What do we do with our metal working tools

[jcdammeyer]

Today a few of us were discussing how we can use our wood shops to build all sorts of things for use around the house after admiring @David_R8 wood shop stuff. Then I think @PaulL mentioned all the money spent on the lathe/mill etc. and how much is it actually used to build or repair anything. At that point we started trying to remember what we did with the tools.

I mentioned some of my projects but I did forget this one. My older son's girlfriend is a potter and her wheel suddenly stopped working. I took it apart and found the bearings had water damage and were seized to the shaft and locked solid. It's amazing it even worked at all. Here the lathe came in handy. I think the pictures say it all.

But the real question still stands. I'm using my machine shop to build and enhance my machine shop. But if I stopped doing that there are fewer things that it might be used for. Now if I wanted to build clocks or small steam engines then it's part of the cost of the hobby. But if there is no hobby what's the point of owning a lathe and mill for example?

 

[DavidR8]

The last thing I made in my lathe were machined steel washers to go on Unisaw blade arbors. They are very difficult to find. Mine was stamped steel and completely dishes out so it was no longer doing it’s job.
I made one for myself and another for a fellow in Alberta. Got paid for that one which was a nice bonus.
Prior to that I made about 100’ of garden fencing from 1/4” rod bent into loops with some decorative elements. But that was done with my MIG welder not my lathe or mill.

From my wood shop I’ve turned (literally) a half dozen bowls in the last month. Prior to that, I built cabinets for the shop and the stairs.
I have bookcases planned next.
And I have a commission to turn four handles for a very high end woodworking bench.

 

[SomeGuy]

I was building an RC vehicle, so making parts for that (shafts, mounts, etc.).
I built some stubby speaker poles for my PA speakers.
I helped a friend trim back some case panels that would have taken a ton of grinding/heat damage otherwise.

I'm sure there will be more in the future, but that's in the first little bit less than a year. The rest of the time on it has just been learning how to use it, so making little fiddly things for fun.

 

[jcdammeyer]

I used my CNC router to make the pattern for this and then cast one and painted it. Haven't gone on with that project since I started thinking vacuum forming white plastic might be faster than casting and painting. Especially for 100 or so.

The lamp directs upwards and the reflector is designed to cast a 4' diameter circle. So there's a project with the CNC router and casting. But not the mill or the lathe.

 

[Susquatch]

This is a timely thread.

I had a fellow drop by to talk about a municipal problem we are having. Afterward, he asked if he could see my shop. While we were there he asked what I used my lathe for. I couldn't think of a single thing that he would appreciate. After he left, a million projects came to mind...... I think he would have loved my GPS hardware most.

I need to make a list and keep it handy for the next time someone asks.

 

[phaxtris]

The lathe is what garners the "what do you make with it" question the most for me....I, like @Susquatch usually draw a blank, and end up telling them something along the lines of "I don't know, things that need to be round"

......and then after they have left a bunch of stuff pops in to my head

Eerily similar....

in reality, I use it to make whattever I need at the time, I do a fair bit of automotive/motorsport related work/repair, there always seems to be a special jig/line up bar/puller/whattever that you can buy for 100$ and use once, or spend 10 minutes on the lathe and make from scrap

My wife also seems to come up with things for me to make/repair for her or her people on a semi regular basis, cracks in a wheel chair Rugby chair one day, a different style knob for a steering wheel spinner next month, a simple piece of flat bar on a vehicle ramp to help flip it out, random little things

And of course I do use it all for buisness purposes, all though that is a smaller portion of the use

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I've got a few good friends that I've known for since grade school. 35 ish years some of us have been friends, and are like brothers. All are tradesman too (HVAC, Electricians), but none have crafty hobbies beyond home handyman projects, and side jobs. Most are just playing sports, watching sports, and taking their kids to sports etc (I also do those too, so I get it). I get asked that question a lot. What do you DO with this stuff. I make stuff, for other stuff, that needs things. People who make things, get it. People that don't look at you like you've got 3 heads. I've grown rather fond of my 3 heads over the years lol. My Wife is the same way with the fibre arts. We're weird to most people.

