Just discovered your channel. I’m 100% new to machining and your explainations, pace, depth and width make it a pleasure to listen to. No patronising, no baby talk, just clear concise education from someone who’s talented and passionate about what they do. A true lesson in YT education a lot of YT’s could learn from. 5 star. Thank you.
Quinn -- Good Bread and Butter Video -- Great tips on how and where to buy metals , not many think about it. You did a great service for the novice Machinist . Two thumbs up .
Finally someone boils it down to the essentials. Coming from wood working, where you can read entire essays on the use and history of different species, going into machining the materials are just a jungle. Also funny to learn that the intimidating visit to the local steel shop apparently is universal :D (writing from the Czech rep.)
I happen to live down the road from an OnlineMetals warehouse and those guys are practically begging you to take their cutoffs. I paid for a 10lb "scrapbox" and when I tried to leave the guy laughed me right back to the cutoff bin, pretty much told me to take whatever I wanted lol. I must have left with 3 or 4 times as much, not sure how that translates to online. Everyone I interacted with was real friendly. Highly recommended if you live nearby.
Recently I've been looking forward to getting a lathe for projects I have in mind. Quinn, I find you to be a VERY good teacher. Your videos aren't short and choppy like so many youtube posts are and you go into pertinant detail without alot of unneccessary talk. BRAVO! I've subscribed and look forward to all of your postings.
This would have been extremely helpful when I first started out. I would also add that only buy what you need. Especially when starting out. When you take a look at the off cut area at a supply house it is really tempting to buy extra. Almost every time I have bought extra 'possibly useful stock' it it just sits in a pile under my bench for years. At least that's my experience.
Yah, accumulating junk is hard to resist in metalworking. Every scrap "might be useful someday". That feeling gets reinforced when, once in a while, that chunk of whatever you've been storing for years is JUST THE THING for a project. 😆
@@Blondihacks the flip side of that is when you could use a piece you've saved but wont use it because then you wont have it for something even better! Oh, let the hoarding begin!
I'm 72 and a self taught machinist before the Internet. I do enjoy watching your Videos and will add some input. I was a Steamfitter/welder in NYC for 30+ years. When we removed valves for replacement instead of selling the scrap steel with the valve stems I cut them off first. I have valve stems which are acme thread up to 1-1/4" OD and no doubt an alloy of bronze. I have used that material for everything and it has never let me down. Keep up the good work Guinn
Came back to this video to get clarity as I progress into actually cutting chips with my new lathe. You are my go to creator for learning this new craft.
Haha, thanks! Yah, mystery metal can be totally useful once a person has more experience machining as well. I just think it's not good to practice on as a beginner, because it'll teach bad habits and be generally discouraging.
Wow, Quinn, these videos are super impressive. I'm a vaguely-experienced but mostly self-taught ex-mechanic turned hobbyist fabricator, and I'm learning so much from you. You have a wonderful style - precise, but simple and straightforward. Thank you :)
What a lot of great information and tips. Here in Australia we can only buy gold online eg ebay - it looks like brass, steel and aluminium but the price asked is a dead giveaway that it must be at least 14 k gold..
Was gonna ask about stainless, then you slipped that in at the end. You do really awesome work on your channel, genuinely helping people, and unlike some channels you don't spend your time only working with the latest and greatest, while upselling your sponsored links. You seem to keep it real, and technically, I think you are a trustworthy source, thankyou
I found you a few days ago. You do an amazingly good job of explaining things. And, you have a very pleasing voice. I am particularly enjoying the lathe series. Thank you
I am a fan of making something out of a recycled bolt whenever possible, as well as all the suppliers already stated. Good video Quinn, thanks for the vid , cheers!
Recycled bolts can be fun, and I have definitely used them as well. They can be tricky though, because the grade of steel varies a lot. Sometimes they are very difficult to machine. I shattered a parting blade once trying to re-use an old bolt. It may have been Grade 8 or something, because it sure didn't want to be machined. 😅
Hi Quinn, After years of being dissatisfied with my turned finishes on the worst grades of steel, I came across the HSS shear tool. Works great on all grades for light finishing cuts and very easy to grind, the finishes are unbelievable. Made from square section tool steel with two grinds only. The first is a 30 degree backward slope across the full tool height, the second is a 10 degree end relief. Tool height is with the work centre about half way up the cutting edge not the top point as in most tools.Work centre height near the bottom of the tool to turn to a shoulder. There are some diagrams of the grind angles on the net. Rob
Apart from the usual bits of mild steel we all have, the only piece i can positively identify is a small sheet of D2, every 18 months or so i get motivated and make a few knives. Life will be so much easier with your handy visual ID method and the vast ammount of knowledge in the last few minutes was astounding 😁
Thanks! I hope it was useful! Identifying steel by sight is very difficult, but often you can make a good guess at what it is by making some chips on the lathe.
