Feel free to skip this entire paragraph if needed, it's just background info on why I'm asking the numbered questions below.
I'm simply an enthusiast at this point and I love cars in particula, but I want to make machining and cars my two primary hobbies as I grow older, wiser, and hopefully wealthier. Why couldn't I select some cheaper hobbies, right? I guess my dream one day sometime during my 50's/60's would be owning my own custom detached garage and shop next to my home, or perhaps a leased space somewhere close to home, with all of the machines, equipment, tooling, tools, knowledge, time, and general capabilities to combine my passions of machining and cars into one project of a lifetime, which would generally involve designing and fabricating a fully customized track car. Since I'm not the most artistically talented guy, the actual aesthetical design would be outsourced and I would hire an engineer to approve my final plans to ensure the structure is strong enough and safe, but from that point on, it would be entirely on me to take on this project, which would likely take years to complete.
So, enough about me. I imagine most machinists are organized, and if I had a shop of any size, I'd keep a pretty accurate inventory of the tooling I have onhand for mill and lathe work. For example, drill bits, end mills, hole saws, fly cutters, taps, reamers, boring bars, thread cutting tools, homemade tools for cutting specific angles, and the list goes on and on.
If anyone would be willing to list the following information, I'd be very grateful (and there's no problem if you only want to respond to one of the four points versus all 4, any info will be helpful to me and hopefully others reading this). Plus, if you love tooling, this is your thread to openly brag about it.
1. A list of your tooling on hand, with as much detail as possible if you have it written into a spreadsheet already as an example. This would include stuff such as diameter, cutting angle, length, type of cutter/tool, roughing versus finishing, number of flutes, material (tool steel, carbide?), hardened/annealed, inserts used with the given insert holder, and any other relevant details you have.
2. A brief description of the amount of work you perform with this tooling inventory. Brand new hobbyist, established hobbyist, small professional job shop, large shop, etc.
3. The tooling you're looking to buy in the short-term or a general wish list of tooling you'd like to purchase to round out your capabilities.
4. An entirely optional bit of information, which would be a very general estimate of the investment made for your current inventory.
Thank you for any replies, as I truly appreciate a peak into your shop. This will help me plan going into the future and give me a better overall sense of the investment I'll need to make someday in the future.
I'm simply an enthusiast at this point and I love cars in particula, but I want to make machining and cars my two primary hobbies as I grow older, wiser, and hopefully wealthier. Why couldn't I select some cheaper hobbies, right? I guess my dream one day sometime during my 50's/60's would be owning my own custom detached garage and shop next to my home, or perhaps a leased space somewhere close to home, with all of the machines, equipment, tooling, tools, knowledge, time, and general capabilities to combine my passions of machining and cars into one project of a lifetime, which would generally involve designing and fabricating a fully customized track car. Since I'm not the most artistically talented guy, the actual aesthetical design would be outsourced and I would hire an engineer to approve my final plans to ensure the structure is strong enough and safe, but from that point on, it would be entirely on me to take on this project, which would likely take years to complete.
So, enough about me. I imagine most machinists are organized, and if I had a shop of any size, I'd keep a pretty accurate inventory of the tooling I have onhand for mill and lathe work. For example, drill bits, end mills, hole saws, fly cutters, taps, reamers, boring bars, thread cutting tools, homemade tools for cutting specific angles, and the list goes on and on.
If anyone would be willing to list the following information, I'd be very grateful (and there's no problem if you only want to respond to one of the four points versus all 4, any info will be helpful to me and hopefully others reading this). Plus, if you love tooling, this is your thread to openly brag about it.
1. A list of your tooling on hand, with as much detail as possible if you have it written into a spreadsheet already as an example. This would include stuff such as diameter, cutting angle, length, type of cutter/tool, roughing versus finishing, number of flutes, material (tool steel, carbide?), hardened/annealed, inserts used with the given insert holder, and any other relevant details you have.
2. A brief description of the amount of work you perform with this tooling inventory. Brand new hobbyist, established hobbyist, small professional job shop, large shop, etc.
3. The tooling you're looking to buy in the short-term or a general wish list of tooling you'd like to purchase to round out your capabilities.
4. An entirely optional bit of information, which would be a very general estimate of the investment made for your current inventory.
Thank you for any replies, as I truly appreciate a peak into your shop. This will help me plan going into the future and give me a better overall sense of the investment I'll need to make someday in the future.