Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

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boblong
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Joined: Thu Jan 04, 2018 1:30 pm

Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by boblong »

Hi guys, just wanted to ask a quick question. Couldn't find an answer to it directly. I just came from the practical machinist and one of them recommended me to come over here before they blasted me haha.

Are we allowed to ask for a Tutor/someone to help train on manual milling skills etc?

If we are I'll post what I am looking for. (Long Beach, Cali based)
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NP317
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by NP317 »

This seems like the best place to ask.
No flaming allowed here.
~RN
boblong
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by boblong »

Thanks can we close this post? Going to make a new one.
SteveM
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by SteveM »

boblong wrote:Are we allowed to ask for a Tutor/someone to help train on manual milling skills etc?
Welcome to the forum.

There are a number of books that can get you started, depending on what it is you need to do and where you are.

There are LOT of youtube videos out there. There was a thread on it a while back:
https://www.chaski.org/homemachinist/vi ... 11#p311373

tubalcain and thatlazymachinist are the best for beginners, as they were both shop teachers, so you get to be the student.

Steve
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ctwo
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by ctwo »

The way I've tried to interact with the board members here is to just post my question, in whatever phase of a project I'm planning. Sometimes the questioning starts at the "I have an idea" phase and am wondering where to start, or if it's even possible...

Good luck!
Standards are so important that everyone must have their own...
To measure is to know - Lord Kelvin
Disclaimer: I'm just a guy with a few machines...
pete
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by pete »

What little I know has taken a very long time to pick up since there's no one afaik within 70 or more miles who could act as any kind of hands on mentor. When I started the internet wasn't even thought of yet. So I was forced into the old school way no different than machining hobbyists have been doing for more than 100 years. Books. On average there seems to be a general lack of interest to do the same by a high percentage on the forums. Yes it takes a lot of time, money and effort, but in my opinion there's still no substitute unless you do have the chance at formal schooling or that hands on mentoring. Even then I'd still have the books. And yes all these forums and Youtube videos are great, however they can't go into the detail specific books can and do. I look at the forums and YT as a good addition to those books and certainly not there full replacement.

Just finding where and what books were available was a tough problem in it's self when I started out. The American published Home Shop Machinist magazine has a number of books and produce a couple of specific hobby machining related magazines. In my not so humble opinion the books and magazines from the UK are still much better. Machining as an actual hobby pretty much started there. After more than 30 years of buying everything I could I'd like to think I now have a pretty good idea of what would be the best for a beginner or intermediate level person. If it were me and I had to do it all over again? There's two that would be at the very top of my list. Find a good used copy of the Machinst's Handbook. 1940's or later up to maybe the 1970's will have everything you need while the new versions have far too much related to todays cnc, cutting tools and methods. I own a brand new version as well simply because I could get a large print version and not because the newer is better. It won't really teach you machining, but is a reference standard for general information. Speeds, feeds, threads, and at least 800 more pages of information. It's also not really designed to be read cover to cover, but is a reference book of industry standards. Those speeds and feeds for an example are a general starting point and dropping them by a bit will trade time for tool life that industry can't afford to do. Of equal or possibly more importance that will teach you a great deal about machining would be a book published of the collected works of a George H. Thomas that were originally published in the UK's Model Engineer magazine. That book is titled The Model Engineer's Workshop Manual. It's fairly expensive at around $50 and that's ordering it from Tee Publishing in the UK. It's sold on Ebay for much higher prices though. While there's a lot in it about building accessories for and using the UK made Myford Super 7 lathe, it also goes into more detail about not only the how but also why certain methods should be used than any other book I own. Without question it's the one I've learned the most from and I still refer to it today. George had a unique combination of talents, not only was he a top notch machinist and designer, but he could clearly explain what was meant. That in my opinion is pretty rare. Tee Publishing also has about the largest selection of specific books directly aimed at the hobbyist. Only you know your interests, but they carry what's called The Workshop Practice Series of books. There's close to 50 in the series now I think and I have most. Some weren't nearly as good as I thought they might be. But some are very good. Having some basic understanding of heat treating steel can be very useful so there Hardening, Tempering & Heat Treatment book is worth it. Same for the Vertical Milling in the Home Workshop, Screwcutting in the Lathe, Milling Operations in the Lathe, Workholding in the Lathe, Dividing, and Tool and Cutter Sharpening.

