This may seem like a goofy question but is there anyone in south FL who would ocassionaly let me use their lathe. mill, metal cutting saw to make the little parts I need to complete my hemi in a merc project? I taught metal working in Coral springs High School for 27 years and was able to use the equipment after school. But the shop was closed down. I retired and and miss not being able to make my own little parts. And the local high schools don't offer night classes as all the traditional shop classes are being eliminated. Thanks, jim
With your background as a former shop teacher,why not try a local Community College that offers a Machine shop course...they sometimes use part-time help as teachers assistants , etc...Ya might offer to trade your time for using their machines....Tho liability laws & trigger happy attorneys usually prohibit non-employees from using company equipment... Just a thought....Stan
If you have the room,why not buy a mill and a lathe. You can find them fairly cheap.well maybe not in south FL. Just a thought,Good luck ether way,Ed
I second Ox65's suggestion. No offense intended, but in the unfortunate scenario that you either hurt yourself or the other fellas machine - what happens?? I mean helping a fellow out is great, but when the shit hits the fan - who's liable?? Personally I let VERY few people run my stuff - it's not even about the person's experience level - my buddy literally ripped off his index finger while running a lathe - which he ran for 40 years nearly without incident - 6 months before he was to retire. Frankly - I'm afraid with people's mindset today - if someone got hurt running my mill, lathe or whatever I can pretty much guarantee I'm gonna get sued. IMHO -You're asking a stranger to put themselves at a whole lotta risk - I sorta doubt my homeowners insurance would cover it. Also what happens when you crash the carriage on the lathe because either you are rusty OR the machine works the opposite of the one you're familiar with?? Who fixes the lathe??? Sure you say you will, but what happens when the tumbler gears are obsolete and now you gotta get one/two custom machined for bou-cou bucks??? I know I probably sound like a prick - so be it. But I just wanted to give you a different perspective. YMMV
I agree 100%. Being young, the first issue that would come to my mind is the chance of someone ruining my equipment. And then the more mature side of me would consider the extreme liability issues. Both points would rule out me letting anyone run my equipment (the only people that have ever run my lathe were the guys that owned it before me!)
Chad s and Mazooma 1: Neither one of you are pricks. I understand exaclty where you are coming from.That's the way the world is today. It's kind of like when a friend wants to borrow my mig welder. I always end up doing the welding. Guess, I was just venting my frustration over no longer having the equipment I now need to turn down a part or fabricate parts I need. I respect your views. thanks
on the other hand.. if a guy that had taught metal working for 30 years wanted to come over and hang out in my shop and use my stuff.. I think I would benefit.
Thats the way I look at it. I hang out with a friend who owns a machine shop all the time. He gets mad when I don't pay attention or help out I agree everything we do has a legal risk anymore we just have to keep on top of it
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