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Hello Guys, Im a new noob after advice on getting started

nickno

Plastic
Joined
Apr 23, 2020
Hi guys and gals,
I wanted to introduce myself, Hi im Nick. Im totally new to machining and have virtually zero knowledge and tools, I was looking at getting into machining as a hobby. I dont know what I want to make as yet, but i am interested in making rotary tattoo machines, tattoo grips and the like. but im interested in machining mainly because there seems to be a steep learning curve and i love learning and being practicle. I would like to start shopping around for a machine (mill or lathe or combo), ive watched a few videos on youtube and like mills more than lathes. I hope i can learn from you guys and this forum, i want to get through this without spending toooooo much money on things i dont need. All advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys in advance
 
Hi Nick,

Welcome to the PM Forum! You will find PM a wealth of information. However, the main PM target audience is professionals currently in manufacturing. Most folks here are happy to give advice and share their wealth of knowledge. But this can be a rough-neck crowd.

Read the Rules. Be precise and brief with your posts, and be polite. Again welcome.

I am from the US so cant give you too much help with acqusition of machine tools in your neck of the woods. Hopefully some folks near you will chime in.

Best Regards,
Bob
 
Hi guys and gals,
I wanted to introduce myself, Hi im Nick. Im totally new to machining and have virtually zero knowledge and tools, I was looking at getting into machining as a hobby. I dont know what I want to make as yet, but i am interested in making rotary tattoo machines, tattoo grips and the like. but im interested in machining mainly because there seems to be a steep learning curve and i love learning and being practicle. I would like to start shopping around for a machine (mill or lathe or combo), ive watched a few videos on youtube and like mills more than lathes. I hope i can learn from you guys and this forum, i want to get through this without spending toooooo much money on things i dont need. All advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys in advance
You may have better response posting on the Homeshop Machinist forum. This is not a hobby site. Discussions of hobby machines are not allowed. Good luck, there is no end to the machining learning curve and tools. You will be busy.
 
Hi guys and gals,
I wanted to introduce myself, Hi im Nick. Im totally new to machining and have virtually zero knowledge and tools, I was looking at getting into machining as a hobby. I dont know what I want to make as yet, but i am interested in making rotary tattoo machines, tattoo grips and the like. but im interested in machining mainly because there seems to be a steep learning curve and i love learning and being practicle. I would like to start shopping around for a machine (mill or lathe or combo), ive watched a few videos on youtube and like mills more than lathes. I hope i can learn from you guys and this forum, i want to get through this without spending toooooo much money on things i dont need. All advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you guys in advance

Fellow Aussie here.

This is *not* a cheap hobby and can't really be made one.

The cheap tools are nearly all crap. I say 'nearly' because you might find a unicorn out there. Somewhere. Good used tools are rare but available - that's how I built my shop. But now you need to invest a lot of time finding them, getting them and usually doing at least some restoration. TANSTAAFL.

A milling machine nearly always requires an investment of 2X or 3X the purchase price in accessories to be useful.

There's a local Aussie forum. I'm a member but rarely post there, frankly most of the posts/projects are a long way below my interest level. But it may suit you and help you find tooling.

METALWORK GENERAL

Good luck with it all - if you're going to be getting cheap Chinese tooling this really isn't the place to ask questions. You can ask about specific machining problems, setups etc, but not about the machines, their issues, workarounds etc. Have to do that elsewhere.

PDW
 
Don't know if anything like this exists in your part of Australia but here and there in the USA there are metalworking clubs. If one of those is nearby you should definitely join and get advice from those folks. Some may even be willing to let you visit and check things out. Another option is taking some classes at a local community college.

If you look on Meetup.com there is one MakerSpace in Sydney and one in New Castle.

As far as the machines, with a couple of attachments you can do milling work with a lathe. So if you can only afford one tool, that's the one to get.

Steve
 
Ahh, the 'ol San Quentin Stabarooni

When I was a teenager we made tattoo 'guns' out of a bic pen shell and the tlittle motors that were in those little (size of your hand) monster truck toys and some india ink from the hobby stores. I just had mine (homemade tattoo) covered up a few years back. :D
 
hobby machines are frowned upon, but nothing wrong with being at the beginning of the curve and wanting to learn. The grumpiest old skilled guy here was once in that position.

Getting along the substantial curve and shelling out for quantity of stuff to acquire is more easily done with a strong desire to make something, but either way, spend your time reading and learning and searching for a lathe in good shape with lots of tooling and accessories....that and a few basic hand tools is where it starts. If you're educating yourself, you'll quickly know what those are just because you'll be thinking through how you make parts/get stuff done etc

Until then its kinda like the guy who says I really want to be a great piano player, but hasn't taken a lesson or bought a keyboard.....everyone day dreams, you got to move to something real
 








 
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