Teach Yourself Machining: Video Courses

 

Machining parts out of raw metal to make, modify and repair useful machines is fast becoming our passion. Now We've never been much for attending classes or going to school, so we're working to teach ourselves to operate tools like lathes, milling machines, drill presses and surface grinders, etc. Self-teaching is our favorite method of learning and that's why We're excited about the instructional videos that SmartFlix has in their rental library. They have a fairly thorough machine shop course by the American Gunsmithing Institute and various offerings by master machinist Rudy Kouhoupt and others. The American Gunsmithing series consists of about 14 DVDs and costs about $1300 to purchase outright. However, thanks to SmartFlix you can rent the whole series for about $200!!



But wait a minute, how about some free videos to get started. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has a free video series on the basics of machine shop tools and practices. Every semester MIT has a new crop of engineering students who need to learn machining in a hurry. They need to be able to work in the university's well equipped student machine shop where they will make the parts for projects in robotics. Most 17 year olds are a bit short of machining experience so the school has put together a series of ten videos to help jumpstart the student's practical abilities. We watched the first four of the videos. They covered layout, drill press operations, belt sanding & grinding, and vertical milling, We found them well made, interesting and informative (to my novice perspective anyway). So get busy my fellow ShopKulturians and WrenchTech(nicians). Go forth and learn. Next time we'll talk about how to build you own multi-purpose machine tool from scrap metal and automotive parts.