# Turning tuition / course



## SVB (26 Mar 2018)

Folks,

Returning to the world of metal turning after n decades last turning at school.

What I’d really like is some sort of book / dvd / on-line link that refreshes old knowledge and build new through a series of small projects starting with some straight forward projects moving to some more ‘intermediate’ level projects.

Any good suggestions?

Thanks, Simon.


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## marcros (26 Mar 2018)

Following thread with interest MN


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## TFrench (26 Mar 2018)

I'm in a similar position - I've done bits and bobs on my dad's ancient Drummond round bed but I'd like to take it further. I watch a guy on YouTube called abom79 who does really helpful videos, I've picked a lot up from there. Definitely a gap in the market for a Paul sellers style machining basics type thing.

Sent from my SM-G950F using Tapatalk


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## SVB (26 Mar 2018)

I did find this one - a mix of jigs / tooling type project and actual finished items.

www.projectsinmetal.com/

Not made any yet to test how easy they are to do but seem to assume you know what you’re doing so a bit of trial and error ahead I suspect.

S


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## rbland (27 Mar 2018)

During my first year studying mechanical engineering at university , I watched this series on metalworking techniques by MIT on Youtube: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-4McYKC ... 6ZgaM0tbk7

The videos are very old and poor quality. They might be a bit slow and boring, or a bit elementary, but I found a few bits useful. I’d never seen a sensitive chuck, and little tips like putting a hand tap into a drill press and turning it by hand to keep the threads true turned out to be handy. Unfortunately there are no actual projects, but if I remember correctly, all the basic techniques for operating a mill and lathe are covered.


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## novocaine (27 Mar 2018)

step 1
buy the bible

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0852422881/ ... _lig_dp_it

step 2
watch hours of Abom, Tubelcain, this old tony, doubleboost and clickspring on youtube. (others are available)

step 3
look for a local technical college. as much as you can learn from videos and books, it will never beat having some old grump looking over your shoulder.


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## Droogs (27 Mar 2018)

Best place to go is the Ascossiation of Woodturners of Great Britain AWGB. Membership is less than £20 per year and they can put you in touch with instrutctors in your area:
https://www.awgb.co.uk/


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## novocaine (27 Mar 2018)

Droogs":3tldlsfi said:


> Best place to go is the Ascossiation of Woodturners of Great Britain AWGB. Membership is less than £20 per year and they can put you in touch with instrutctors in your area:
> https://www.awgb.co.uk/



errrrr, Droogs old bean, you seem to have slipped in to the metal area, I'm not so sure the AWGB would be much good here (ugh, dead tree carcass  )


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## CHJ (27 Mar 2018)

SVB":1w14wn8c said:


> Any good suggestions?
> .



The first thing you will become aware of when you try and make or modify an old bolt or oddment of rod or bar you have to hand is that getting a reasonable finish straight off the tool is a lot more difficult than you envisioned, this is usually down to the fact that schools and colleges will have made sure stock material was of an easily machined grade.

If you are purchasing stock for a project make sure you get an easily machined grade, (free cutting) difference is chalk and cheese.

Model engineering shows are usually a good source of short length packs, I often buy hexagonal bar stock, ready made for nuts and very little extra wastage for normal turning.

For Mild Steel try to get a leaded grade, 230M07Pb or En-1APb
For aluminium 2011 grade will machine the easiest.




Having said the above, just like wood turning, if the stock comes your way in whatever form it's worth the hoarding, just be aware that the difference in time taken to achieve the little job in hand may well be more about mastering a decent cut finish than shaping the item.


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## Droogs (27 Mar 2018)

oops, loaded with flu and lots of drugs atm, just saw turning in heading. Didn't realise is was a metalhead thread. my bad, I will evict myself at the nearest gap in the rubble and slink back to civilization


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## hawkeyefxr (27 Mar 2018)

You might look for a evening course put on by maybe a school or college. I have done years of metal turning and to explain all the little intricacies would be near impossible here. 
Have to tool sharp a correctly sharpened is a main factor. 
If you looking for a finish a trick we did at college was to sharpen the tool so the cutting "point" had a small radius, run the lathe slowly and a low feed rate. You can get a finish really shiny but the lathes needs yo be in good condition, no work parts on the bed or slides.
A night time course is the way to go really if your really new to metal turning, things can go wrong bloody quick otherwise.
Remember these machines can and do kill people.


