Jerry's Machine Shop

Editor's Note: Jerry converted part of his 2-car garage into a machine shop when he lived in Colorado Springs from 1992 until his passing in 2009 - AEH

I started out in hobby machining in 1960 with a little Unimat-3 tabletop metal lathe which also converted into a vertical mill/drill.

The Maximat-7, a really neat 7 inch gear head lathe with vertical milling/drilling column that I bought new for $595.00 in 1968. It is an excellent machine. I got it because I had outgrown the Unimat-3.

The Maximat Super - 11 that I bought in 1990. It was an expensive lathe in 1990, but it is extremely accurate and worth every penny it cost. I got it because I had outgrown the Maximat-7.

The Jet JVM-836 mill that I bought in 2000. I really like this mill and it is a great machine in spite of the very reasonable cost.

It replaced a Jet 626 bench knee mill that I outgrew. I got the Jet 626 mill when I outgrew the Maximat-7 vertical column mill, which I got when I outgrew the Unimat-3 that I started out with in 1960! 

This second Jet JVM-836 mill came to my shop in 2003. Sometimes, having two mills is really handy! Ball screws were installed in 2005, and it was converted to CNC in January 2007.

Now do you see why I say to get the largest and highest quality machines that you can afford? Almost everyone else who has been in the hobby for any length of time will tell you the same thing. Even so, with that said, my smaller machines still get plenty of use!