Hi from Montana

[Lamachina58]

Hello from Montana!
I just discovered this forum and enjoying so many of the threads that I jumped in without an introduction! I started in steam when I was a kid, running small engines then traction engines under wonderful mentors at the WMSTR steam show in Minnesota. One week after my 18th I tested and received my license for engines, turbines and boiler to 300HP. My dad bought me a Maximat V10 with mill when I was 9 and I built terriblly crude models from the get go.
An athletic scholarship ski racing got me to Montana, Engineering led to business and I built several hundred custom bicycles, starting a small company. That led to prototyping, buying one of the first CNC's in the state, the first CAD/CAM system and 25 years in tool and die making, finally employing 20 tool makers and molders. All the while collecting books and castings in the hope that I would someday get a chance to build models! I sold the business and discovered teaching. I teach CAD/CAM, CNC machining and computer aided manufacturing for the University of Montana Helena College of Technology and love it! I have 18 students eager every day to learn CNC and I hope to post some of those projects too.
This is a great site, educational for all and I have enjoyed stumbling across it!
And, just maybe I will finally dust off a set of Breisch castings or the Coles H10 set I started in 1976!
Until then, thanks for all of the fantastic and inspiring work I am seeing along with the willingness to share this wealth of experience with every newcomer.

 

[b.lindsey]

Welcome to the forum. By all means, please post some pictures of student projects. It's always nice to see the younger folks taking an interest in the machining trades. If possible I would love to see the machine shop facilities you use for teaching too.

Regards,
Bill

 

[GordTopps]

wEc1 to the forum Lamachina58

Regards
Gordy

 

[4156df]

Welcome...and let's start seeing some of those projects! I mean yours and your students.
Dennis

 

[Lamachina58]

Thanks for the welcome! I will put some shots of our shop up. We have a two year program, the first is all manual machines, mills, lathes, grinders, horizontal mills. Art Warner is our 22 year veteran and the man who built this entire program. I teach the second year and we mix it up a bit, I like manual machines and Art is very good on CNC's too. We each have 18 full time students, 6 hours a day.
We are a HAAS Technical Education Center

The past week we have been modeling and machining cannons, always a favorite!

 

[quinette7]

Lamachina58 -

Welcome to HMEM! I'm relatively new here, myself, but have learned a lot here already.

I'm in Salt Lake City. Montana was part of my territory when I sold Valenite cutting tools from 2001 to 2004. Maybe our paths crossed somewhere already, and we likely had acquaintances in common, but my memory of specifics is fading now that I am retired. I don't know of any other model engine builders in Montana, but I know OF some in Idaho, having met one just last month when I bought a melting furnace from him. We have recently developed a circle (not a club) of about 17 homeshop machinists in Utah and Wyoming. Look me up, and send me a personal note, if you get down this way. Actually, I'm going to Columbia Falls/Glacier National Park in January.

Bob Grant

 

[Groomengineering]

Welcome to the forum!
Nice shop, it's a shame there's not more programs like that around.

Cheers

Jeff

 

[Lamachina58]

Thanks Jeff, Bob and all.
I am lucky that we have a dedicated instructor who started this program and our local High School has a great teacher who sends us several students a year that are pumped up about machining. I am just starting on a program that is to create pathways for High School students to be aware of jobs and training in the machine trades. I've wondered if there would be room for a category in this forum that was targeted to the student. I have discussed with teachers in other areas who require students to actively post on a forum or do research on a particular forum. I encourage students to use the web but they don't know what to look for.
So today we talked about putting one of our engine builds on this forum. Even the cannon project is a great one for anyone learning lathe work.