Anyone got a decent home machine workshop?
Discussion
I was thinking of putting this in health matters, because I think it's an unhealthy obsession.
I'm single, no children, and live alone. I have far too much time on my hands. I have a few hobbies but spend far too much time watching Youtube, and what do I watch? Mostly it's machining and videos relating to it. The usual suspects. Cutting Edge. HAL Heavy Duty. Glease Man. This Old Tony. Inheritance Machining. My Mechanics.
I'm a half-decent home mechanic and have a nice array of tools. But I keep looking at used lathes and mills and welders and dreaming of all the stuff I could make. But I don't need any of this stuff and I have nothing that I need to make. But if I had a lathe and a mill, things to make would present themselves, wouldn't they? I have a decent sized garage that could be a workshop, but I don't have three-phase power and that's going to massively restrict the size and power of what I could get. But if I were to get a lathe, I wouldn't want something weedy and I refuse to buy one of those Chinesium lathes new. You know, the ones with the plastic change gears.
I used to love machining, welding and brazing things at school in the late '80s and '90s and am hankering for the hours of bliss I'd spend making things - all kinds of things from engine mounts to gears to subframes of various projects. I don't know if this is my midlife crisis fully kicking in, but I'm even thinking of moving to somewhere where I could have a proper workshop and build things. Am I crazy? Do you have a home machine shop? Or are you a machinist who could give me a heavy dose of reality? I have no interest in going into the trade, but I was never as happy as I was watching chips come off a lump of metal. Instead of watching people machining and wishing I were doing it, perhaps I should be doing it myself. Have I lost my marbles?
Also if you have any YT channel recommendations, let me know!
I'm single, no children, and live alone. I have far too much time on my hands. I have a few hobbies but spend far too much time watching Youtube, and what do I watch? Mostly it's machining and videos relating to it. The usual suspects. Cutting Edge. HAL Heavy Duty. Glease Man. This Old Tony. Inheritance Machining. My Mechanics.
I'm a half-decent home mechanic and have a nice array of tools. But I keep looking at used lathes and mills and welders and dreaming of all the stuff I could make. But I don't need any of this stuff and I have nothing that I need to make. But if I had a lathe and a mill, things to make would present themselves, wouldn't they? I have a decent sized garage that could be a workshop, but I don't have three-phase power and that's going to massively restrict the size and power of what I could get. But if I were to get a lathe, I wouldn't want something weedy and I refuse to buy one of those Chinesium lathes new. You know, the ones with the plastic change gears.
I used to love machining, welding and brazing things at school in the late '80s and '90s and am hankering for the hours of bliss I'd spend making things - all kinds of things from engine mounts to gears to subframes of various projects. I don't know if this is my midlife crisis fully kicking in, but I'm even thinking of moving to somewhere where I could have a proper workshop and build things. Am I crazy? Do you have a home machine shop? Or are you a machinist who could give me a heavy dose of reality? I have no interest in going into the trade, but I was never as happy as I was watching chips come off a lump of metal. Instead of watching people machining and wishing I were doing it, perhaps I should be doing it myself. Have I lost my marbles?
Also if you have any YT channel recommendations, let me know!
I am retired, my son who is 30 did an apprenticeship at a traditional engineering company and now works in high level Motorsport. Every so often he makes a tool for a specific job in the machine shop and all the people he works with are amazed he knows how to use the machines.
He keeps telling me to get a lathe and how useful it would be and how much I would use it . He actually just wants me to buy the thing and store it in my garage not his
He sends me quite a few eBay adds for old but quite big lathes and tells me he can convert them to single phase easily. He is very clever, he probably can.
I have got quite tempted recently, especially since the outside weather is getting more challenging.
He keeps telling me to get a lathe and how useful it would be and how much I would use it . He actually just wants me to buy the thing and store it in my garage not his
He sends me quite a few eBay adds for old but quite big lathes and tells me he can convert them to single phase easily. He is very clever, he probably can.
I have got quite tempted recently, especially since the outside weather is getting more challenging.
I found an old three-phase air compressor being dumped at a local supermarket and that now lives in my garage. It was three-phase but I bought a single-phase motor for it rather than getting a VFD. But yes I have a very good idea how to use the machines at a basic level at least - but I know that tooling for them can be very costly. But in a way I agree with your son that a lathe would be very useful, if you have a need to change the shape of metal!
