons. Paul MaudDib fucked around with this message at Jan 25, 2009 around 19:57 |
| # ¿ Jan 25, 2009 05:40 |
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| # ¿ May 18, 2013 10:32 |
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Does anyone in here have the ability to do some turning, drilling, and tapping on a piece of rod in 316 stainless? I'm trying to think ahead for a project for a project I want to do next year and I figure should start making connections early rather than leaving it until the last minute like usual.
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| # ¿ Mar 27, 2009 05:03 |
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