New member, not waving - drowning

[bodgy]

Good morning

I live on Sydney's North Shore in Australia.

I have just 'tooled' up with a new lathe (Chinese 9x20 ish clone) and a fairly decent 1 HP vertical mill.

Having not touched such machines since school, I am on a very steep learning curve. Whilst not currently into the CNC journey (way in advance of my current skills) I joined the forum for the wealth of generalised metalwork knowledge.

I have a million questions, most of which I can resolve via Googs or the various fora, but I seem to find more questions each day, as I stumble along.

To date I have made a few things, mainly tools on the machines, but I want to start on a QCTP soon, but first need to understand how they work. I've seen some plans, which should be within my skill set, but unclear on the locking mechanism for the tool holder.

I have an extensive woodwork workshop, with every machine/tool known to man, but the biggest challenge seems to be the absolute accuracy required in metalwork. Close enough doesn't seem to be good enough!

Anyway, I hope the members will have the patience to withstand a number of stupid questions

Thanks

[mc-motorsports]

Originally Posted by bodgy but the biggest challenge seems to be the absolute accuracy required in metalwork. Close enough doesn't seem to be good enough! Thanks

On conventional machining, it's much more difficult than CNC. Atleast CNC you can run a first piece, adjust for tool flex, spindle flex, any other inaccuracy and you have consitancy on your side.


Conventional machining requires a lot of exerience to be precision. Knowing the machine and your tooling is half the battle.


MC