Quin.....Great video! On acquiring stock I’ve found my local machine shop some times is really friendly to hobby machinist. There drops are all marked and usually they will sell it for scrap prices. If you ask to pay for their scrap you’ll probably get more than you bargained for..I was looking for some 4” aluminum bar 8” long and offered the owner a $100 for a bin of drops and ended up with two pallets of drops all marked. Now he ask if I need more👍🏻
Your videos are so concise and helpful. I understand every word. I love this old tony for instance but I’ve watched hours and hours that I barely understood 20% of lol
This is an excellent series! l love learning. Thank You. Online Metals is my go to, they have fair prices, fast shipping, no minimum and Great customer service. Peace and Thanks
Quinn, you are awesome! This video was great. I have gotten into hobby machining over the past few years and have stumbled across places like eBay (I love Stoner Tools) and McMaster Carr for metal stock but a video like this would have saved me a lot of time! I have mainly been working with 6061 and brass but have done a little bit with delrin (it is surprisingly fun). I recently picked up a little bit of 303 stainless but haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet. And oddly enough, I haven't worked with 12l14 yet. Thanks again for the video, I am finding your videos all very helpful!
Good information there. Another advantage with buying local is you can establish a relationship with your local seller and intern may let you buy from their scrap bins for scrap prices.
You may see yourself as a hobbyist, but from the things you say, you obviously know more than a lot of full timers I have worked for/with. And I thought I was tyhe last guy around who knew what leadlloy is!
Excellent advice Quinn. I would like to add another location that is a good choice for hobbyists, and that is your local machine shops. Check around and you may be surprised at just how amenable they are to selling (or giving) you small pieces from their scrap/off cut piles.
Wow. Thanks so much for recommending 'Stoners' on ebay. Tried to buy some brass locally and it was $$$. Using him to buy my first round stock in AL & Brass. Making a second pass at your lathe intro videos. This time with my wife. Just got my Smithy setup, now to figure everything out. Thank you so much for these videos !!
Yep - did exactly that. Ended up rummaging around in the shed. Found an old iron bar and a few bits of reinforcing rod. Not ideal starter materials lol.
Same thing with wood--figuring out where/how to buy is a pretty big impediment to beginners (or even intermediates!), particularly when you start wanting to do more than home store pine... I really appreciate these how to guides that start from zero. I'm probably never going to do machining, but I've learned much watching all of your vids. Thanks!
Exactly what I needed. Thanks! I'll be looking forward to your heat treating video. Specifically, I want someday to make a round hole punch and a die for the resulting ring using approx. .009 steel (shim stock I guess) for typewriter key ring replacements. I mean the kind with glass under the key rings. Yes, I know one can find salvaged antique keys online, but as a typewriter collector and restorer I have a strong antipathy to key choppers. You have a great talent for this and to make it all so approachable.
Sounds like a great project! I'll be doing some heat treating very soon in a project video on the channel. I'll likely do an educational-style one as well at some point.
Nice tips. I often go to my local steel suppliers to check the off-cuts bin. Sometimes you can find some really cool stuff for cheap. I noticed Limor Fried is a Rockstar Patron. Lady Ada rocks!
Thanks for a very good video. I am fortunate to have a scrap yard/metals reseller within 20 miles of my home. He sells by the pound, whatever you find- long, short, plate, sheet, steel, aluminum, you-name-it. If I care to drive further, I can find several new retailers. Also, Lowes and Menard stores sell metals.
Yah, honestly, I didn't mention the big box stores because while they can be useful in a pinch, their markup is crazy high and their selection is very limited. That said, I've definitely bought stuff there when I need a little piece of something "right now".
Great source of ground steel rod is old printers. Usually in 10mm-15mm diameter. Old CD/DVD/Floppy drives often have short sections in 5-8mm as well. Sometimes it's stainless, but a magnet will help sort that out quickly.
For food & drink containers, stainless steel is a good choice. I was worried when I didn't see it on the bench, but you mentioned it anyway. Good video, useful stuff [ I'm not in USA bet even so, metal buying tips was a nice addition ]
Cool, hope you found it useful! I tried hard to include non-US designations in the captions at least, although there isn't a lot of agreement on what all the equivalents are in other countries for grades of steel of aluminum.
Thank you, very informative. One place worth trying. Call in at a local small engineering / fabrication workshop. I find they are always happy for you to rummage in the scrap bin and they end up with some extra pocket money.
