Metalworking Class
CGW has been running monthly classes, and last month’s was machining. Jeff walked members through the methods used on the two machines at the heart of the metal shop: the manual milling machine and the lathe. Those two machines are what turn “I need a part that does not exist” into a part. The mill cuts flat faces, slots, pockets and holes in a solid block. The lathe turns round things: shafts, bushings, knobs, and anything else that needs to be true about its axis. Between them they cover most of what a small shop needs to make in metal, and they are the reason members can repair equipment that stopped being sold decades ago.