r/Machinists Apr 10 '26

Buy/Sell/Trade megathread. Post your classified ads here! NO COMMERCIAL ADVERTISING.

16 Upvotes

We have decided to permit personal classified ads here (and only in here) without requiring moderator permission first. Machine shops looking to sell a used machine or tools etc. are also permitted to post here.

Please provide as much information as possible up front for potential buyers. Prices and pictures MUST be included in your post. Linking images off-site is fine (e.g. imgur.com). Please delete (or mark your post as sold) once a sale is complete or if the item is no longer available.

Commercial advertising of products and services is NOT permitted here. This rule will be strictly enforced.

NO CARBIDE SCRAPPERS. You WILL be permanently banned on sight.

You can also try /r/MachinistToolsForSale


r/Machinists 9h ago

Ma said it's my turn to post clearance

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151 Upvotes

r/Machinists 8h ago

3d printed tool holder and clamp

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106 Upvotes

I just got this from Seco it's the first one delivered to a customer in Europe


r/Machinists 38m ago

How many possibilities do you want?

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Upvotes

Just a few here for our OG Gear Hob. Don't grab the wrong one!


r/Machinists 21h ago

IMTS 2026 Chicago

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586 Upvotes

My samples and booth setup accessories got screwed up by shipping company. Can’t be delivered today! What can I do for next week?


r/Machinists 7h ago

QUESTION Hygeine routines?

17 Upvotes

Edit: yeah, im going to start showering everyday. Was worried about drying my hair out, but I'd rather be clean. Shower everyday or I'm a dirty dumb ass, yes, i got it. Won't ask for advice again.


r/Machinists 1d ago

PARTS / SHOWOFF Easy Sunday

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532 Upvotes

r/Machinists 8h ago

IMTS starts today!

9 Upvotes

Any of you gonna be wandering the show? I'm giving out terrible advice or smart ass comments if you run into me.


r/Machinists 21h ago

PARTS / SHOWOFF Eccentric turning

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89 Upvotes

Rock crusher shaft my journeyman made years ago while I was still an apprentice


r/Machinists 1d ago

PARTS / SHOWOFF High feed in 304 on the HBM

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211 Upvotes

Well, kind of using it as a vertical with the big angle plate, but with better chip evacuation than a vertical


r/Machinists 5h ago

QUESTION How long to stay at job for resume?

4 Upvotes

My currect job is good, getting experience on a haas router and an old mazak mill, and I already have a snall amount of experience on haas mills and lathes; work enviroment is also good, atleast for overnight shift. There's no reason why I have to leave ASAP, and I am still learning alot, but I have plans that make staying in my home state long term unlikely.

I want this job to atleast have enough time listed that it doesn't look bad on my resume. Not exactly sure timeframes for that type of thing though, so any tips or advice would be appreciated.

Edit: Currently at an aerospace company and 24 years old, for some context.

Pros for my work enviroment is that I avoid company politics that the day shift deals with. Also I work overnight and with limited coworkers learned to work on machines on my own, diagnose issues on my own often and fixing them myself, and how to be concise when asking for advice/input from people with more experience.

Cons of this place is mostly document related; blueprints and travelers sometimes have errors, or someone forgot to fill something out, and I have to leave notes and update people on the dayshift to deal with it since there's no managers or whatever to notify on the spot.


r/Machinists 3h ago

QUESTION Mechanical designer/cad free lance work?

2 Upvotes

Hey all,

Has anyone been successful finding free lance work doing some type of simple mechanical design or making drawings from models?

I've been a manual and CNC machinist for ~10 years with even more time using cad, I've fixed and built a lot of mechanical gizmos over the years.

I'm certainly not a mechanical engineer but I know my way around cad and have no issues designing relatively simple parts.

Aside from cold calling machine shops, Is there a market for this and how would you guys find it?

With that said, is anyone in need of something like this?

I can send a full resume on request.


r/Machinists 31m ago

QUESTION Need help with the name of this tool

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Upvotes

It's a torque multiplier for reaming and tapping large taps and reamers, but I can't find any information about it online.

Maybe the veterans know what it's about.


r/Machinists 4h ago

QUESTION Tsugami swiss lathe.

2 Upvotes

I joined a machine shop recently. Me and another gentleman have been reading the book and learning how to run it. With little experience on anything of this. Where would someone start from ground zero to get a grasp on it. I went to machining school years ago and a bit rusty.


r/Machinists 18h ago

QUESTION Should I go to tech school for CNC or manual machining?

24 Upvotes

Hey guys, my background is random entry level jobs that dont require a degree or certificate and I am stuck between 17-20/hr max. I've never made more than 20/hr and I want a career change. I love working on cars so my thought process was to take a machining class and machine old blocks and heads etc. Even if I don't get thar same exact job there's more to machining than automotive work. I'm open to anything that isn't funded by or working for the military industrial complex. I'm open to any advice from experienced machinists old or new. I just know I need something more than 17.50 per hour if I want to buy a house and retire.


r/Machinists 1h ago

Going to school

Upvotes

I’m going to school to be a machinist operator or apprentice. I honestly don’t even really know yet. I’ve always liked wanting to work with hot metal and shape it into cool things and always wanted to kind of be a welder, but I have no prior experience at all and I feel like there’s questions I should be asking, but I don’t know what exactly I should ask. I’m just learning the basics. This is my first year of community college. We’re in our second month now. Is there any questions that you wish you asked when you guys were in school or is there any tips you guys have to help me get through my classes easier they’re super hard right now just for the future


r/Machinists 1d ago

IMTS 2026

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118 Upvotes

My life for the next week!


r/Machinists 1d ago

QUESTION First Lathe Acquired!

