Machinist School - Graduate Nate Langford says:

This is what we're making at work right now. It's the slide for a Wilson .45 pistol; we're doing the standard size and compact. There's a lot of operations involved, but that just makes it more interesting .
We're just making the slides and frames for the standard size and the compact version of the .45 and 9mm 1911. I'm not sure which long slides you're talking about. After seeing what kind of tolerances we keep on these parts, I can see why they're expensive. Our wire EDM machine is cutting out the profiles for the firing selectors on AR-15's. Fun stuff :D http://wilsoncombat.com/new/handgun-classic.asp

Machinist School - The Duck and the Owl

Here it is at last, the duck and the owl here at the Machinist School.
We make owls with the MakerBot.
Just remember:
If people spent more time thinking about ducks,
They'd spend less time thinking about other things.
                         - Rod's Duck Farm motto

Machinist School - Radial Arm Drill

This is a good picture of a Radial Arm Drill. Perhaps you notice the duck in the lower right corner of the picture ..... it has a red bill. Some people just call it a squirt bottle. Whatever it is, you get an idea of size. The top of the machine says "American Hole Wizard".
Radial Arm Drill Presses use polar instead of cartesian coordinates. Some people say they aare cool machines ..... because they are polar?

Machinist School - Dovetail Attachment

Here's a nice type of double jointed attachment for an undicator with dovetail connections.
The Moore company made this particular style. There's a scew that goes through the center hole to tighten the indicator to the dovetail.

Machinist School - Here's a Large Mill

Here you see Angle Plates bolted to the floor and Cassandra rides the head of the Giddings mill. You can work on some very large parts with this machine. Strangely enough, you can achieve very high accuracy because you can run a dial indicator along a 10 foot edge. A thousandth of an inch over 10 feet is only a ten-thousandth per foot or about 8 millionth's per inch!

Machinist School - Dave Renfro: Table made from a sheet of plywood

At the Dave Mows Grass blog, alumni brother Dave posts the above picture (Yay!!!)  with no plans (grrrrrr!).

But .............. the internet saves the day!!!

Here's a link to some plans using 3/4" plywood:

Click Here >>>>How to make a Picnic Table Plans



Machinist School - Otis The Owl Mascot



Cassidy Wooten provided the colored view of the NTI Mascot.

The moon and the stars are included. So if you want the owl and the moon and the stars, THIS is the picture! Three cheers for Hooters!

Hoot, Hoot, Hoot!

Machinist School - Pay

The Big Money in machining is in over-time. That's what helps your pay check. To earn lots of dollars takes lots of hours. There-in lies the question, "Do you want to machine for lots of hours?"

At $7.50 an hour, you're talking about $15,000 a year for your first 40 hours.
After 40 hours, there is over-time at $11.25 an hour. Therefore, the second 40 hours pays $22,500 a year.

So if you work 80 hours a week at a base pay of $7.50, you'll make $37,500 a year. That's a lot of dollars!

Machinist School - Hand Sanitizer

A GREAT CUTTING FLUID
Hand sanitizer is a similar price to cutting oil.
It sticks to the part, it sticks to the cutter.
Because it evaporates so fast, it is a nice coolant.

Because it contains ethyl alcohol, the MSDS sheet is fairly surprising.
(Get it on your hand = OK ...... get it on your arm = wash it off immediately)

BUT .... if it accidentally got on the part, maybe it would be OK?

Keep it on your mill and sanitize you hands!!!!

Machinist School - Wizards

The Latest Machine Shop Wizards of the World:

Jonathan - Precision Machining, 1st Place
Shawn - CNC Milling, 2nd Place
Alex - CNC Lathe, 3rd place

The SkillsUSA Competitions for the State of Arkansas were based in Hot Springs, Arkansas on April 10, 2012. Congratulations Guys!!!

Machinist School - Here at Hooters

We have a new mascot .... the owl is reported to be named "Otis".
Just remember, Hooters RULE .......... with a 25 foot Lufkin tape measure!

Machinist School - Speed Calculator

The Lovejoy Tool Company has the GREATEST slide rule Speed & Feed Calculator!
Click the link .... that's a link to all sorts of machining info.

Click here  >>>>>>>>>     Speed Calculator

Machinist School - Gun Drilling

Here's a place to see about gun drilling:

Click Here  >>>>All About Gun Drilling

Gun drills can be used to make guns but mostly they are for making very accurate deep holes. A hole starts to be "deep" when the depth exceeds the diameter. A 1/2" hole that is 1" deep ..... that's a deep hole. Gun drills will make the 1/2" hole 12" (or more) deep.

Machinist School - Giant Hook

This is a Giant Hook ...... like a hook for a very large crane  at the Metro Machine Shop in Tulsa. The face plate on the lathe is about 4 feet in diameter. Cassandra Dunk has been doing quite a variety of machining and some occasional photo taking.

Machinist School - Arkansas Jobs

Machinist School says: The site to find Jobs!

http://arworks.arkansas.gov/Pages/jobs.aspx