Long Island Dial Indicator Repair has extensive files on there website about the good and not so good points of almost any good metrology tool people like us are likely to be interested in. There a professional repair company and know the equipment better than anyone on the forums does. Wisely spending your money for the most bang for the buck will save you a whole lot and again I wish I'd known what I know now. Cutting tool manufacturers have hundreds of pages of free information on there websites that will teach you more about the basic tool geometry than forum posts or YT can. Learning to research information through the various manufacturing websites is a good skill to develope and I've found the information can be trusted from good reputable company's.

A very important but seldom mentioned subject for beginners is having a basic understanding of machine tool alignments. You can do a great deal to better your equipments accuracy with it for little more than a bit of time in some cases. You can unknowingly also make things worse without that basic understanding. There's a free pdf of Dr. Georg Schlesingers book Testing Machine Tools that's well worth searching for and printing out. A great deal of it will be well above your current understanding. That doesn't lessen it's importance now and even more important later on.

Unlike far too many other forums most Chaski members actively discourage wrong or incorrect information. And generaly anything like that even well meant is quickly pointed out. To me that's of great value. Yes Practical Machinist forum isn't very kind to the hobbest, but it is a forum for mostly professional machinists. Searching there's and other forums archives is time well spent. There's an excellent archive here about wheel selection for tool sharpening to name just one that's well worth reading. Again if it were me I wouldn't narrow my focus too much especially for something like YT videos. I've learned a lot of valuable information and tricks from wood turning videos, ornamental turning, watch and clock making and a few others. Useful information is where you find it and isn't always on specific types of videos.

In a nutshell machining as a subject is far more complex and involved than it first seems. You'll spend a lifetime learning it even at the hobby level. To me that's what makes it interesting. I'll never learn it all. At first everything will seem confusing and most of it well above your understanding. The more you learn then the more things start to make sense and fall into place. Learning to think and approach a problem like real machinists can do and teaching myself to visualise something in 3 dimensions was the biggest hurdle. But once learned everything got much easier. I wish I'd known that in the beginning.

The above should keep you busy for awhile if you were actually serious about learning. :-)
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mcostello
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by mcostello »

Location?
pete
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by pete »

Long Beach California for what he's said.
Mr Ron
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Re: Are we allowed to ask here for Tutoring?

Post by Mr Ron »

I think one of the most important thing is to concentrate on knowing your machine; what it can and cannot do. There is nothing worse than running an end mill into a Kurt vise under power feed and not knowing what to do first. Panic sets in, in such a situation and you scramble around not knowing whether to shut off the machine or the feed. So many things can happen in an instant, one needs to be prepared for. Running a tool into a chuck on a lathe can cause severe damage and impair the accuracy going forward. I know because I have done just that; not a pleasant sight. I see so many drill press tables with holes drilled into them that should not be there.

After knowing your machine, you can then start doing small projects, knowing that you have control of the machine. You will make mistakes, like wanting to remove .010" of material and ending up removing .012". That is when you have to think; what did I do wrong! A visit to this website or any other may give you the answer. Here you will be told "to sneak up to the wanted dimension" rather than trying to hit it on the first try. After applying such advice, you try again, maybe more than once until you get it right. The learning curve can be steep, but persistence pays off eventually.

I could go on and on, but I am pretty much a newbie myself (30+ years of metalworking). There are many on this website who know infinitely more than I, so I don't want to steer you wrong. Of all the machinist websites, I found this one to be the most informative. The moderator has been around machine shops for a long time, has made his share of mistakes and learned from them. I respect him as does everyone else in giving the right direction to an inquiry. In most cases, his solutions make common sense; at least they do to me.

There is much you can learn from books, but nothing beats hands-on experience. I would caution you to not take what you see on you tube videos as "bible" truth. Many of these so called machinists may have done a job that worked for them, but may be bad advice to others. I know the moderator of this website will always give good advice, based on his experience.
Mr.Ron from South Mississippi
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