I’m about two years late with this. I’ve responded to a few posts since joining but mostly I have been just reading and enjoying the photos of all the marvelous engines being made.
I got my machinist training at the high school level (not the typical HS ‘shop’ but real training’) but never worked as a machinist. Went on to college, and then taught 7th & 8th grade for one year. Went back to grad school to pursue a masters in analytical chemistry while applying to dental school. Dental school happened before finishing the masters degree and I’ve been looking at teeth for the past forty-three years. But I have always had some sort of metal and woodworking tools, even if they were only a Unimat SL and WWII-era Sears 8-inch table saw. I occasionally now do commercial work, always some one-off that other shops don’t want to bother with. I don’t seek them out, they just somehow find me.
My collection of machinery has grown over the years to where it now, on the metal working side, includes a Clausing surface grinder, Hardinge TM horizontal mill, Logan and Enco lathes, Kopfer automatic gear hobber, Atlas 7-inch shaper, 14-inch metal and wood cutting band saw, virtually every tool or attachment George H. Thomas designed plus Professor Chaddack’s Quorn. The woodworking side is equally equipped for cabinet making and wood turning. The metal-working machinery is all old, heavy cast iron from the early fifties. Except for the Enco, that was made 1987, iirc. With the exception of the old ShopSmith all the woodworking stuff has been replaced with new in the past few years. For the past twenty-four years I have also been fortunate to have a purpose-built shop with it’s own electrical service and meter. That covers the basics, I think. Questions, if any, will be happily answered.
I got my machinist training at the high school level (not the typical HS ‘shop’ but real training’) but never worked as a machinist. Went on to college, and then taught 7th & 8th grade for one year. Went back to grad school to pursue a masters in analytical chemistry while applying to dental school. Dental school happened before finishing the masters degree and I’ve been looking at teeth for the past forty-three years. But I have always had some sort of metal and woodworking tools, even if they were only a Unimat SL and WWII-era Sears 8-inch table saw. I occasionally now do commercial work, always some one-off that other shops don’t want to bother with. I don’t seek them out, they just somehow find me.
My collection of machinery has grown over the years to where it now, on the metal working side, includes a Clausing surface grinder, Hardinge TM horizontal mill, Logan and Enco lathes, Kopfer automatic gear hobber, Atlas 7-inch shaper, 14-inch metal and wood cutting band saw, virtually every tool or attachment George H. Thomas designed plus Professor Chaddack’s Quorn. The woodworking side is equally equipped for cabinet making and wood turning. The metal-working machinery is all old, heavy cast iron from the early fifties. Except for the Enco, that was made 1987, iirc. With the exception of the old ShopSmith all the woodworking stuff has been replaced with new in the past few years. For the past twenty-four years I have also been fortunate to have a purpose-built shop with it’s own electrical service and meter. That covers the basics, I think. Questions, if any, will be happily answered.
