On Wed, 10 Aug 2005 22:29:19 -0700, Harold and Susan Vordos wrote:

Still, when starting out, a lathe seems so much more natural,
and is an easier way to begin machining, considering you have only two
dimensions over which to worry. Further, it's a lot cheaper to grind
cutting tools for a lathe than to purchase typical milling cutters, most of
which can not be hand sharpened.

And you also learn a lot about cutter geometry when grinding your own
single point tools. Doesn't take fancy equipment to make a fine tool
bit from a blank, but one can't even properly sharpen a milling cutter
without specialized equipment.

I guess it really depends on what one's objective is. I presume that
others are like myself, and like to learn things from the bottom up.
That's not to say that I'm not ambitious about the things that I
want to do, but I've "over-bought" in the past and then realized
that I didn't have the skills needed to put the purchased item
to good use. I think I was smart when I bought a lathe as my first
legitimate machine tool as it gave me more opportunity to learn the
rudiments of machining. Its a deep subject and its easy to get in
over your head when you're new at it.