Comment by edot

Have you tried 3D printing? It’s a pretty cheap and forgiving way to get into manufacturing. You’ll get a lot of practice with CAD. Autodesk Fusion 360 is free for hobby use and very good.

For machining, I’d start with wood (wood lathe or router, cheaper than a real metal lathe or mill). Very similar concepts as real machining (feeds and speeds, toolpaths, CAM). Up to you if you want to start manual or CNC. The Shapeoko routers are very nice and relatively affordable (in this domain). You can also find used manual machines locally, but it’s hard to know if they’re in good condition if you don’t know anything.

If you want to read, the Machinery’s Handbook, aka the Bible in any shop, is enormous and contains pretty much anything you’d want to know.

Oh, and get a set of Mitutoyo digital calipers. Expensive but the only way to go, in my opinion. Measuring is fundamental to manufacturing.