etard
Cast Iron
- Joined
- Jul 30, 2010
- Location
- redlands, CA
I, like the rest of you, love the old machines. I can stare and fiddle with old lathes all day and not get bored. Thank goodness I have a very understanding wife who prefers that I spend my free time in the shop rather than out getting into trouble. My friends and family kinda get the whole restore and bring machines back to life thing, but none have shown more than a passing interest. And my dog...well, she just wishes I would throw the dang ball already !
Anyway, I am taking machining classes at the local Community College and was hoping that a few of the guys in my class would be on the same page and we could swap stories and visit each others' shops. It seems not a single student owns any antique machinery (besides the occasional micrometer). I get it, school is there to fill jobs, not garages, but you would think that at least one retiree would be there filling his free time with blue chips! I would go one step further and say that most students and faculty laugh at the archaic design of old machines, and the use and restoration of said scrap iron is preposterous.
So what's the point? I'm probably on the (how to put this...) "greener" shade of grey at 36 years, and if there is going to be some sort of torch passing in the future, who will be there to carry the flame? Why does every lathe or mill need saving? What or who are we saving it for? Will it even matter in 20 years? I watch and love antiques roadshow, and I am still waiting to see an antique cast iron machine show up on there, but my guess is I could be waiting a long time to see this come to pass. Why? Because where would you display an old lathe? Certainly not in the house!
As an activity that gives us pride and enjoyment, it is obvious the value in the restoration of old machines. However, as a mission to save every last piece of american iron before it is shipped and melted overseas, this seems an exercise in futility, or as some would call it "polishing brass on the Titanic".
So what is the point? Other than saving a few prime examples for display, why should that 1901 Seneca Falls lathe not go to the scrapper?
Anyway, I am taking machining classes at the local Community College and was hoping that a few of the guys in my class would be on the same page and we could swap stories and visit each others' shops. It seems not a single student owns any antique machinery (besides the occasional micrometer). I get it, school is there to fill jobs, not garages, but you would think that at least one retiree would be there filling his free time with blue chips! I would go one step further and say that most students and faculty laugh at the archaic design of old machines, and the use and restoration of said scrap iron is preposterous.
So what's the point? I'm probably on the (how to put this...) "greener" shade of grey at 36 years, and if there is going to be some sort of torch passing in the future, who will be there to carry the flame? Why does every lathe or mill need saving? What or who are we saving it for? Will it even matter in 20 years? I watch and love antiques roadshow, and I am still waiting to see an antique cast iron machine show up on there, but my guess is I could be waiting a long time to see this come to pass. Why? Because where would you display an old lathe? Certainly not in the house!
As an activity that gives us pride and enjoyment, it is obvious the value in the restoration of old machines. However, as a mission to save every last piece of american iron before it is shipped and melted overseas, this seems an exercise in futility, or as some would call it "polishing brass on the Titanic".
So what is the point? Other than saving a few prime examples for display, why should that 1901 Seneca Falls lathe not go to the scrapper?