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## Fergal (27 Mar 2018)

I recently got one of the Chinese mini-lathes which are popular in model engineering circles. It is the first lathe I've touched since school days 35 years ago. The lathe is not as sturdy as an old English machine (Myford et al) but it is significantly cheaper and I enjoy the process of fettling it and making accessories for it. There is a lot of good value tooling available on ebay and banggood.com. The carbide insert tools are very good and save messing about sharpening HSS tools.

I found the use of it came back to me very quickly after a long absence and I don't feel I need any instruction with the wealth of info available on Youtube etc. Besides, metal turning is one of those things that you really need to practise and get a feel for and having someone watching over your shoulder doesn't really help with that.

Fergal


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## novocaine (27 Mar 2018)

If anything, metal turning is as much about following the rules as it is about "getting a feel for it", feeds and speeds are fundamental to getting a good finish, as is tool preparation, becoming reliant of index tooling is a massive mistake and can be extremely limiting. 

as to index tooling over HSS, I can promise you that your machine is not up to the task of running them to their full potential, it is neither fast enough nor stiff enough to get insert tooling cutting at it's premium, which was designed for industry use as it allows a much heavier cut at much (much much) higher speed for efficiency sake. The issue is that often it's proclaimed that a poor finish is the result of cheap lathe when using a well hone HSS tool instead of relying on a carbide insert would have improved both the cut and finish of the part. 

you also can't grind a tool for a specific task, say you want to put a 5mm radius on the end of something or have a specific shape you want to cut in a piece, carbide simply can't do it. don't discount either type of tooling, but be aware that they both of disadvantages, and learn how to use them both. (starting with HSS, as grinding your own tool teaches you so much about what is happening that you miss if you leave it out)

the other thing that old fart will teach you is safety, as has already been said, the lathe is a genuinely dangerous tool that can and will kill you or itself if you don't treat it as you should. I've been in to many "self taught machine shops" and seen to many scary approaches that are proclaimed as being safe to want to mention, including watching a supposed expert fire a chuck key through an OSB wall 10m away because he knew best (if you leave the chuck key in when you take work out in my shop you are banned for life, same as if you defeat any of the guards because they are "in the way").

yes you can learn lots from online, I still firmly believe that you need actual guidance if you want to be serious about machine work. 

(from the owner of a Boxford AUD who was taught how to use one by a number of old farts and uses index tooling even though he knows better)

not to be taken out of context Fergal, this isn't me having a go, just pointing out why tuition is important too.


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## Fergal (27 Mar 2018)

I agree that tuition is important, but for me personally I find I learn better by trial and experimentation. Also, the only kind of tuition I could find in my area was from the elderly gentlemen of the local model engineering club. I'm not quite old enough for steam engines yet.

I am fortunate to be old enough that I was taught workshop safety at school, and it has stuck with me. I've used power tools my entire life and always treat them with respect. I know there's a lot of bad information online and some very dangerous practices are demonstrated. I'm old enough and wise enough to know not to copy them though.

As for insert tooling vs HSS, I have to disagree. I have both and I have always got a better finish with inserts once I found the correct feeds and speeds. Insert tooling may originally been designed for industrial applications, but there is now a massive range of hobby-lathe sized tools available for those who don't know how to, or are not interested in grinding their own.

Admittedly, I've not had much success with sharpening my HSS tools. I fully appreciate how useful they are, but I have limited time for this hobby and insert tooling has proven more convenient for me. I'd rather spend my time turning stuff on the lathe than grinding HSS tools! I've not needed any custom tools as yet, but when I do I'll definitely have a go at grinding them, but for now insert tooling suits me fine.

Fergal


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## novocaine (27 Mar 2018)

I'm weird, sharpening a tool is meditation to me. 
last night I spent the last hour* in the workshop on the planes and couple of chisels just because I wanted to be out there and not have to think about the real world for a bit. 

* not quite true, I sharpened 2 chisels then laid out a few letters and practices carving for 1/2 hour at the very end


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