One of them (the Electrician) loves watching the shows on history channel where they restore stuff, and loves watching the guys making tools, and parts in their shops to restore things, but its almost comical to me that he hasn't made that jump yet, that HE also can just do that. Every time he comes over, and I'm out in the shop doing stuff, I'm waiting for the light bulb to go off and for him to have that ah ha moment, that I am one of those guys.....and he can be too......It'll happen one day, but for the time being I almost enjoy the comical disassociation. I am forever a student of human behavior. I was over there the other day and showed him a pic of my forge I just finished and he asked "why'd you build that". Because I wanted to, do I need a better reason?

Another thing I find interesting is that I work with guys like that. That are also machinists/toolmakers, and engineers. Once they leave the shop, they leave it there. Sometimes I wish I could the same, and I do go through phases where I want nothing to do with it when I come home, but some of them find it nuts that I even have a home shop, and do this stuff in my free time too. Perhaps they are right, and I'm the one who is nuts.

I just like making and learning new things. I've never had a hard time coming up with things to make. I come up with ideas at a far greater pace than I can finish them. Sometimes when I get an idea for something I want to make, and It's almost like I go down a list in my head. Do I have the tools to do that? Do I have the skills to do that? Do I have the knowledge to do that. If I can answer yes to those questions, I go make/do it. If I answer no, I acquire the knowledge, I gain the skills, or I build/buy the tools. While it may seem completely random to some, I am very goal oriented and focused. It's just that some of those end goals have a lot of twists and turns in the road, Intersections with other goals, and other stops along the way. Some of those projects are years in the making. My project "list" feels like an internet browser with fortyseven thousand tabs open. But it's all part of the journey. I do eventually close some of those tabs

Enough internet for now, I'm heading out into the shop to do some casting and finish lining my forge. So I can eventually make stuff with it Maybe close some tabs, and open a few more lol.

 

[historicalarms]

When i bought my machining tools I was still a working man and thought that "if i learned how to use these things while still working, when i retire I can have a side hustle of gun building for myself and others...well, that didnt work out as planned, I built a few things for myself that go " bang" but never got the confidence in my ability to do for others on a commercial basis...so I built a thousand and one Jigs to use to make other stuff that I cant even remember what the "stuff" is now.
The "bang things I did finish include a # of cannons from table top size to full size civil war replica's that require a car hauler to move to the range. There are a couple others that i am very proud of, one a multi barrel rifle built entirely from scratch of my own design and my pride & joy, a single shot Rolling Block with a 32" tube scope, built up to be an exact copy of a rifle a very well to do buffalo hunter might use in his daily job ( built around an 1871 RB action).
Now most of my lathe/mill work is for stuff the wife wants done for around the house (furniture leg repairs etc) but when I need some reloading die altered or piece made to size brass with I really do enjoy that now.

Ohh i almost forgot...I did build a small replica of a WW II artillery field piece with an interrupted thread breach system(just to see if i could do it with my rudimentary machines). The gun part of it is pretty much done now except for the flash disperser for the end of the barrel...will build the carriage in the spring.

 

[curmudgeon]

But the real question still stands. I'm using my machine shop to build and enhance my machine shop. But if I stopped doing that there are fewer things that it might be used for. Now if I wanted to build clocks or small steam engines then it's part of the cost of the hobby. But if there is no hobby what's the point of owning a lathe and mill for example?

Building and enhancing a home hobby machine shop is a legitimate hobby in its own right. Carry on...

 

[Susquatch]

I've got a few good friends that I've known for since grade school. 35 ish years some of us have been friends, and are like brothers. All are tradesman too (HVAC, Electricians), but none have crafty hobbies beyond home handyman projects, and side jobs. Most are just playing sports, watching sports, and taking their kids to sports etc (I also do those too, so I get it). I get asked that question a lot. What do you DO with this stuff. I make stuff, for other stuff, that needs things. People who make things, get it. People that don't look at you like you've got 3 heads. I've grown rather fond of my 3 heads over the years lol. My Wife is the same way with the fibre arts. We're weird to most people.

One of them (the Electrician) loves watching the shows on history channel where they restore stuff, and loves watching the guys making tools, and parts in their shops to restore things, but its almost comical to me that he hasn't made that jump yet, that HE also can just do that. Every time he comes over, and I'm out in the shop doing stuff, I'm waiting for the light bulb to go off and for him to have that ah ha moment, that I am one of those guys.....and he can be too......It'll happen one day, but for the time being I almost enjoy the comical disassociation. I am forever a student of human behavior. I was over there the other day and showed him a pic of my forge I just finished and he asked "why'd you build that". Because I wanted to, do I need a better reason?

