new toy to play with

[dazdidge]

I already have a cheapo lathe and a milling machine in my shop at work. I have used both for many little projects for myself and family/friends as well as making parts, tools, jigs etc for work. Sometimes even having to make parts that are no longer available for some of the older machines and doing a fair bit of prototyping.

I got a nice wee surprise yesterday when a friend phoned to tell me the local school are replacing some of their equipment and that there is a cnc lathe being dumped, if I want it it's mine. All I need to do is pick it up. It's only a small thing, about a metre in length and I haven't seen it yet so don't even know if it is single or three phase, or if there is any tooling etc to go with it.
My brain is hurting already with all the things I could do with it, I obviously can already use the non cnc one but getting hold of a cnc version will make doing batch jobs much quicker and to a higher degree of accuracy.

Time to stock up on some nice shiny brass and aluminium and have some thoughts on angling related stuff I can make. If the lathe is single phase it will be going in my wee workshop at home, if not it will go to work and I will swap it with the single phase one, either way I am going to have a nice wee lathe at home to timker on

daz

[Inchlaggan]

Very Nice, wish that would happen to me!

[Wildfisher]

That is certainly a stroke of luck for a serious hobbyist 

[Bobfly]

Sadly, many schools have being effectively closing down their techy depts ( due to ELF N' SAFETY ) so that they do not have nasty machinery for folks to cut their fingers on since all thumbs and stuff are needed for jabbing at phone screens for essential text messaging purposes. From six secondary schools around here about forty fine woodworking lathes and all sorts of other stuff went off to a machinery dealer despite interest being shown by individuals. It was "easier" to dispose of that way....!!!!

[dazdidge]

A few years ago I installed a heap of woodworking machinery in a college in Lothian, the amount of money spent was phenomenal!
I was told by a senior staff member that he put twice what he needed in his budget so that if the bean counters decided it was too much then at least they would get what they needed. They ended up being allowed the whole lot. I am not talking about diddy wee machines here either, I am talking about machines that can rip up tree trunks into planks of wood in minutes, spindle moulders, wall saws, surface planers etc. What happened to the old kit that was still more than useable? It got skipped
All British made machinery and it was replaced with blingy Italian crap that they will have to replace in five years due to wear and tear. They would have been better served paying us to refurb the original equipment and it would have lasted for another 50 years.

I managed to save a few bits and pieces though, got some nice hand tools like chisels etc and a couple of nice vices. If I had known sooner I would have taken the trailer and filled it up with whatever I could.

daz

[Inchlaggan]

If I had known sooner I would have taken the trailer and filled it up with whatever I could.

If anyone hears of similar clear outs, please shout, and Daz can make that two trailers plus a second pair of hands to move the heavy stuff.
I heard of a bundle of school kit that was to be replaced as it failed EC insulation regulations. The skip driver was smart enough to take it to an electrician who rewired it, put in some RCD's/ ELCB's, respray, refurb and made a mint.
The Health and Safety argument for removing such kit from schools is just bollocks, wood and metalworking classes are ideal for teaching health and safety. I did a talk at a school once about a ship model I had made for a commission (long story), a few of the kids wanted to visit the workshop and see how it was done. I was happy to oblige but the teacher said "no-way" the safety paperwork would just be too much hassle, and anyway such "manual" work was not the objective of the curriculum which was to prepare her charges for university and the "professions"- to include teaching. I immediately nicknamed her "Jean Brodie", and pointed out that though it had taken me two and a half years of my spare time to make, I had sold the model for more than she earned in a year.