Not by machining little crosses.

I have no idea how to start a thread for machinists, so I thought I'd paraphrase Martin Luther.

what do you need machined?

Oh, nope, nothing. Just inviting machinists to talk shop.

Well i did a 4 year apprenticeship as a Fitter and Turner but i have no worked on machines for years.. I did a fair bit of work on laths and a little on a milling machine sharper and a big surface grinder.. But for most of the time i worked as a Pipe Fitter.. So not really doing machining.. We had guys who went off to specialize in machining that where called T.O.M.s Turning and Other Machining.. They worked on all kinds and sizes of machines..

I've never done a formal apprenticeship, I got started as a press break operater when the CNC head offered me a job. And I while I can guess there are certainly the old school manual guys tooling their eyes, is love to learn any wisdom and swap stories with them too. I'm certainly the least of many great tradesman, but I love what I do.

just had a little machine shop experience way back when, drill press, brake, shear, set up parts for rock crushers and aggregate reducers.
I watch and enjoy the ads for 3D printing of metal parts.

I apologise in advance for any poor typing skills I might exhibit.

I always wonder about that metal 3D printing. How do they soften/liquify metal and not ruin what must be a whole host of plastic components? It is an amazing feat of engineering.

This is the closest example i have found on Utube to the Vertical Rotary grinder i was on for about 8 months.. The base of mine was longer and did not spin as this one does.. It moved lenghwise back and forward.. The base was magnetic and since i was grinding mostly steel parts i usually never needed to lock the job down with bolts.. The diameter of my grinder may have been just a little bit bigger, not by much.. Anyway this video will give you some idea of what i am talking about when i talk about a surface grinder..

Cool, automotive cylinder heads were planed on a surface grinder.

I've run a break press before... you gotta be very careful where you put your hands.

I've run a C&C before too, but somebody else set it up. If you don't get the setup exactly right you can ruin a part, the expensive machine bit, make a lot of noise and send metal bits flying all over the place. Fortunately I wasn't the one who set it up so it wasn't my fault. Maybe I SHOULD have set it up...

I know, right? You have to learn each part you do, too, and whether it's going to kiss the punch or not. I did enjoy it, miss it somedays. Sometimes it's more exciting than waiting for the program to do all the work.

https://newatlas.com/3d-printing/laser-splitting-3d-printing-small-objects/

Just saw this and wanted to share