While MWDropBox.com was originally created to help support the rec.crafts.metalworking newsgroup on the USENET, there are many web forums and e-mail list servers that cater to the metalworking hobby. Below is a list of some of these resources and some brief comments about them.
If you know of additions or corrections, please send them to:
For users of the 7" x 10" style lathe sold by Grizzly, Harbor Freight, etc.
For users of 9" x 20" lathes imported and sold by Jet, Enco, Harbor Freight and others.
For users of Atlas lathes built by AA and sold by Sears under the Craftsman name.
For users of Atlas lathes, milling machines, and shapers built by Atlas and sold by Sears under the Craftsman name. Also some support for AA lathe built for sale as Craftsman.
Forum for blacksmiths to learn from each other.
For users of Burke (Powermatic etc.) milling machines.
For metalworkers interested in computers and electronics as applied to machine tools. Covers all aspects of CNC and related topics. Construction of electronics and electro-mechanical conversions of machine tools regularly discussed. Very active list.
Long standing web forum for hobby machinists. Quite active.
For newcomers to CNC in the home shop. Started in 2001, but off to a good start.
For users of Clausing lathes and mill sold under the Clausing name. Does not cover Atlas/Clausing machines.
Forums on various CNC topics.
For people interested in building machines of their own design. Discussion of merits of designs.
For users of the English made Drummond lathes, notable for their versions with a round bed design.
Enhanced Machine Controller is a public domain CNC machine tool program originally developed by NIST and now supported as an open source project. There is a home page at HTTP://WWW.LinuxCNC.org with details.
For users of the EMCO-Maier Compact 5 lathe. Also discussion of other EMCO and similar machines.
Discussion forum of the Home Foundrymen's Association. Covers all type of home shop metal casting. Very active list.
A group of personal web sites related to the home casting foundry hobby.
Forum for group planning to design a new lathe to be built for hobby users. Mostly superceded by Dream Machine list.
This is the original "Logan Lathe List" started by Scott Logan himself. Support for owners of Logan lathes and related equipment. Very active list.
For users of the MaxNC small CNC milling machines.
Forum for machinists and other technical stuff, lots of manuals on line.
For practitioners of the art of forming sheet metal. Includes all methods, rolling, spinning, and hammering but not the usual blacksmithing work. Not to be confused with machine tool shapers listed below. Very active list.
Forum that developed as an offshoot of the Yahoo metalshapers group. Focused on learning techniques and supporting events to bring artisans and learners together.
Dedicated to Metal Shapers, the machine tools such as Logan, Porter-Cable, Broadhead-Garrett, Atlas, South Bend, Ammco and others that cut metal with a sliding ram holding a tool bit. Not to be confused with sheet metal work listed above. New list, but off to a good start.
For owners and users of mill-drill machines such as Rong-Fu and the many similar imports. New list, but growing fast.
Mini-Lathe Projects is a group focused on discussion of the process of making things using a mini-lathe.
A web based set of forums, by topic. Discussions from the point of view of the commercial shops, large and small, that subscribe to the magazine.
Traditional mail list for machinists interested in model making. Been around for a long time and is very active.
To subscribe, send a plain text mail message (majordomo will bounce html) to majordomo@swcp.com with the body of the message (not the subject line) containing "subscribe modeleng-list" without the quotation marks. An 'info' message will be returned to you with usage information.
General discussion of machinists topics. Includes forums for specific brands and for antiques.
For users of Sherline lathes and mills. Very active list.
For users of Southbend lathes. Very active list.
For users of Taig lathes and mills. Very active list.
For users of the various Unimat lathe/milling machines.
Support group for CNC-Pro milling machine control software from Yeager Automation.
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