Stoner tools is really a great place for aluminum and brass pieces. Lucky for me he is about 5 minutes away and the prices are a bit cheaper since he doesn't have to pack and ship. Nice guy to work with so don't hesitate to call and talk to him if you need something not shown in his ebay store.
Nice guide. Enjoying the videos, they've inspired me to get back into my own shop and get the lathe spinning again. I mean sure it was just some pins for some Ikea shelves, but it was fun dangit! :)
I run your vids with Closed Captioning on, and half the time it reads “Hello Internet, my name is Quinn and this is bloody axe. . .” It is mildly amusing. 😂🤣😂
Brilliant! Just what I need. I have bought material (steel mostly) before that's nigh on impossible to work and hopeless to get a good finish. Keep up the good work. Subscribed and added to Patreon!
Great channel! Love your approach and you are a wealth of knowledge. I remember my first time drilling Titanium as an apprentice. I thought it would be like aluminum. It was not. The drill wasn't cutting anything. I thought I was running the drill backwards but nope, the material ate my drill.
Thanks - I thought I was the only one with severe hobbyist metal-buying anxiety. I forced myself to go to my local metal supplier and ask n00b questions just to get over the anxiety; they were pretty low-key, mentioned they had a lot of amatuers come in for "drops" which they sell by the pound, usually for people practicing welding. It sounds stupid, but there is an intimidation factor that if you aren't buying 5 tons of C-channel, you feel like you're wasting everyone's time. I finally have a (dubious, used) 60s-era Sears stick welder so it's time to get some drops and start making tools for my mostly-complete aluminum foundry...
Yah, totally! It's normal to have anxiety about this sort of thing. And honestly, sometimes they aren't very nice if you aren't buying 5 tons of C-channel. It's a crap shoot out there.
@@Blondihacks The dumb part about this is I have two engineering degrees (nuclear) and I own my own business. I might need 5 tons of C channel at some point; who knows? If they're going to treat me like crap as a n00b, why would I want to work with them when I have real money to spend? Must be nice to be the only game in town, I guess :/
That’s a good point, in college they only told us about the flammability issues of the swarf, wasn’t till years later I learned about the potential lung damage and cancer risks
John Saunders (NYC CNC) has suggested Alro for finding approx material costs for quoting because they give pricing without having an account. I believe they also use it for buying stuff for their products.
“Just a hobbiest who just wants to buy some round bar to play with on the lathe”…are you watching me or what?😉 Thank you for all your videos, they have been a super helpful entry into this world
Quinn,Great Job on Video. Good sources. May I suggest the local Flea Markets and Metal Recycling Companies. Sometimes good metal can be had for pennies a pound.
the 4130 and 4140 is what you want to use for your gun projects. In the old days we went to the junk yards to get the tie rods off American made cars to get this kind of steel cheaply.
All various types of steel make me a bit crazy. Thanks for the clarification. At online metals I really like the sample packs. You don't know exactly what you are going to get but you will often be pleasantly surprised. In one package I got a 3" brass cylinder 3/16" thick about a foot long.
I have had mostly good experiences with Grainger - for tools and hardware, as well as materials; much better selection than 'big box' stores at significantly lower cost than online, and I can pick up without too long a drive. And only once have they not eventually delivered what they said was available (though there have been sizable delays a few times).
This is a great video with excellent content that newcomers to metal working need to be familiar with, especially when designing their projects to be usable and robust when in use! I’m just wondering why the Fleur-de-lis appeared briefly near the middle of the video???
Thank you very much! The Fleur De Lis was supposed to be a joke because I busted out my very tired Québécois French there for a moment. I guess it wasn't funny. 😁
@@Blondihacks I totally appreciated that gag - loved it! I learned Francais Parisienne as a kid and it was refreshing hearing your accent. BTW, as (thousands of) others have said, thanks so much for these videos. I'm finally stretching my wings in proper machining with a used 7/14 lathe I bought to make a weird plumbing adapter part for a heat exchanger feature in a plastic storage hot water tank I'm modifying, and have totally gotten hooked on your videos. Clearly you've done your homework on purpose and application across the entire process of machining, and work that perfectly into your videos. Please keep up that sense of humor - it's something many of us appreciate about your videos as much as the learning!
My favorite supplier is a local machine shop. The owner lets me climb into the scrap bins whenever I need a piece of stock to work. The nice thing is he keeps the bins sorted by metal type, so I always know which bin to crawl into just by looking at the bin tag. I guess it does help that the owner is my bosses cousin and I'm the shop's Electrician and machine tech.
