David Utidjian wrote:

Time Traveler wrote:
Any metalworking clubs in the NJ metro area?


None that I know of. Would you be interested in starting one?

I am the Physics Lab Coordinator at ramapo College of New Jersey in
Mahwah. We have a small machine/model shop with a few very abused and
neglected machine tools. I am currently "upgrading" the shop and
fighting an ongoing battle with people that want to use it for storage
rather than a workplace. So far I am winning.

At some point in the future (year or two) we are going to replace most,
if not all, of the major machine tools with new ones.

Some of the stuff we do (or try to do) is kinda interesting. In high
vacuum work the external finish on parts is not usually critical... but
how tight we can make things fit and seal is VERY important.

We do work in stainless, tool steel, brass, bronze, copper, lead, glass,
lucite. etc...

Most everything we make is a one off... no production work. Which means
it never gets boring ;-)

I am very interested in sharing and learning techniques from others that
may be specialists in certain areas. My requirements is that I be a
generalist and be able to do a quality job on a very wide range of
materials and parts. Unlike much larger institutions with dedicated
staff and facilities we have to make do.

Ever been to Princeton Plasma Physics Labs? (where they build and
operate tokamaks) We visited them last fall semester... they have some
seriously cool stuff there (and Billion$ to spend on it). Thanks to our
machine shop and a very motivated student we now have one of our
graduates doing research there.

-David Utidjian-
Ramapo College of New Jersey
dutidjia somewhere_close_to ramapo.edu

YOu can get some nice equipment from the goverment before it goes onto
the internet auction. It involves some paperwork but it would be worth
looking into.

John