Objects to make on the metal lathe and milling machine

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by iCurtis

definitely get the companion book "How to Run a Lathe" by South Bend Lathe Works. Truly one of those oldy-but-goody books (Lindsay reprints the 1942 edition [/EDIT]

I have an original 1932 edition and let me tell you, it's one of the handiest books around. Lathes have not changed much in 80 years.

A chess set or a cannon is indeed a challenge, but for skills more relevant to a robot, think of things like what you'd need to make for a robot. I also agree with the advice to see if you can hold 0.010" tolerance for five diameters, then work your way to 0.001". You need to figure out what works and what doesn't yourself.

Just turning stuff on the lathe without regard for tolerance won't help you much.

And all this goes for the mill, too. Nothing beats experience, and you want to turn out 10 or 20 pounds of aluminum shavings from each machine before January 8th.