Hello, your videos are made very well. I am looking to buy a lathe. What kind do you have? There are so many that I don't want to buy junk. Thanks, Tony
I dare say, mystery brass and bronze from the scrapyard is by far the cheapest you can supply copper alloys. I stay away from the salmon coloured stuff though. Copper scares me LOL I have had some luck with mystery steels after doing basic field metal identification: File test, spark test, machine-a-small-amount test, heat treating sample test... It's definitely a little time consuming and requires one to use their noggin a fair bit more than using known alloys. The nice thing about scrapyard types of place is that they pretty much only care about weight, so if you pick up 20 pounds of unusable steel, you can just trade it for 20 pounds of a different, "maybe" more machinable steel for little to no cost.
I was pleasantly surprised recently, turning a length of "zinc plated smooth rod" by National Hardware. I expected it to be choppy and hard like most of the hardware store rod stock I've found, but it actually cut pretty smoothly! No idea whether it was made of hot- or cold-rolled steel!
Good question! A lot of people wonder about that. The level of lead is very low. I wouldn’t cook food for your kids on a 12L14 surface, but it won’t harm you in normal handling.
Brass also tends to have a bit of lead in it (0.25% to 4%), although for the most part it isn't enough to be a concern unless you cook with it or have it in your water pipes.
@@24680kong Oh dear!! Things are getting worse in my mind. I'm waiting somebody say PVC tubes have lead also. I've been to a historic building (from around 1760), in downtown Lisbon, where the water tubes were made entirely of pure lead. I guess there were lots of crazy people back then. Yet, some say, that's how the English word "plumber" has born...
@@fdavillar that is indeed where that word comes from! Plumbum is the name of lead... And yeah, at 2:42, I was going to ask if maybe another disadvantage might be that it's not a great choice for anything you might be machining for kitchen use... :-o
Well , the info given in these videos is absolutely first rate. Very clearly presented, just what I need. Thanks so much for posting.
Thank you so much for watching! 😁
Just discovered your channel. I’m 100% new to machining and your explainations, pace, depth and width make it a pleasure to listen to. No patronising, no baby talk, just clear concise education from someone who’s talented and passionate about what they do. A true lesson in YT education a lot of YT’s could learn from. 5 star. Thank you.
Quinn -- Good Bread and Butter Video -- Great tips on how and where to buy metals , not many think about it.
You did a great service for the novice Machinist . Two thumbs up .
TangentJim Thanks very much! Very kind words. ☺️
I agree...
I’m one of those people that has just got a lathe and your channel is so helpful, thank you so much for your help
Same
Finally someone boils it down to the essentials. Coming from wood working, where you can read entire essays on the use and history of different species, going into machining the materials are just a jungle.
Also funny to learn that the intimidating visit to the local steel shop apparently is universal :D (writing from the Czech rep.)
I happen to live down the road from an OnlineMetals warehouse and those guys are practically begging you to take their cutoffs. I paid for a 10lb "scrapbox" and when I tried to leave the guy laughed me right back to the cutoff bin, pretty much told me to take whatever I wanted lol. I must have left with 3 or 4 times as much, not sure how that translates to online. Everyone I interacted with was real friendly. Highly recommended if you live nearby.
Recently I've been looking forward to getting a lathe for projects I have in mind. Quinn, I find you to be a VERY good teacher. Your videos aren't short and choppy like so many youtube posts are and you go into pertinant detail without alot of unneccessary talk. BRAVO! I've subscribed and look forward to all of your postings.
This would have been extremely helpful when I first started out. I would also add that only buy what you need. Especially when starting out. When you take a look at the off cut area at a supply house it is really tempting to buy extra. Almost every time I have bought extra 'possibly useful stock' it it just sits in a pile under my bench for years. At least that's my experience.
Yah, accumulating junk is hard to resist in metalworking. Every scrap "might be useful someday". That feeling gets reinforced when, once in a while, that chunk of whatever you've been storing for years is JUST THE THING for a project. 😆
I typically need something from my 'extras' stash just after I've moved house and taken all of it to the scrapper.
I keep all my 'clean' ferrous materials in the house. Saves it from all that corrosion. If SWMBO were still here it could be another story.
@@Blondihacks the flip side of that is when you could use a piece you've saved but wont use it because then you wont have it for something even better! Oh, let the hoarding begin!
I'm 72 and a self taught machinist before the Internet. I do enjoy watching your Videos and will add some input. I was a Steamfitter/welder in NYC for 30+ years. When we removed valves for replacement instead of selling the scrap steel with the valve stems I cut them off first. I have valve stems which are acme thread up to 1-1/4" OD and no doubt an alloy of bronze. I have used that material for everything and it has never let me down. Keep up the good work Guinn
That’s a great tip for finding expensive materials. Thanks for sharing!