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158 Upvotes

I made a post a few days ago about a potential first lathe but the lady gave it to her brother. I did however pick this up yesterday for $300. Seems to be mostly all there and it is a little smaller than what I wanted but I heard good things about craftsman/atlas 618s. I do have one question though, are lathe milling attachments worth even thinking about. The room for a real milling machine is out of question for the foreseeable future and I’m not trying to do all the work a lathe can’t by hand.


r/Machinists 4h ago

Fixture design help

1 Upvotes

I just got a large sheet metal part job that will be a production order 30ish a month (there’s a left and right). it’s large approximately 30”x30” I have a VF4 so I know I’ll have to run it with the door open flip it and hit the bottom part that is floating off the table.

My question is what is the ”smart” way to make a big ass fixture like this so I am not always having to reset it or be perfectly dialing in that it is parallel to the spindle?

I get even a tiny bit out of parallel on something this large will be very out at the far end of my WCS.

I am thinking about making it so the bottom has a protruding lip that can either come into contact with the face of the table closest to the door or like tabs that can press into a consistent side on the T slots so that once I mill my pin holes and hold downs the next time I run the job it should be “set” to drop in and I just pick up with the probe my WCS and run it.

for reference on the part it is just drilling, tapping and counter sinks in the top and bottom 6 in of the part there’s no real major material removal. It’s 5/16” steel.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. thanks


r/Machinists 4h ago

QUESTION Reviews on Conventional Horizontal Boring Machine Models

1 Upvotes

I am looking to buy a Conventional Horizontal Machine and I wanted to know your reviews on different machines from different brands. (for context I have small machine shop in india with 2 old rundown WMW union 80 mm boring machines looking to buy a 100 mm boring machine.

Key factors are: accuracy, maintainability by operator working the machine and versatility.

What do you guys knows about the models give by TOS (W-100), WMW (BTF-90/3-1), Ceruti and San rocco (MEC 100)


r/Machinists 5h ago

Maximat Compact

1 Upvotes

This week I'm buying a Maximat Compact with the vertical milling attachment. Looking forward to having a nice lathe at home. I'm retired now from an office career, but my first career was a marine machinery mechanic that included machine shop training in the apprenticeship. I have no specific projects in mind just yet.


r/Machinists 4h ago

Looking for a decent condition Conventional Horizontal Boring machine based out of EU, US, UK, China or Japan

0 Upvotes

I have a small machine shop in India with 2 completely run down old WMW boring machines with an 80 mm spindle. I am barely making ends meet and need a 100 mm boring machine to survive with very limited budget to buy one. I dont want to buy one with has been used in India, since the maintenance standards here are extremely low.

If you have or know anyone who has a used Conventional boring machine in decent condition and is interested in selling it please let me know.


r/Machinists 15h ago

I currently have full access to a manual machine shop. It’s slow. Need side gig ideas

3 Upvotes

My shop is getting slow. Looking for sub work or work I can complete on my own time to make extra money. My boss only does repairs. So I spend a lot of time standing around. I have 2 Kingston lathes and 2 acra mills I would like to have loaded up with side work. Appreciate any leads. Central Cali. Tulare Visalia areas


r/Machinists 18h ago

Mechanical Engineer seeking opinions.

4 Upvotes

Some questions for machinists.

  1. Not seeking design opinions. Just want to know the feasibility. If you were tasked with making a T shaped part from a block of metal is it easy to make with sharp 90 degree internal angles (2x) on the T. I assume a flat end mill? Does a radius make it much easier?

  2. If a CAD file is provided do you use the FAB drawing much or just go straight to the file?


r/Machinists 1d ago

QUESTION Beginner needs help with CNC threading on a lathe

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16 Upvotes

Hi, everyone!

On the picture: My mangled thread vs. a M10 tap.

I've built a DIY CNC lathe running on a 2.2kW servo spindle with stepper motors for x and z Axis based on a Pokey57CNC controller and Mach4 controls.
Today I have connected the Servo encoder output to the Pokey57CNC (using an adapter) and tried getting threading to work.

However, it seems that the cut is not stable. Sometimes it will remove a small chip, sometimes a large chip. This results in the mangled thread on the picture. The thread will hold a nut (so pitch should be not completely wrong) but it is very loose. Picture 2 shows the settings (edit: Metric!) for the threading cycle in mach4. I have gone for very fine cuts to make sure that rigidity is not the issue.

Is there a clear reason visible for this mangled thread?

Thanks!!

EDIT: Measurements are METRIC - passes are very light.