Starting inventory?

[JeffF]

Just starting out with my equipment and want to order an inventory of brass, aluminum and any other likely metals I will need to get some practice turning and milling on my Micro Lux lathe and milling machines. I know I want bar stock of various sizes and some square stock as well for the mill.

Can someone here chime in and give me what they would consider a good inventory starting point? Sizes, metal types and specs #'s, etc. This will get me some stock to start practicing on and will allow me to establish a customer relationship with one of the on-line metal dealers.

I know this is asking a lot, but it sure would help.

Jeff

 

[Philjoe5]

Jeff,
This is the approach I took. I made a list of everything I thought I'd need then went out and bought it. Then whenever I started a project I looked through my stock, discovered I didn't have what I needed, so I went out and bought it.:wall:

So to avoid making this mistake, make up a list of what you think you'll need, then buy one each of everything not on the list. Then you should be good to go.

Seriously, though, it all boils down to what you plan on making. My point being there's so much out there you need to narrow your acquisitions by the kinds of projects you're going to tackle. Practice with some 6061 aluminum which is relatively inexpensive and easy to get decent finishes with...use sizes of 1" or less on those machines for practice.

Good luck

Phil

 

[sssfox]

Jeff,
This is the approach I took. I made a list of everything I thought I'd need then went out and bought it. Then whenever I started a project I looked through my stock, discovered I didn't have what I needed, so I went out and bought it.:wall:

So to avoid making this mistake, make up a list of what you think you'll need, then buy one each of everything not on the list. Then you should be good to go.


Phil

Curiously, the exact thing happened to me.
I still don't have one of everything, but I'm a lot closer!

 

[Dr Jo]

If you are looking to practice, before you jump in the deep end, I suggest you make life easier for yourself and get some free cutting mild steel, and some brass bar.

Then you should try a walk around the local industrial estate and see if you can find the machine shop, tell them you are looking for some short ends (noggins) to learn how to use you lathe and mill. Tell them what you hope to make in the long term and most companies will give you more odds and ends than you will be able to comfortably carry home. They will probably tell you something about the materials and if they are feeling really generous may even have a few odd tools that they are happy to give you to get you going . (But the fact that I am a woman may have an influence on my success in doing this)

If you join a model club there is a chance that they will be able to point you to a stock of materials that they have "acquired" over the years and for a small donation you will have more to practice on.

In my experience on line suppliers don't look to build up a relationship, all they are interested in is the colour of your money.

Jo

 

[albertorc19]

I would start with round bar aluminium since it is cheap and easy to cut. When I start a project I usally make a list of what I'll need but it is also adviseable to have a list of the stock available in house. Sometimes I've purchased stock I already had because I didn't look at the inventory notebook.

 

[digiex-chris]

I go through piles and piles of 1/2" bar making odds and ends and tools and holders and things. Find the largest thing that will fit through your headstock, buy a couple of feet of it (cheap aluminum or something that's relatively easy on you), turn till you're moderately uncomfortable with the machine, select a project that's not too hard, and buy specific for that. The others are right, you'll end up buying material specific for the project anyway. Not only will you get practice that's more valuable than random turning, you'll end up with a finished product and skills like thinking ahead to the next setup so you can make your life easier for the next operation.

But when you buy that specific material, buy an extra foot or so more than you need. It'll come in handy later.

The offcuts from a machine shop is a good tip. I once was given a big honkin' chunk of 7071, 1" x 3" by 7", simply because the bar feeder on the CNC wouldn't push less than 7" into the machine.

 

[old-and-broken]

I've discovered printers and fax machines!

No really. One visit to the dump several years back and I noticed a large number of old printers had been trashed. Inside of them I could see metal rods of all sorts(the plastic cases were broken real well) Assuming these to be some form of stainless steel I procured as many as possible and when I run low I find a reason to go back to the city dump.

Some are steel and the ones with rollers are almost always stainless. A magnet sorted that out quickly. Have a screw driver handy and if you come across a junked printer or fax= get you some good small stock for parts.

 

[digiex-chris]

that's right! the one copier I took apart had some really, really nice shafts in them. Machined beautifully too!

 

[Tin Falcon]

Some suppliers like this one http://www.hobbymetalkits.com/documents/kits.htm sell starter kits .These are foot long pieces
9pc aluminum kit 3/16 to 1" $ 15 a 10 pc 12L14 kit is 17.50 an 8 pc brass kit $75.
As far as practice you need to decide if you just want make chips. or try to make something. I suggest you select a plan set and start building an engine. If you need to make a part 3 or 4 times it is just part of the learning experience.
You may want to practice on steel and aluminum before getting into brass all easy to machine. but as you can see brass is expensive .
Tin

 

[digiex-chris]

oh, I don't think anyone's mentioned yet, but for the first little bit, purchased stuff might be the way to go, since with feeds and speeds on unknown materials, the wisdom comes after you need it. If you know what you have, you can just look it up.

 

[JeffF]

This is very helpful! As it turns out, these folks are only about a half hour away from me! Thank you, this will make for a good start!

Jeff

Some suppliers like this one http://www.hobbymetalkits.com/documents/kits.htm sell starter kits .These are foot long pieces
9pc aluminum kit 3/16 to 1" $ 15 a 10 pc 12L14 kit is 17.50 an 8 pc brass kit $75.
As far as practice you need to decide if you just want make chips. or try to make something. I suggest you select a plan set and start building an engine. If you need to make a part 3 or 4 times it is just part of the learning experience.
You may want to practice on steel and aluminum before getting into brass all easy to machine. but as you can see brass is expensive .
Tin

 

[rkepler]

I bought some metal packs from onlinemetals.com a long time ago, it was handy to have some 3' chunks of 12L14 hanging around. Later I ended up buying 6' sticks of brass rod in various sizes when filling out a 'free shipping' order from Enco. The best deal was in buying 'sticks' of 1144 and 12L14 from my local steel supplier, paying by the pound with no shipping beats most any other source.

So now I have everything from invar to PTFE laying about the shop and the first thing I do with most projects is to make a buy list of stuff I need to buy.

 

[t.l.a.r. eng]

For brass, try the local yard sales. I buy alot of brass candlesticks for re-use. People look at me funny but hey, alot of nice sized brass stock can be had for 5-6 dollars.

Keep your eyes open when you are out and about and soon stuff just seems to collect.

 

[kvom]

The shafts on discarded shock absorbers can be quite nice.