Hello from Florida

[Skip Ellis]

Glad to be here. I'm a retired land surveyor and build guitars and banjos as a paying hobby. I've got a lot of woodworking experience including turning but am a novice when it comes to metal working. I'm thinking it could come in handy for building some replacement parts, especially for banjos so going with something small. A friend called yesterday and said a friend had a small metal lathe that he was interested in selling so I checked it out and bought it this morning. It's a Unimat DB200 with, I think, about every accessory you can get for it plus a lot of tooling, all manuals and receipts, original wooden case, and other related paperwork. I believe that it was built in 1971. Everything is in great condition and seems to work like it should. It cost me $200 plus a BBQ lunch so I think I'm not into it too heavy. I just have to figure out all the parts and read the manuals and maybe do a little clean up and lube work. Looking forward to getting familiar with it and started haunting the machinists sites and You Tube to gain knowledge.

 

[minh-thanh]

Hi !
Welcome to the forum !
Good luck with your projects .

 

[GreenTwin]

Welcome.
Nice to have you.

There is a lot of talent here that can help you I am sure.

Pat J
.

 

[Wheat47]

Some years ago, I bought a Jet mill/drill from an estate. The previous owner had been building steel guitars.
I asked his son, "so, did he play steel guitars??" Son said, "Nope. Couldn't carry a tune in a bucket, but he could build guitars!!"

 

[wce4]

Welcome to the forum, where in Florida? Saint Cloud here.

If at first you don't succeed buy more bar stock, try again!

 

[Apprentice707]

Welcome Skip, I just moved away from Florida last year after 20 years of part time residency. I miss the sunshine and can do attitude of the people.

Good luck

B

 

[CFLBob]

Welcome, Skip. The CFL part of my identifier is Central Florida - I'm near the east coast 30-ish miles south of the KSC. A little city called Eau Gallie.

I've built one guitar kit and only worked on one broken guitar, so I'd never call myself a luthier. Never touched or worked on a banjo, but small "fiddly bits" in metal have caught a lot of my attention. On the metalworking side, I got my first lathe 20 years ago, a surplus CNC mill a couple of years later. I had never touched either kind of tool until then. Lots of learning fun coming for you!


Bob

 

[SmithDoor]

Glad to be here. I'm a retired land surveyor and build guitars and banjos as a paying hobby. I've got a lot of woodworking experience including turning but am a novice when it comes to metal working. I'm thinking it could come in handy for building some replacement parts, especially for banjos so going with something small. A friend called yesterday and said a friend had a small metal lathe that he was interested in selling so I checked it out and bought it this morning. It's a Unimat DB200 with, I think, about every accessory you can get for it plus a lot of tooling, all manuals and receipts, original wooden case, and other related paperwork. I believe that it was built in 1971. Everything is in great condition and seems to work like it should. It cost me $200 plus a BBQ lunch so I think I'm not into it too heavy. I just have to figure out all the parts and read the manuals and maybe do a little clean up and lube work. Looking forward to getting familiar with it and started haunting the machinists sites and You Tube to gain knowledge.

Welcome to the group

Dave

 

[awake]

Welcome to the forum!