What machines should every metalworking shop have?
- Lathe
- Milling machine
- Sheet metal bending machine
- Metal Bandsaw
- Drilling machine
- Grinding machine/bench grinder
- Welding machine
- Hydraulic press
Metalworking machines
What machines should every metalworking shop have?
- Lathe
- Milling machine
- Sheet metal bending machine
- Metal Bandsaw
- Drilling machine
- Grinding machine/bench grinder
- Welding machine
- Hydraulic press
- Suicide machine
He already said lathe.
An air compressor.
miding machine
minding machines
malleated rollers for feed bar
a good kitchen for lunch (not feed bar)
Unironically a good, fast way of removing scale from small/medium-size pieces of steel.
- Teflon coating machine
Small machines, medium size machines, and really big machines.
Angle grinder is a given, but not on your list. Unless you call an angle grinder a grinding machine.
Die grinder.
Plasma cutter.
Torch.
Hand Drills.
Impacts. (Yeah you still have to bolt stuff together at a metalworking shop)
Etc.
Your list is very general and vague. Covers almost everything, yet skips over a lot of useful tools that every shop needs to have on hand.
Micro machines!
- Safety glasses
While used with eyes and brains, these makes every job safer.
Question for metal dooers:
I'm pretty good at modeling and 3d printing plastic parts exactly how I want. Is there a way I can cast them in a mold and then pour liquid metal into that to make the the shapes accurately in metal? What should I use to cast it? What kind of metal should I melt and use if I want it to be a show piece vs if I want it to be stable outside and not rust in weather? I want to make intricate little articulating statues
You should use a metallic material
Uranium is a good metal that doesn’t rust
You pack the plastic piece in sand/clay, add pour and vent holes then just dump your molten metal in it.
It will replace the plastic that is forced up the vent holes molten. Plenty of demonstrations on the internets.
Yeah it's literally called casting
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I love this dude. He's a softer spoken, less aggressive, more patient version of my dad
A cnc deburr machine
A laser replicator
And a carbon fiber titanium printer
Also the flesh light to Milwaukee adapter
Shut up homosexual. No one asked you.
I'm getting an edm in a few months.
- ABB robot arm
Stupid question as anyone interested in that subject WILL have studied more than enough not to need a list and anyone who does will never build such a shop.
Why did you post? I mean what is your specific goal? Every shop is different and "metalworking" is not sufficiently specific. Sheet metal shops don't need mills and lathes, they do need shears and press brakes.
Frick off with your useless slide thread.
Could a CNC 4th axis on one of those cheap aliexpress machines be used as a ghetto metal lathe, if you only had space for one machine?
Yeah bro indexers spin really fast and are known to be very ridgid and totally don’t have a limited amount of turns
Never touched a lathe or mill before but I found someone selling a used EMCO Compact 5 for 800 bucks. Combo mini lathe and mill, comes with various attachments. Do I go for it?
It's a good idea if you can resell it for about what you paid, because you will learn whether or not you want to buy a decent lathe or mill. Or, it might actually work well for you. It can certainly do some things, but like my HF toy lathe the main thing it did was teach me that I wanted a better lathe.
Actual machining is very expensive, meaning thousands at a bare minimum. If you get hooked on it, it can be the best hobby you ever found, as long as you can afford it.
I doubt I'd be able to resell it in my area. Might just save up a bit more and buy an actual full sized lathe, but those too are hard to find around me. All the second hand ones I can see are rusted pieces of shit and it costs a shitton to ship anything here. I've also seen Sieg mini lathes recommended online, which I AM able to find in my area for the same price as the used EMCO, might go with that instead.
I have a warco super mini lathe (Brit bong company) but these are all made by the same factory in china just to sightly varying spec, namely paint colour. They're actually surprisingly good for the money. Pick soft metals though, I went in trying to hog mild steel and predictably it was a disaster. I've switched to mainly aluminium and brass and life is good. I bought a collect chuck and vertical milling slide attachment which is again, punches above its price tag. I've had mine a year but as a hobby guy I haven't used it daily or anything. I already feel like I'm slightly outgrowing it but I'll probably get another 18-24 months out of it before the urge to upgrade becomes overwhelming. I run a little bar heater right behind it over the cooler 6 months of the year and that conducts enough heat to keep the moisture off. 10/10 highly recommend. You'll find out if the hobby is for you without burning 5k. beware though, whatever you spend on a lathe you'll spend twice over on tooling. So make the actual lathe 1/3rd of your budget