Very cool to be able to use stuff like this.
Years ago I had a TVR and asked the grumpy old ex tool maker engineer to make me an ally gearknob and handbrake lever on night shift.
I gave him my moulded plastic Vauxhall/TVR parts for sizing and a week later I got an exact three dimensional aluminium copy of the handbrake lever and knob. The lever was surreal, like it had been cast in the same mould. Fingergrips machined out, the lot. Fitted like a glove. So cool.
Do it!
Years ago I had a TVR and asked the grumpy old ex tool maker engineer to make me an ally gearknob and handbrake lever on night shift.
I gave him my moulded plastic Vauxhall/TVR parts for sizing and a week later I got an exact three dimensional aluminium copy of the handbrake lever and knob. The lever was surreal, like it had been cast in the same mould. Fingergrips machined out, the lot. Fitted like a glove. So cool.
Do it!
LunarOne said:
Instead of watching people machining and wishing I were doing it, perhaps I should be doing it myself. Have I lost my marbles?
Not at all, it's a much cheaper hobby than flying aeroplanes or racing cars. 
Single phase power is not the barrier it used to be, VFDs mean you can readily run small industrial machines, the main restriction is having floor space for them and moving them when you've been rash enough to buy, although it's remarkable what can be moved with a bit of grunting and swearing along with some rollers, pinch bars and the occasional engine crane and bottle jack. I have used one of the benchtop things with plastic gears which you've disparaged, it belongs to a friend; while they have very definite limits a lot of people with much more patience than me have used them to make remarkable things, I just used it to make some spacers.The larger lathes from the far east are pretty good, or at least the ones via reputable resellers are, and practically a match for equivalent UK/euro machines, not that any euro makers are in this market these days and comparisons with used machines are a bit pointless.
I'm a machinst by trade, machining, welding and fab are very much my day job.
I don't have a home workshop, because luckily I don't need one, and everywhere I work has bigger and better than I could afford, or stuff in a garage.
In my opinion though, the cost of getting a pretty basic mill/lathe and associated tooling to be able to make simple round and square things isn't really worth the outlay unless you're really into it, and have the disposable. Tooling, toolholders, workholding/fixtures, measuring equipment and the huge array of tools specific to machining can soon add up, but it depends what you want to do. But yes, I machine shiny stuff for the house, car etc, just because the ideas come and I have a spare few hours.
First thing I'd buy though if I was setting myself up, would be a welder, bandsaw, grinder, linishing belt, etc. You can do a lot with basic fab/fitting skills, before needing machining. After that, a few thousand would get you a well used manual Bridgeport mill or Colechester lathe of reasonable size. Or, 10k+ could net you a used, 30 year old small CNC with no tools or workholding capability.
If you're into machining though I'd probably have a look around for an evening course at a college, and see how you find it. You seem to have the enthusiasm. Wish my apprentices had the same
Oh, edit to say Edge Precision on Youtube is of particular interest to me. Precise work and elaborate set-ups.
I don't have a home workshop, because luckily I don't need one, and everywhere I work has bigger and better than I could afford, or stuff in a garage.
In my opinion though, the cost of getting a pretty basic mill/lathe and associated tooling to be able to make simple round and square things isn't really worth the outlay unless you're really into it, and have the disposable. Tooling, toolholders, workholding/fixtures, measuring equipment and the huge array of tools specific to machining can soon add up, but it depends what you want to do. But yes, I machine shiny stuff for the house, car etc, just because the ideas come and I have a spare few hours.
First thing I'd buy though if I was setting myself up, would be a welder, bandsaw, grinder, linishing belt, etc. You can do a lot with basic fab/fitting skills, before needing machining. After that, a few thousand would get you a well used manual Bridgeport mill or Colechester lathe of reasonable size. Or, 10k+ could net you a used, 30 year old small CNC with no tools or workholding capability.
If you're into machining though I'd probably have a look around for an evening course at a college, and see how you find it. You seem to have the enthusiasm. Wish my apprentices had the same
Oh, edit to say Edge Precision on Youtube is of particular interest to me. Precise work and elaborate set-ups.
Edited by 3GGy on Saturday 14th November 00:03
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