Came back to this video to get clarity as I progress into actually cutting chips with my new lathe. You are my go to creator for learning this new craft.
I kinda like the surprise of mystery metal, but I also like to stick welding. I think there is something wrong in my Head.killer vid as usual.
Haha, thanks! Yah, mystery metal can be totally useful once a person has more experience machining as well. I just think it's not good to practice on as a beginner, because it'll teach bad habits and be generally discouraging.
Found that mystery steel in her garden?
I am trying to imagine what her garden looks like!
@@MGoat76 I assume she has no iron deficiency if the eats out of her garden!
I love your videos - there is a knowledge gap you cover that nobody else does.
Wow, Quinn, these videos are super impressive. I'm a vaguely-experienced but mostly self-taught ex-mechanic turned hobbyist fabricator, and I'm learning so much from you. You have a wonderful style - precise, but simple and straightforward. Thank you :)
What a lot of great information and tips. Here in Australia we can only buy gold online eg ebay - it looks like brass, steel and aluminium but the price asked is a dead giveaway that it must be at least 14 k gold..
I gotta say I'm really finding this series of great value. Thanks so much for posting these!
Was gonna ask about stainless, then you slipped that in at the end. You do really awesome work on your channel, genuinely helping people, and unlike some channels you don't spend your time only working with the latest and greatest, while upselling your sponsored links. You seem to keep it real, and technically, I think you are a trustworthy source, thankyou
I found you a few days ago. You do an amazingly good job of explaining things. And, you have a very pleasing voice. I am particularly enjoying the lathe series. Thank you
"Sold by the atom"....love it!!!
Luckily the price per atom is very very very very low. 😬
Very good videos. Greetings from Estonia.
Ive been welding for years and have racks and racks of mild steel. I needed a lathe and had no idea of material. Thanks for the info. thumbs up.
I'm glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching!
I am a fan of making something out of a recycled bolt whenever possible, as well as all the suppliers already stated. Good video Quinn, thanks for the vid , cheers!
Recycled bolts can be fun, and I have definitely used them as well. They can be tricky though, because the grade of steel varies a lot. Sometimes they are very difficult to machine. I shattered a parting blade once trying to re-use an old bolt. It may have been Grade 8 or something, because it sure didn't want to be machined. 😅
Excellent, really helpful, you have lifted a bit of the fog on selecting materials. THANK YOU!!!
Hi Quinn, After years of being dissatisfied with my turned finishes on the worst grades of steel, I came across the HSS shear tool. Works great on all grades for light finishing cuts and very easy to grind, the finishes are unbelievable. Made from square section tool steel with two grinds only. The first is a 30 degree backward slope across the full tool height, the second is a 10 degree end relief. Tool height is with the work centre about half way up the cutting edge not the top point as in most tools.Work centre height near the bottom of the tool to turn to a shoulder. There are some diagrams of the grind angles on the net. Rob
Apart from the usual bits of mild steel we all have, the only piece i can positively identify is a small sheet of D2, every 18 months or so i get motivated and make a few knives.
Life will be so much easier with your handy visual ID method and the vast ammount of knowledge in the last few minutes was astounding 😁
Thanks! I hope it was useful! Identifying steel by sight is very difficult, but often you can make a good guess at what it is by making some chips on the lathe.
Awesome video!!! I’m a long time woodworker just getting started with metal work. I’m recommending this video to my friends.
Great, thanks! You're just the type of person my videos are speaking to. 😄
Me too. Loving these videos!
Quin.....Great video! On acquiring stock I’ve found my local machine shop some times is really friendly to hobby machinist. There drops are all marked and usually they will sell it for scrap prices. If you ask to pay for their scrap you’ll probably get more than you bargained for..I was looking for some 4” aluminum bar 8” long and offered the owner a $100 for a bin of drops and ended up with two pallets of drops all marked. Now he ask if I need more👍🏻
Your videos are so concise and helpful. I understand every word.
I love this old tony for instance but I’ve watched hours and hours that I barely understood 20% of lol
This is an excellent series! l love learning. Thank You.
Online Metals is my go to, they have fair prices, fast shipping, no minimum and Great customer service.
Peace and Thanks
A great source for cast iron round stock is used camshafts. Have used them in my modelsteam engines. Great vid Quinn.
Oooh, that's a great tip- thank you! I didn't realize they are cast iron. Easier to break down than engine blocks or 1970's Chevy cylinder heads. 🤣
Quinn, you are awesome! This video was great. I have gotten into hobby machining over the past few years and have stumbled across places like eBay (I love Stoner Tools) and McMaster Carr for metal stock but a video like this would have saved me a lot of time! I have mainly been working with 6061 and brass but have done a little bit with delrin (it is surprisingly fun). I recently picked up a little bit of 303 stainless but haven't had a chance to do anything with it yet. And oddly enough, I haven't worked with 12l14 yet. Thanks again for the video, I am finding your videos all very helpful!
