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Other machinists machining solo at home shops?

While not a machinist, I do most stuff at home solo....cannot get my kids or wife interested in helping , no matter how loud I yell at them. :D

That bit me about 18 months ago, I was cutting down a 'small' tree to make way for new fence posts on our boundary. Using my 6-foot ali stepladder against the tree, and saw with a small rope, I slipped off the tread, and fell about 4 feet. Not far you say???? On the way down to the ground, I found a previously cut branch, a nail in the old fence post, and the ladder....all with parts of body that didn't need the contact. :eek:

Gash in my arm, cuts on my leg, bruise and grazes on my head and face....plus the meanest headache I have had without consuming alcohol first. I think I was out cold for a few seconds.....it was a sunny day, and my kids arrived home from school not long after....I was bleeding and covered in dirt. I managed to fall between the old fence post and the tree....don't know how...it was a tiny gap. Funny now, but at the time, I was not happy to say the least. :)
 
I work alone, yeah
With nobody else
I work alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I work alone
I prefer to be by myself
Now every morning just before breakfast
I don't want no coffee or tea
Just me and good buddy Wiser
That's all I ever need
'Cause I work alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I work alone
I prefer to be by myself
Yeah, the other night I laid sleeping
And I woke from a terrible dream
So I caught up my pal Jack Daniel's
And his partner Jimmy Beam
And we work alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah, you know when I work alone
I prefer to be by myself
Yeah, the other day I got invited to a party
But I stayed home instead
Just me and my pal Johnny Walker
And his brothers Black and Red
And we work alone, yeah
With nobody else
Yeah,…
channeling of; George Thorogood :thumbsup:

I wish I had the machine tools

-----------------------------------------------------------------

for the rest

I use to live next door to a 'real machinist' Pete K.
he had a full on machine shop in his garage...
I'm not one, by any stretch, I dabbled in it...
he was a T/F Nostalgia Dragster owner/Crewchief
still does the stuff too
His wife Marlene K. knew more than most men ever will
& his son Fritz is/was an accomplished Drag Racer
they were also IHBA boat T/FFB record holder racer

He was from the Alameda Ship yards days

that dude was the best
I learned so much from him
 
Machinists mostly work alone, that's how it is.
Started doing stuff at school after hours in the early 70's, been playing ever since.
My pal had a great machine shop 'V8 engines' mainly, 'been there forever' let me use the machines 'as and when', and now its gone, so sad!!!
I enjoy helping other Folks with their projects , but me, I prefer to do my own stuff alone.
Its hard now without machinery, but 'where's there' a will' there is a way lol:lol:

Stuff is much more fun, when you don't do it for a living...
 
My dad and I are both licensed machinist. Unfortunately I no longer work in the trade but make the occasional piece here and there on the lathe in his shop.

Often times I work alone but when our schedules line up, we enjoy working on the RR together.
 
Have a home/solo shop and just follow the basic rules. Eye protection and sleeves rolled up. The best rule is if you are struggling with a part/job, just stop and walk away. Machine tools will take you for a ride if you are careless.

BTW, almost everyone leaves the key in the lathe chuck once.

I did have one freak accident about 2 years ago. I was turning a piece of Aquamet 22 on the lathe. The stuff is known for long strings/chips. I never touch the chips by hand. A hook or a pair of pliers with the jaws ground smooth.
However while sweeping I tangled one around my left ankle. 40 stitches and then because I was in the middle of chemo treatment the wound would not close so I had some artificial implants which saved my tendons. I use the hook to grab those long strings on the floor now.

