Working at Ford ('67 to '97) , I was always seeing machined parts that piqued my interest. I used to think "How did they make that"? That prompted me to take few junior college machining courses in '75 and '76, and was immediately hooked on machining.

Along came 1985, and Ford gave out the first profit sharing check of about $2000. I was determined not to fritter it away on normal bills. I was living in my house now and had a nice dry basement, so I ordered a new Jet 12 X 36 lathe. Soon I picked up a Palmgren milling attachment for it.

I used to be heavy into Camp Perry rifle competition, and the lathe fit right in for gunsmithing. My Jet is really a 1940's type lathe and it needed some tweaking before I was happy with it. Long story of course.