(Part 2) Best products from r/Machinists

Let's sort a few things, first.

|I really cannot see how a roll forged HSS drill isnt't better in every aspect compared to ground HSS drill.

This statement may be true for the poster, but it's flawed. One of the ways a drill can be better is cost, and forgings cost more to make. This would relegate them to a niche market. No one will pay extra for a drill that is only ever going to see aluminum or wood.

As we can see in any hardware store, there are a variety of drills available today. Coated, uncoated. Cobalt. Carbide. Chinesium. We've learned that one drill does not fit every hole (I made a joke!). What this variety tells us metallurgy has improved since that movie was made. It may no longer be necessary to forge a large drill because, for most applications today, one of the standard drills works just fine, and costs less. As the manufacturing volume increases, there is always a push to find the lowest cost expendables; i.e. drills that are just strong enough and last just long enough to get the job done at a profit.

If a shop were to buy only the "best" drills, it may lose money. Competitors that can underbid them will put them out of business over time.

|if that were absolutely true then the best drills would be made this way ...

Now you might see that making the best drill possible is not really the goal. The goal is making the most suitable drill for a specific set of tasks and a specific market.

| best drills would be made this way rather than the worst...

Forging does not make the best drills or the worst drills. It makes a more expensive drill that can survive harsh condition better than a milled drill. That's all.

LOL after all my pontificating this morning, I found this: https://www.amazon.com/19pcs-Forged-Speed-Twist-Drilling/dp/B06Y4GNRYD

I don't know if Tolsen is the best maker of roll forged twist drills, but they are a player.

Please educate me, guys. I see the "no gloves around machinery" commonly associated with machining. I have never operated a machine shop tool, unless you count a drill press. I work in construction, and the trend is becoming more and more to wear gloves 100%. We wear these gloves and I have personally had them save my finger from serious injury on more than one occasion when my hand got pinched between 2 heavy things and the finger of the glove just tore out as I was pulling my hand free. With all the sharp edges on things in a machine shop, I would think that cuts and swarf embedded in your hands would make a tight-fitting pair of gloves worth it. For instance, I don't even like picking up an angle grinder without gloves, but it's not a tool that I use often.

I guess my question is, if a machine would pull your gloved hand into a machine if you touched it, wouldn't it just pull your hand into the machine if you touched it? So why not protect your hands from cuts, scrapes, etc the other half of the day? I'm not trying to stir the shit here. I'm just looking for an honest explanation. Thanks.

I know you don't want disposables, but these are my go to ear plug. I wear them pretty much every day and they're comfortable and not too expensive, and they're pretty great as far as NRR goes too. The reusable plugs I've had in the past tend to get really uncomfortable, and don't seem to block as much noise as these.

If you're looking for a muff recommendation, I really like my Peltor electronic ones for shooting, but I've never tried them in the shop. The NRR isn't as high as the Hearos disposables I like, but I prefer my muffs when shooting because they're electronic and still let you hear normal volume sounds before the protection circuitry kicks in and shuts the sound off.

I would first like to say that I agree with everyone else here who recommends buying a used one and restoring it (or just keeping looking for a good deal, they're out there).

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That being said, there is a series of books available by David Gingery that has instructions on how to build basic metalworking machines from scrap. The first book in the series builds a foundry that enables you to cast aluminum, the second book builds a lathe, third a shaper, fourth a milling machine, etc. Seven books in total I think.

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If you do look into going this route, I'd strongly recommend looking into some of the more modern forms of sand casting, specifically the "lost foam" method which seems to be a lot easier to get consistent results from.

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Additionally, there are quite a few youtube series that build lathes either directly from Gingery's designs, or inspired by them. I was introduced to Gingery via the Makercise series and he, if I remember correctly, mostly follows Gingery's designs (he also covers lost foam casting as well)

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Note: if this series seems interesting to you, it would be cheaper to buy the hardcover book containing the whole series (or all 7 individual softcover books as a set) than it would be to buy each individually. However, if all you care about is the lathe, then just the first two should be enough to get you started (and you can always pick up the others later if you find yourself still interested in proceeding)

There is one piece of wisdom regarding small mills that I see again and again: the first thing to look at is machine weight. Mass = rigidity. Rigidity is the basis for many virtues - primarily clean cuts and accuracy. Rigidity also equates to long tool life.

You will encounter lots of people telling you to buy an old knee mill (e.g. Bridgeport). I can say from experience that a worn-out Bridgeport is next to useless. We had one at my previous day-job that was horrible - everything chattered, tools broke, parts were out of spec, etc.

Of course, the ways on an old mill can be restored - but my point is that buying an old mill is not a guaranteed road to success.

It is said that a good machinist can make good parts on a bad machine. Take a look at Sherline mills and the online resources/community. I'm not endorsing the Sherlines, but they are a great example of a baby machine that can make good parts with the right techniques. I do highly recommend the book written by the late owner.