IMG_0080.jpg
 
Maybe installing a camera in the shop may not be a bad idea for us with some one else in the house.
I'm alone in the house nowadays too and kinda liking it. Have my 3 prairie dogs for me to laugh at and keep me company. One likes to be in my shirt and doesn't mind going out to the shop that way so long as I'm not doing a whole lot.

i have worked alone at home shop for most of my life. Now 6 years on my 68 Roadrunner resto-mod. Almost every evening and Saturday. my wife has helped me maybe total of 10 hours since i started on the car. yeah, i get upset and even mad sometimes, but just walk away instead of doing something rushed or stupid.
Been real careful since i was 16 and "blew" the toolpost carrage all the way off and into the floor on a Leblond Makino 16 inch swing lathe. i forgot to remove the chuck t-handle from the chuck when i started it. the lathe was where i was working part time after school. The owner (older guy) told me he guessed i got the shoot scared out of me and told me if i knew how to knock it off, i should be able to put it back! Not easy or quick, but i did repair it. Every time i start to turn on my lathe, this experience comes to mind before i pull the little level to start the chuck.
My lathe and Bridgeport don't know my name and are not friendly or forgiving if i do something stupid.
PT in Tennessee
My Lablond is a 15" Regal servoshift. Not too crazy about that type of shifting but so far so good. Had the machine about 20 years now.

I'm no machinist (probably like the anti-machinist - I can mess stuff up enough to need a machinist at times) but like you all, most everything I've ever worked on (including the GTX these last half dozen years), I've done alone.
My wife has learned to check on me once in a while (she witnessed my Ram slide off a jack stand and on to me once) and will begrudgingly help on the rare occasion I ask her to, but for the most part stays away while I'm in there.
All the vehicles, the tractor, small engine critters all get turns in the garage.

Speaking of which, does anyone else do this?
I tend to "talk" to whatever I'm working on, including cussing it real good if it needs it.
She used to find that sort of mental - now she knows it's just therapeutic. :)
Talk to myself much more these days than before the X left but my voice is the only one around now lol And took me 3 times to learn not to leave the chuck wrench in the chuck! First two times I was still a newbie but the 3rd time I had been machining for quite a few years. Each time was pretty much uneventful so maybe that's why I wasn't learning. One time it broke the square drive off of the wrench so had to mill a new one on it and that was about it. Think something/someone distracted me at work but had to reach down deep after that to decide if I'm going to keep doing that or not. So far so good....

I work by myself setting tooling and dies for a couple of 300 ton presses at my day job , I build my cars completely by myself to keep away from any drama or b.s. I may encounter on the home front. it seems to work pretty well.
Had plenty of drama here at one time and sometimes it tried to migrate to the shop.
 
I resist the urge to leave the key in the chuck, as I don't feel like chasing it. On the other hand, I put stuff on the top of the lathe since the top is flat. Once (twice actually), I had put a 10" 3/8" drive extension I was using as a handle cutting threads in something, and saw it falling towards the spinning chuck out of the corner of my eye. I knew I could never catch it in time, so all I could do was duck. The damn thing hit me in the collar bone leaving a painful purple dent for a few days. The second time, I saw it start and I caught it. I do NOT do that anymore... :realcrazy:
 
Distractions behind your old 1942 Forward probably aren't a smart idea either, but so far I still have both hands.
beerestoration2015-2016 1165.JPG
 
I resist the urge to leave the key in the chuck, as I don't feel like chasing it. On the other hand, I put stuff on the top of the lathe since the top is flat. Once (twice actually), I had put a 10" 3/8" drive extension I was using as a handle cutting threads in something, and saw it falling towards the spinning chuck out of the corner of my eye. I knew I could never catch it in time, so all I could do was duck. The damn thing hit me in the collar bone leaving a painful purple dent for a few days. The second time, I saw it start and I caught it. I do NOT do that anymore... :realcrazy:
Of the times that I left the chuck wrench in the chuck, it went to the floor but very quickly lol. The top of my lathe is flat too and even though there's some stuff on it, none of it is very big.....mostly emery cloth and the like.
 
