Spending Money Wisely vs Having None

[timo_gross]

Looks great and it is a gap bed too.

Dave.

Most do not know a manual lathe is almost as fast as a CNC on parts over a inch or two. The 8" wheel used on hangar doors I could produce one every 3½ minutes. A engine lathe 5 to 6 minutes
Last CNC 8 plus minutes.
I sub out busies times the wheels. Had few CNC Guys come by and lathe still put wheel in turret lathe and 3½ minutes latter a finished with a pulley Grove and 2 bearing seats done. He keep the CNC Guys from over charging

Not my lathe though, just a random picture from the Internet. The manufacturer of my lathe changed their website header from "small manual lathe" to "high speed precision engine lathe".

 

[clockworkcheval]

And I still use the woodworkers workbench my grandfather made me for my 10th birthday 70 years ago.

 

[timo_gross]

And I still use the woodworkers workbench my grandfather made me for my 10th birthday 70 years ago.

That does not count, because you did not spend money on that. It was maybe a good idea to keep it.

 

[master53yoda]

My money philosophy I call opportunity cost, with cash, the choice of what you buy is really the choice not to buy every thing else.
I only buy something on credit as a convenience, paid of monthly. other credit usage ignoring the opportunity cost.

Capital expenditures can be bought with credit as long as the Value of USAGE is equal to or less to then the monthly cost compared to renting.

I didn't really learn this until latter in life. It would have been way better if I could have accepted this early in life.

Art B

 

[Lloyd-ss]

And I still use the woodworkers workbench my grandfather made me for my 10th birthday 70 years ago.

Wow, I am loving all of this "sentimental history" that is coming out. A lot of pleasant memories, I bet.

When I was a teenager, we built a smallish "nice" workbench with a top made out of clear fir 2x6's and held together with screws, not nails. It was a big deal. Do all the crappy dirty jobs on the big workbench and keep this one for clean projects. That held true for a few years but then my brother and I were doing a transmission swap and the old trans ended up on the bottom plywood shelf of the "nice" workbench with a big gouge and groove all the way across from that trans. Darn, not good.

That "nice" workbench is now, almost 60 years later, in our laundry room, all re-sanded and varnished all smooth and pretty. And that big gouge is still there on the bottom shelf varnished real pretty, too.
Lloyd

 

[Richard Hed]

Looks great and it is a gap bed too.

Dave.

Most do not know a manual lathe is almost as fast as a CNC on parts over a inch or two. The 8" wheel used on hangar doors I could produce one every 3½ minutes. A engine lathe 5 to 6 minutes
Last CNC 8 plus minutes.
I sub out busies times the wheels. Had few CNC Guys come by and lathe still put wheel in turret lathe and 3½ minutes latter a finished with a pulley Grove and 2 bearing seats done. He keep the CNC Guys from over charging

I know one thing: there are many things it is simply easier to do on a manual. CNCs are made for production of many of the same parts, hundreds or thousands.

 

[Richard Hed]

My money philosophy I call opportunity cost, with cash, the choice of what you buy is really the choice not to buy every thing else.
I only buy something on credit as a convenience, paid of monthly. other credit usage ignoring the opportunity cost.

Capital expenditures can be bought with credit as long as the Value of USAGE is equal to or less to then the monthly cost compared to renting.

I didn't really learn this until latter in life. It would have been way better if I could have accepted this early in life.

Art B

Absolutely. And the problem is that our schools specifically do NOT teach this. I'm sure that the powers that be do not want us knowing how interest works, how inflation works, how financing works.

 

[SmithDoor]

Not my lathe though, just a random picture from the Internet. The manufacturer of my lathe changed their website header from "small manual lathe" to "high speed precision engine lathe".

A mini lathe is high speed precision engine lathe.

I know one thing: there are many things it is simply easier to do on a manual. CNCs are made for production of many of the same parts, hundreds or thousands.
The red die is never to used for production setup only

I

This casting for wheel I have been talking about.

.

Now goto airport look for this handle

Dave

 

[timo_gross]

I know one thing: there are many things it is simply easier to do on a manual. CNCs are made for production of many of the same parts, hundreds or thousands.

I think it is not that simple. Basically every coffee machine could be considered a CNC today. (if the term numerical is allowed to be used liberal). Computer Numerical Control.
Drawing the line between CNC and manual (or mechanical automated) is probably less constructive than looking at the overall picture.
Comparing production machines vs hobby. Or comparing specialized vs. universal.

 

[SmithDoor]

I think it is not that simple. Basically every coffee machine could be considered a CNC today. (if the term numerical is allowed to be used liberal). Computer Numerical Control.
Drawing the line between CNC and manual (or mechanical automated) is probably less constructive than looking at the overall picture.
Comparing production machines vs hobby. Or comparing specialized vs. universal.

I found productive of machine tool is more to do with person setting and running the tools not if it is CNC or manual.

Dave

 

[SmithDoor]

I know one thing: there are many things it is simply easier to do on a manual. CNCs are made for production of many of the same parts, hundreds or thousands.

The few tool I built from scratch I used computer controls.

Some think I am not for CNC but I like CNC.
Today I would use CNC in manufacturing depending on the part and the labor problem.

How looks today with all government red tape and labor problems.
Either a Portable welding/Line boring or a government job.
The shop would be hobby shop maybe doing things for my Uncle Walmart.

It would not be do engineering or design work just nice quite government job and paycheck.

What type of work did you do?


Dave

 

[Lloyd-ss]

Heading back toward the original intent of the OP, I started amassing my tools in my early teens. So what can you afford at that age. I remember getting a handy sized Stanley straight screwdriver. The flat tip was about 3/16", and the OAL was about 10". Black and orange fluted handle. Easy to spot in a tool box. It fit many smaller things perfectly. It was my favorite screwdriver, if you can have such a thing. It disappeared about 10 years ago. It is on the property somewhere, under leaves or grass or dirt. Haven't found a suitable replacement to take its place.

 

[Steamchick]

When I was 16, first motorcycle time, my mate bought a big screwdriver with a blue plastic handle. Unbranded, but he reckoned it was a god buy as it was really cheap. Probably a box fell off a wagon and the shop owner wanted to move them quickly? Odd things happened that way...
Anyway, I bought one. My favourite always lived "to hand" on the bench, after I got my first bench 6 years later. I still have the bench, and screwdriver, but the handle split 2 years ago and I epoxied it back together, because it was needed. Used it 2 days ago. What a friend a familiar tool can be. 54 years on.
K2

 

[SmithDoor]

When I was 16, first motorcycle time, my mate bought a big screwdriver with a blue plastic handle. Unbranded, but he reckoned it was a god buy as it was really cheap. Probably a box fell off a wagon and the shop owner wanted to move them quickly? Odd things happened that way...
Anyway, I bought one. My favourite always lived "to hand" on the bench, after I got my first bench 6 years later. I still have the bench, and screwdriver, but the handle split 2 years ago and I epoxied it back together, because it was needed. Used it 2 days ago. What a friend a familiar tool can be. 54 years on.
K2

Most of my hand tools fall in to that category too.

I have tools dating back to the 1960's.

Dave