If all you want to do is slotting and light side milling, a little mill might be fine. When you get into face milling and heavy cutting - that is when you want a big beefy machine. The Taig mill is another micro machine similar to the Sherline.

I learned a lot from a guy on YouTube, mrpete222. He’s got some good how-to videos and I’m sure there are many other good channels. This book: Machine Shop Trade Secrets https://www.amazon.com/dp/0831134771/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_kwZxCb75W3RY8 is good to have around the shop too.

Also try building one of these: http://www.john-tom.com/html/SteamPlans.html

Some of them will force you to think outside the box and or use methods you don’t commonly use. They’re nice practice pieces that you’ll keep for a long time :) good luck!

The perfect micrometer for mechanic work is a Mitutoyo digital caliper. Link.

If his mechanic work truly requires the precision of a micrometer, you should buy him a mechanical micrometer where the entire thimble is a ratchet. Link.

If your mechanic boyfriend is actually a machinist, you should buy him this. Link. Be careful with this one though... he may take a knee and propose to you on the spot.

I just picked out the first link to the product I'm describing. There may or may not be cheaper options out there.

Best of luck! You're awesome for deciding to buy him a tool he will use.

Another vote for bestest indicators

I used mitutoyo, interrapid, and bestest. Bestest is truly the best. Good repeatable action and easy to rotate bezel.

I have a mitutoyo Trutest .0005 .06 range and my only gripe would be the bezel. O-ring sealed makes it easy to replace and cheaper but rotating it is more stiff than the metal bezels of even Chinese brands.

Interrapid's swivel stem is neat but I don't care for it. .06 thou range seems to be something special but I haven't found it particularly special.

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Standard purchase along side an indicator would be..

MightyMag
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B00095V0NC

And the flex arm I mentioned in an earlier post.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B019LRULQA

https://www.amazon.com/Mitutoyo-Advanced-Absolute-Digital-Caliper/dp/B00WMKUUAQ


This is what you want. Couple bucks over asking but theres only really two companies worth looking at when it comes to quality measuring tools. Starrett and Mitutoyo. Starrett in my experience is generally a little more expensive.

Both brands are a "buy for life" variety when taken care of.

Every comment below is recommending there calipers so feel free to save yourself a headache. Merry Christmas.

That machine is a combo lathe/mill. They are "hobby" level machines, not capable of very good precision or accuracy, but they have their uses in small shops.

At the minimum you will need:

Some kind of toolpost, I would recommend a knockoff of a quick change toolpost from Aloris, they are affordable and will be good enough. This would be a good choice

A drill chuck to go in the tail stock. The taper on the tailstock spindle is probably something like a MT1 or MT2.

Measuring tools will be required to use the machine. A basic assortment would include a pair of calipers, a couple of micrometers (0-1" and 1"-2" range), and a couple of dial indicators.

These are kind of the basics, and you will find you need more tooling as you want to do different jobs.

I've actually heard of floppy disk adapters for paper-tape or punchcard machines, thateither stick into the reader and emulate a tape, or attach in place of the reader and emulate the entire reader.

Also seen adapters online that attach in place of a floppy drive, and load/save disk images on a USB thumbdrive, but the machine still just sees a floppy disk/drive.

Would be funny seeing an old paper-tape machine double-adaptered to run off a thumbdrive, though. Bonus points using something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B075FRSCQM plugged into a USB SD reader instead of a normal thumbdrive, could load files remotely that way even. :-P

I have the UE Boom 2, great speaker with excellent sound and pretty good battery. I mostly use it in my garage and it's held up well.

Ultimate Ears Boom 2 Phantom Wireless Mobile Bluetooth Speaker (Waterproof and Shockproof) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014M8ZO8S/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_L15MBb8THXCEQ

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LWBEEH8/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_old_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I’ve got one of these. Super happy with it for the money, and free shipping for that price surprised me. HHIP makes some pretty decent stuff overall.

Precision Engineering: An Evolutionary View is a great book (though hard to find.) It doesn't so much focus explicitly on machining but talks about the developments such as accurate screws and surfaces and other milestones that are required for machine tools along with specific cutting edge machine tools like the LODTM. It does a good high level of what I mentioned, but purposefully doesn't go into crazy detail on any one point or idea and includes an extensive source list if you want to go further down the rabbit hole.

I and others answered a somewhat related question here (and I posted a ton of books that may be of interest to you like the Cope book someone else mentioned here.)

Edit: Here are a few specific sources from that list:
History of Machine Tools, 1700-1910 by Steeds

Studies in the History of Machine Tools by Woodbury

A History of Machine Tools by Bradley

Tools for the Job: A History of Machine Tools to 1950 by The Science Museum

A History of Engineering Metrology by Hume