Awesome, thanks for watching! 😄
Good information there. Another advantage with buying local is you can establish a relationship with your local seller and intern may let you buy from their scrap bins for scrap prices.
For sure! My local welding supplier is a super nice guy, and he takes really good care of me. Those relationships can help a lot.
You may see yourself as a hobbyist, but from the things you say, you obviously know more than a lot of full timers I have worked for/with. And I thought I was tyhe last guy around who knew what leadlloy is!
Excellent video as usual. The specific sources are very helpful.
😀👍
Excellent advice Quinn. I would like to add another location that is a good choice for hobbyists, and that is your local machine shops. Check around and you may be surprised at just how amenable they are to selling (or giving) you small pieces from their scrap/off cut piles.
Well done Quinn, adding this my bookmarks. One area I am confused about are drill bits, that would be a good one for we novices.
Another great topic idea! I'll add that to the list. 🙌
"6061 Aluminum. Also called 65S or H20 in some regions"
Also called Aluminium in some regions :-)
@@dal1m3y .. and Aussies, and New Zealanders, and South Africans and everyone who speaks the "Queen's English" ... :)
@@richardmeyer418 Aluminium: Otherwise known as the correct (original) name for the stuff!
@@amanofmanyparts9120 No, that would be alumium. Davy later called it aluminum. Countries outside the USA prefer aluminium.
@@reinierweerts6923 Correct
!
People still call the thin stuff "tin foil", so why don't we agree to call it "tin" instead?
Wow. Thanks so much for recommending 'Stoners' on ebay. Tried to buy some brass locally and it was $$$. Using him to buy my first round stock in AL & Brass. Making a second pass at your lathe intro videos. This time with my wife. Just got my Smithy setup, now to figure everything out. Thank you so much for these videos !!
Yep - did exactly that. Ended up rummaging around in the shed. Found an old iron bar and a few bits of reinforcing rod. Not ideal starter materials lol.
Excellent video (like always) Limor Fried in the Rockstar section... that's pretty cool.
Yes! I'm lucky to have her as a Patron. She's awesome.
Same thing with wood--figuring out where/how to buy is a pretty big impediment to beginners (or even intermediates!), particularly when you start wanting to do more than home store pine... I really appreciate these how to guides that start from zero. I'm probably never going to do machining, but I've learned much watching all of your vids. Thanks!
Exactly what I needed. Thanks! I'll be looking forward to your heat treating video. Specifically, I want someday to make a round hole punch and a die for the resulting ring using approx. .009 steel (shim stock I guess) for typewriter key ring replacements. I mean the kind with glass under the key rings. Yes, I know one can find salvaged antique keys online, but as a typewriter collector and restorer I have a strong antipathy to key choppers. You have a great talent for this and to make it all so approachable.
Sounds like a great project! I'll be doing some heat treating very soon in a project video on the channel. I'll likely do an educational-style one as well at some point.
Nice tips. I often go to my local steel suppliers to check the off-cuts bin. Sometimes you can find some really cool stuff for cheap. I noticed Limor Fried is a Rockstar Patron. Lady Ada rocks!
Yes, she's awesome! I'm lucky to have her as a Patron.
Thanks for a very good video. I am fortunate to have a scrap yard/metals reseller within 20 miles of my home. He sells by the pound, whatever you find- long, short, plate, sheet, steel, aluminum, you-name-it. If I care to drive further, I can find several new retailers. Also, Lowes and Menard stores sell metals.
Yah, honestly, I didn't mention the big box stores because while they can be useful in a pinch, their markup is crazy high and their selection is very limited. That said, I've definitely bought stuff there when I need a little piece of something "right now".
Great source of ground steel rod is old printers. Usually in 10mm-15mm diameter. Old CD/DVD/Floppy drives often have short sections in 5-8mm as well. Sometimes it's stainless, but a magnet will help sort that out quickly.
robert bownes That’s a great tip! Is it hardened, I wonder?
For food & drink containers, stainless steel is a good choice. I was worried when I didn't see it on the bench, but you mentioned it anyway.
Good video, useful stuff [ I'm not in USA bet even so, metal buying tips was a nice addition ]
Cool, hope you found it useful! I tried hard to include non-US designations in the captions at least, although there isn't a lot of agreement on what all the equivalents are in other countries for grades of steel of aluminum.
I’ve used 416 stainless, it’s free machining as well and It’s great for turning.