Another thing I find interesting is that I work with guys like that. That are also machinists/toolmakers, and engineers. Once they leave the shop, they leave it there. Sometimes I wish I could the same, and I do go through phases where I want nothing to do with it when I come home, but some of them find it nuts that I even have a home shop, and do this stuff in my free time too. Perhaps they are right, and I'm the one who is nuts.

I just like making and learning new things. I've never had a hard time coming up with things to make. I come up with ideas at a far greater pace than I can finish them. Sometimes when I get an idea for something I want to make, and It's almost like I go down a list in my head. Do I have the tools to do that? Do I have the skills to do that? Do I have the knowledge to do that. If I can answer yes to those questions, I go make/do it. If I answer no, I acquire the knowledge, I gain the skills, or I build/buy the tools. While it may seem completely random to some, I am very goal oriented and focused. It's just that some of those end goals have a lot of twists and turns in the road, Intersections with other goals, and other stops along the way. Some of those projects are years in the making. My project "list" feels like an internet browser with fortyseven thousand tabs open. But it's all part of the journey. I do eventually close some of those tabs

Enough internet for now, I'm heading out into the shop to do some casting and finish lining my forge. So I can eventually make stuff with it Maybe close some tabs, and open a few more lol.

That was pure joy to read @Dan Dubeau . I think you wrote that about me.

I'd bet your shop is neater and cleaner than mine though......

 

[whydontu]

Jeez. Where to begin?

Custom pipe fittings for the prototype flow meter I’m building with a couple of mad scientists.

Bought a New Hermes old-school engraving machine a few months ago, making jigs and fixtures and learning how to do proper engraving.

Built a small CNC engraver, realized it was crap, added a laser module, jigs and fixtures.

Trying to design the perfect multi-bit screwdriver. No plastic allowed.

Custom enclosures for one-off music synthesizer modules.

And as my old employment contracts stated, other duties as assigned

 

[YYCHM]

All kinds of Stuff

 

[jcdammeyer]

I found something that was made for the household in a metal shop.

To be honest although I made it, the build of the meat tenderizing hammer was not done in my shop.

Dial back to Grade 8 shop at Hillcrest Jr. High in Edmonton. The teeth were done with a shaper. The steel rod and threaded holes done with tap and die. The handle on the metal lathe. I was 13 at the time.

Let's just say it's a bit older than xx years.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

That was pure joy to read @Dan Dubeau . I think you wrote that about me.

I'd bet your shop is neater and cleaner than mine though......

Thanks, I'm sure we all have similarities which is why we all gather around common watering holes like here.

But I don't think I have a very clean/neat shop. I mean, I know where everything is, if that counts (sometimes). And I like organizational projects (on a big kick of those lately), and having a home for everything but I'm a "messy worker". I do like putting stuff away at the end of a job though, and sweeping up. It's just that there is always so many jobs on the go with parts and pieces all over, it really never happens all that much. I'm envious, and can appreciate people that have nice clean and bright lab like shops, but that's not mine. Not even close. It's a constant work in progress.....

 

[Chicken lights]

Thanks, I'm sure we all have similarities which is why we all gather around common watering holes like here.

But I don't think I have a very clean/neat shop. I mean, I know where everything is, if that counts (sometimes). And I like organizational projects (on a big kick of those lately), and having a home for everything but I'm a "messy worker". I do like putting stuff away at the end of a job though, and sweeping up. It's just that there is always so many jobs on the go with parts and pieces all over, it really never happens all that much. I'm envious, and can appreciate people that have nice clean and bright lab like shops, but that's not mine. Not even close. It's a constant work in progress.....

My biggest argument for an organized shop is to know when something is missing or misplaced. I really like having homes for stuff to keep things efficient. But then you get interrupted mid-job or gotta drop the tools to get back to paying work and chaos ensues

There’s no right or wrong, except I do lean towards more organized- if buddies need to use my shop a universal system works better

So I think that’s a factor- is it “your” space or is it “shared” space

 

[Dan Dubeau]

My buddy has had a good chuckle before when he needed to borrow something and I told him in great detail where it was and how to get it from my garage when I wasn't there. I told him to either put it back exactly where it was when he was done, or just give it to me and let me do it. That's how I remember where stuff is. Once someone else moves it, I start walking around in circles......."it was RIGHT HERE"

I'm gradually working towards a nice and organized shop. I spent the day out there putting up a couple shelves, and building a mobile vise stand/hammer/tool rack. Not what I set out to do when I went out there (that's another story), but I shifted gears and just start working on other stuff that needed do'in. Also moved in another drill press/stand from the barn, and moved my bandsaw to a more useable location. Little by little its starting to become a functioning shop. Maybe one day I can actually work in it, instead of on it lol.