Witnessing a guy who found ways to injure himself such as leaving the chuck key in and forgetting to let go of it...yeah don't leave the chuck key in. Another guy lost his left eye when the drill press key was left in. And personally, one time pipe tapping on a Bridgeport, don't bottom the tap...heard the pieces of the tap wizz by each side of my head and out through the front window of our shop. Speaking of tapping, my boss, the co-owner of the shop, back when came into the shop kinda unusually duded up to meet with a new customer. His brand new khakis slacks looked real nice...until he came over to say good morning. As I turned to give him a return greeting, my hand hit the flux brush sticking out of a can containing tapping oil. Well...the can tipped spilling all that oil onto his new pants. I could mention the evening when we stopped at our local gin mill for too many drinks, I was way overdue to meet my girlfriend after being talked into 'one more'. In the final rush to leave, I backed my new '73 Challenger into his new '73 Chrysler New Yorker. **** I did more damage to his boat than my Dodge. Good thing he was a great guy and tolerated me well! He was like my 2nd dad. He's long gone now and is missed by many.
 
I have access to 15 bridgeports, 12 lathes and over 50 CNC machines at work all day but for years now I have wanted my own Bridgeport and lathe for at home iin garage but man they are expensive even used and so is the tooling needed.
 
While not a machinist, I do most stuff at home solo....cannot get my kids or wife interested in helping , no matter how loud I yell at them. :D

That bit me about 18 months ago, I was cutting down a 'small' tree to make way for new fence posts on our boundary. Using my 6-foot ali stepladder against the tree, and saw with a small rope, I slipped off the tread, and fell about 4 feet. Not far you say???? On the way down to the ground, I found a previously cut branch, a nail in the old fence post, and the ladder....all with parts of body that didn't need the contact. :eek:

Gash in my arm, cuts on my leg, bruise and grazes on my head and face....plus the meanest headache I have had without consuming alcohol first. I think I was out cold for a few seconds.....it was a sunny day, and my kids arrived home from school not long after....I was bleeding and covered in dirt. I managed to fall between the old fence post and the tree....don't know how...it was a tiny gap. Funny now, but at the time, I was not happy to say the least. :)
I just found the picture of the gap I slipped off my ladder into - and what was left of the tree after I regained consciousness....
upload_2019-2-24_21-21-27.png
 
Absolutely nothing... thats why its funny, I was mad at myself but took it out on the closest person.. She did as your little emojis are doing... laughed at me.

This reminds me of a time I was on vacation. my wife came in from the lagoon cursing that I wasn’t there to help her with the kayak.

I just laughed and said, so I’m being yelled at because I couldn’t read your mind and predict the future.

Her response, you’re god damn right!

We still have a good laugh about that.
 
As an apprentice during night school " Intro to Machining 101" class we had to turn a bar between centers. One of the young men in the class was wearing bib overalls and the dog grabbed one of the straps. It happened so fast and messed him up before someone could hit the brake. By the time I heard the noise and turned it was over and he was mangled pretty bad. I understood he survived but we never saw him in class again.

2 Useful lessons I was taught related to chuck keys early on that is now habit.
  • Always put a lathe in neutral before you pick up the key.
  • Consider a key part of your hand anytime you remove them from their resting place. Another words you can use 1 hand to pick up tools or adjust a part if the key is in the chuck, if you need 2 hands the key must go back to the resting location.
 
I was a machinist for over 30 years .....seldom ever worked alone.....not wise if you can help it.
Still have all 10 fingers too!

Jeff
 
I was never a "machinist" but always wanted to be one.
In 1970 I needed some brass parts needed for a pool table I was trying to engineer and build.

So I made a -tempory lathe-(out of wood) using a washing machine motor --direct drive.-----I learned a few things with that adventure.:)

Fast forward to today and I have a full-size milling machine (Tree 2VG) and an Emco V13 lathe that I have been using extensively for 25+ years.
I still am reluctant to call myself a "machinist".

I do have a comment about working "alone" while running these machines.
When involved in a project -on a running machine- the last thing needed is an interruption to the attention needed for both safety and the concentration for keeping the project on track. ---

IMO a "machinist" needs the peace and solitude of being --alone when the hands are on the controls. Anyone that may wander in -while a person is working needs use due care to not interrupt until given the ok.

BTW--as others have pointed out--long stringy chips can be really nasty especially stainless. ---They can jump out in a flash and at the -very least- draw blood.
 
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