Thank you, very informative. One place worth trying. Call in at a local small engineering / fabrication workshop. I find they are always happy for you to rummage in the scrap bin and they end up with some extra pocket money.
Stoner tools is really a great place for aluminum and brass pieces. Lucky for me he is about 5 minutes away and the prices are a bit cheaper since he doesn't have to pack and ship. Nice guy to work with so don't hesitate to call and talk to him if you need something not shown in his ebay store.
Nice guide. Enjoying the videos, they've inspired me to get back into my own shop and get the lathe spinning again. I mean sure it was just some pins for some Ikea shelves, but it was fun dangit! :)
Robert Liesenfeld That’s terrific! Anything we make ourselves is a win in my book! 😁
Very good info, videography and audio.
What a great video for ppl starting in machining!
I run your vids with Closed Captioning on, and half the time it reads “Hello Internet, my name is Quinn and this is bloody axe. . .”
It is mildly amusing. 😂🤣😂
Brilliant! Just what I need. I have bought material (steel mostly) before that's nigh on impossible to work and hopeless to get a good finish. Keep up the good work. Subscribed and added to Patreon!
And again...... Thank ya, Quinn ❤️
Thanks Quinn... Great info for a newbie.... Now to get some and turn it into scrap 😀
Great channel! Love your approach and you are a wealth of knowledge. I remember my first time drilling Titanium as an apprentice. I thought it would be like aluminum. It was not. The drill wasn't cutting anything. I thought I was running the drill backwards but nope, the material ate my drill.
Rigity on fleek! My new favorite phrase!
Thanks - I thought I was the only one with severe hobbyist metal-buying anxiety. I forced myself to go to my local metal supplier and ask n00b questions just to get over the anxiety; they were pretty low-key, mentioned they had a lot of amatuers come in for "drops" which they sell by the pound, usually for people practicing welding. It sounds stupid, but there is an intimidation factor that if you aren't buying 5 tons of C-channel, you feel like you're wasting everyone's time. I finally have a (dubious, used) 60s-era Sears stick welder so it's time to get some drops and start making tools for my mostly-complete aluminum foundry...
Yah, totally! It's normal to have anxiety about this sort of thing. And honestly, sometimes they aren't very nice if you aren't buying 5 tons of C-channel. It's a crap shoot out there.
@@Blondihacks The dumb part about this is I have two engineering degrees (nuclear) and I own my own business. I might need 5 tons of C channel at some point; who knows? If they're going to treat me like crap as a n00b, why would I want to work with them when I have real money to spend? Must be nice to be the only game in town, I guess :/
Be careful about picking up copper or bronze of unknown provenance. There's a chance it will be beryllium copper, which is very risky to machine.
That’s a good point, in college they only told us about the flammability issues of the swarf, wasn’t till years later I learned about the potential lung damage and cancer risks
Good video Quinn! You may consider doing a video on lubricants and when to use them. Keep up the good work.
Great idea, thank you! I'll add that to the list. ☺️
Very good video as mostly this is forgotten or they think you know, when you do not as you are just starting.
My thoughts exactly! Thanks for watching!
John Saunders (NYC CNC) has suggested Alro for finding approx material costs for quoting because they give pricing without having an account. I believe they also use it for buying stuff for their products.
Great tip, thanks for sharing!
Another good video Quinn.
Sometimes you can go to small-time fabricator and buy drops from them as well
For sure! Local machine shops are also often happy to get rid of the scraps that are too small to be worth hauling away.
“Just a hobbiest who just wants to buy some round bar to play with on the lathe”…are you watching me or what?😉 Thank you for all your videos, they have been a super helpful entry into this world
Quinn,Great Job on Video. Good sources. May I suggest the local Flea Markets and Metal Recycling Companies. Sometimes good metal
can be had for pennies a pound.
the 4130 and 4140 is what you want to use for your gun projects. In the old days we went to the junk yards to get the tie rods off American made cars to get this kind of steel cheaply.
Nice video, good recommended vendors. Well done.
Great practical information. Translating to UK names/specifications is a bit of a challenge.
Great video there blondie ' keep'um coming.
Thanks this was very helpful all most all my references are from the UK and they have other ways of naming materials.
Thank you for answering all of the questions I feel dumb asking. Your videos have saved me so much embarrassment.
All various types of steel make me a bit crazy. Thanks for the clarification. At online metals I really like the sample packs. You don't know exactly what you are going to get but you will often be pleasantly surprised. In one package I got a 3" brass cylinder 3/16" thick about a foot long.
I have had mostly good experiences with Grainger - for tools and hardware, as well as materials; much better selection than 'big box' stores at significantly lower cost than online, and I can pick up without too long a drive. And only once have they not eventually delivered what they said was available (though there have been sizable delays a few times).
