Gunsmithing Machine shop education

[boomer81]

I was enrolled in a gunsmithing class that was intergrated into a vo-tech machine shop course here in oklahoma. I was in my first semester night classes last spring and the place took a direct hit by a f5 tornado. Which makes me sick it was way nice. I would have started in the machine shop this fall. It had everything i needed close to home. Ive never been around a machine shop interested in learning my way around one. There are courses in some nearby trade schools. But they are not geard to guns. Would i be better off to hit up a local builder and offer to pay em to a good chunk extra to walk me through building a precision bolt gun and offer to do some work for free. or would i be better off taking a basic machining course. Its more for hobby and some of the classes are pretty high.

 

[turbo54]

You'll appreciate what the gunsmith is doing a lot more if you get your feet wet first.

Gun smithing is really just an application of general precision machining, I think a general machine shop class would be a fine intro.

I doubt a Smith will take you on as an apprentice/helper, because he'll probably feel he needs to watch over you so much he can't get his work done. It's worth asking, though!

 

[Papagallos]

Sign up for a class with Robert Gradous.

 

[turbo54]

Sign up for a class with Robert Gradous.

A fine idea! I kinda got the impression from the OP though, that money may be a little too tight for that...?

 

[boomer81]

A fine idea! I kinda got the impression from the OP though, that money may be a little too tight for that...?

i could probably save up a bit and swing that. what i couldnt is spending that much on a class that is not rifle related buying a few hundred dollars in books. and driving 40 miles each way two nights a week. and not get to keep a fine rifle. any reason for a new gun im in. i may call him and ask his opinion.

 

[aqualung]

You'll appreciate what the gunsmith is doing a lot more if you get your feet wet first.


I doubt a Smith will take you on as an apprentice/helper, because he'll probably feel he needs to watch over you so much he can't get his work done. It's worth asking, though!

First statement YES!!!

Second statement, NO!!! (apart from the last statement, it's ALWAYS worth asking)

Talk to George at GAP, I spoke with him, and he was willing to take me on as an intern.

Sadly I couldn't do it as a severe car crash put me out of action for a while, plus ongoing family problems make it difficult to get time away from home.

But George is one of the nicest guys you could ever meet and, lets face it, he's the best

I told him I had ABSOLUTELY no experience and he said, "Not a problem", but, I'm in a similar position to the OP, I am trying to source an 'education' in machine shop, but it's REAL difficult here in the UK, they're even taking the machine shops out of highschools! It's criminal. However, the silver lining on that cloud is that my buddy got a real nice lathe for less than $50!! It was going to the scrap yard otherwise, almost new, hardly used. Like I said, CRIMINAL.

Have a chat with George at GAP, he is a TOP man!

Hope this helps.

N

 

[sortafast]

i could probably save up a bit and swing that. what i couldnt is spending that much on a class that is not rifle related buying a few hundred dollars in books. and driving 40 miles each way two nights a week. and not get to keep a fine rifle. any reason for a new gun im in. i may call him and ask his opinion.

you know, I was in the same boat about 7-8yrs ago. I started the Machine Mfg program at the local community college and took a couple classes. Then I got to looking at the costs involved and what I was looking to get out of it. I wasn't really doing it for a career path (good thing too as a couple years later the machining "industry" around here got hit hard in the recession), but for the money it would cost me, I could go out and buy a couple machines and figure it out on my own. And thats what I did. Saved up, bought a small lathe which I unfortunately have yet to upgrade, then stumbled upon a small mill for cheap. Then upgraded machines to where I now have a CNC mill. I took only 2 classes: Shop Safety 102 and Speeds and Feeds 104 (or something like that). The rest I learned on my own, and a little on the job at a couple previous employers. With the internet, you can learn a ton. If you have a place for some machinery you could do a lot to teach yourself how to machine. Heck for less than a grand you could go get a HF X2 mill and a HF 7x12" lathe and do a lot to learn. Then when you are comfortable, trade up to bigger and better machines. When I was working sales for a Mfg I was in good with the tool room/ prototype machinist. He told me once "Cutting metal ain't hard, its figuring out how to hold it thats tricky".

 

[Al_Ski]

"Cutting metal ain't hard, its figuring out how to hold it thats tricky".

This! And a good working knowledge of trig and geometry helps. Knowing how to process a job and tolerance stack up will help to limit your boat anchor/fishing weight manufacturing...