 

[Chicken lights]

My buddy has had a good chuckle before when he needed to borrow something and I told him in great detail where it was and how to get it from my garage when I wasn't there. I told him to either put it back exactly where it was when he was done, or just give it to me and let me do it. That's how I remember where stuff is. Once someone else moves it, I start walking around in circles......."it was RIGHT HERE"

I'm gradually working towards a nice and organized shop. I spent the day out there putting up a couple shelves, and building a mobile vise stand/hammer/tool rack. Not what I set out to do when I went out there (that's another story), but I shifted gears and just start working on other stuff that needed do'in. Also moved in another drill press/stand from the barn, and moved my bandsaw to a more useable location. Little by little its starting to become a functioning shop. Maybe one day I can actually work in it, instead of on it lol.

I haven’t been home in a month and today was a “wtf was I doing” cleanup day. I don’t think I accomplished much, plus two friends stopping in to socialize didn’t help, but that’s ok too.

I envy the guys that can putter in the shop every day for an hour or two, when I’m gone the shop is a fleeting memory

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I wish I could putter for an hour or two through the week and actually accomplish something, I'd get way more projects done, but I still have too much stuff all over the place right now without a home, I end up just spinning around in circles moving stuff from place to place. I'm not there yet with organization, but getting much closer. I need a couple more long days like today to get some more shop storage projects done, so that I CAN go out there, and just work on projects and finish things. Instead of moving stuff around for an hour, just to do 30 minutes worth of work. I was hoping to be all done before the snow came. I DID get close though. Within tolerance.

Another problem is welding/fab projects. I've got a lot of those on the plate right now, but I don't like doing them at night before I go to bed and sending fire babies all over the place (shop is attached single car garage), which is when I get the most of my free time. So they tend to stack up, take up space, and accumulate until the weekend. Then the weekend comes, and either I don't get shop time, or I don't feel like welding, or worse, I get sucked into one of those house projects the Wife kindly reminds me about every few months or so. That's how projects stack up and take months to finish. It's pretty easy for a week to go by, then another.....I had an entire summer of that. Still trying to catch up.

 

[DavidR8]

I wish I could putter for an hour or two through the week and actually accomplish something, I'd get way more projects done, but I still have too much stuff all over the place right now without a home, I end up just spinning around in circles moving stuff from place to place. I'm not there yet with organization, but getting much closer. I need a couple more long days like today to get some more shop storage projects done, so that I CAN go out there, and just work on projects and finish things. Instead of moving stuff around for an hour, just to do 30 minutes worth of work. I was hoping to be all done before the snow came. I DID get close though. Within tolerance.

Another problem is welding/fab projects. I've got a lot of those on the plate right now, but I don't like doing them at night before I go to bed and sending fire babies all over the place (shop is attached single car garage), which is when I get the most of my free time. So they tend to stack up, take up space, and accumulate until the weekend. Then the weekend comes, and either I don't get shop time, or I don't feel like welding, or worse, I get sucked into one of those house projects the Wife kindly reminds me about every few months or so. That's how projects stack up and take months to finish. It's pretty easy for a week to go by, then another.....I had an entire summer of that. Still trying to catch up.

I feel your pain. I so feel your pain. After six years in this space I feel like I'm finally exorcising the previous occupant and making the space my own.

 

[Tecnico]

I used my CNC router to make the pattern for this and then cast one and painted it. Haven't gone on with that project since I started thinking vacuum forming white plastic might be faster than casting and painting. Especially for 100 or so.

I don't know what you're using to cast these but with a little home shop thermoforming experience behind me I think you can turn them out relatively quickly thermoforming something like ABS sheet. I built a crude radiant oven using surplus domestic oven elements for my experiments. If get the size of your reflector right then it could be heated in a domestic oven (when the kitchen manager isn't around(?) or maybe just score an old stove on drive by day.

All I used for the vacuum source was a shop vac and it provided enough differential pressure for the job.

Cool looking lamp by the way.

D