Granger is my go to for metal because they have a store local for me and if you pick it up at the store you do not have to pay shipping.
Metal supermarkets also has quite a few " local " stores. I buy a pile of metal from them in sizes as short as a foot.
This is a great video with excellent content that newcomers to metal working need to be familiar with, especially when designing their projects to be usable and robust when in use! I’m just wondering why the Fleur-de-lis appeared briefly near the middle of the video???
Thank you very much! The Fleur De Lis was supposed to be a joke because I busted out my very tired Québécois French there for a moment. I guess it wasn't funny. 😁
@@Blondihacks Now don’t be hard on yourself, you can't always count on the s-l-o-w-e-r folks to pick up on subtle humor!
@@Blondihacks I totally appreciated that gag - loved it! I learned Francais Parisienne as a kid and it was refreshing hearing your accent.
BTW, as (thousands of) others have said, thanks so much for these videos. I'm finally stretching my wings in proper machining with a used 7/14 lathe I bought to make a weird plumbing adapter part for a heat exchanger feature in a plastic storage hot water tank I'm modifying, and have totally gotten hooked on your videos. Clearly you've done your homework on purpose and application across the entire process of machining, and work that perfectly into your videos. Please keep up that sense of humor - it's something many of us appreciate about your videos as much as the learning!
My favorite supplier is a local machine shop. The owner lets me climb into the scrap bins whenever I need a piece of stock to work. The nice thing is he keeps the bins sorted by metal type, so I always know which bin to crawl into just by looking at the bin tag. I guess it does help that the owner is my bosses cousin and I'm the shop's Electrician and machine tech.
Excellent video with materials really well covered. Thank you!
These are brilliant vidod so easy to understand thankyou
Hello, your videos are made very well. I am looking to buy a lathe. What kind do you have? There are so many that I don't want to buy junk. Thanks, Tony
Good primer on materials.
Thanks.
Another great, informative video.
13:29
“A very serious looking building, full of very serious looking people”
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Too funny
Nice and very informative !
Great presentation!
Watching in Alabama
Thanks Anthony! Very kind of you to say.
Awesome overview!
Thanks!
Thank you so much for this series!
Great video 👍
Absolutely great video Absolutely 💯!!
Super useful info!
Thanks again super Quinn!!
Great vid 👍
I dare say, mystery brass and bronze from the scrapyard is by far the cheapest you can supply copper alloys. I stay away from the salmon coloured stuff though. Copper scares me LOL
I have had some luck with mystery steels after doing basic field metal identification: File test, spark test, machine-a-small-amount test, heat treating sample test... It's definitely a little time consuming and requires one to use their noggin a fair bit more than using known alloys. The nice thing about scrapyard types of place is that they pretty much only care about weight, so if you pick up 20 pounds of unusable steel, you can just trade it for 20 pounds of a different, "maybe" more machinable steel for little to no cost.
I was pleasantly surprised recently, turning a length of "zinc plated smooth rod" by National Hardware. I expected it to be choppy and hard like most of the hardware store rod stock I've found, but it actually cut pretty smoothly! No idea whether it was made of hot- or cold-rolled steel!
I take it back. That zinc-plated stuff was really hard to turn and even harder to run a threading die over! x.x
You forgot one more option: DIY! My next tool probably will be melting furnace to make my own aluminum stock. May be brass/bronze/copper too.
Great video series. thanks
Love your videos. Already learned so much. Question: any advice how to set up a working area to avoid metal chips becoming a health issue ?
Great information! thanks!
Great! I was just looking for a video like that and I got surprised (even shocked) to learn there could be lead on steel. Is there any POISONING risk?
Good question! A lot of people wonder about that. The level of lead is very low. I wouldn’t cook food for your kids on a 12L14 surface, but it won’t harm you in normal handling.
Brass also tends to have a bit of lead in it (0.25% to 4%), although for the most part it isn't enough to be a concern unless you cook with it or have it in your water pipes.
@@24680kong Oh dear!! Things are getting worse in my mind. I'm waiting somebody say PVC tubes have lead also.
I've been to a historic building (from around 1760), in downtown Lisbon, where the water tubes were made entirely of pure lead. I guess there were lots of crazy people back then. Yet, some say, that's how the English word "plumber" has born...
@@fdavillar that is indeed where that word comes from! Plumbum is the name of lead...
And yeah, at 2:42, I was going to ask if maybe another disadvantage might be that it's not a great choice for anything you might be machining for kitchen use... :-o
golden info
Which type of steel is more likely to turn into a banana shape when machining?