Suggestions for my senior project

Thats nothing but you could use a steady or follow rest when turning like that. Add another foot to that and watch it fly over your head as it catches the tool and flys out of the chuck, thats fun, had it happen to me except it was steel instead of alum. You could also cut the round stock shorter but I dont know how much of it your using. We all learn, just wear your glasses please.  

Yeah, my boss said it was quite safe.  But it's stock, so it's not true, and it's hard to feel comfortable around something that looks like it's wobbling.  The biggest cut I've seen was some 1'x2' Aermet.  Aiermet?  The expensive one.

The shop boss worked as a supervisor for a while, so he's pretty attentive.  

AerMet, yes I have played with that stuff only a few times for plastic injection molds. However I did a lot of precision surface grinding and found M4 and D2 a much more entertaining experience to grind.

I supervised as well and never let anybody under me turn like that. At a thousand rpm it would only take a split second to rip that alum out. We are all different though so dont take that as gospel. Remember, rough cuts low speed high feed and vice versa for finishing.  

Actually, I took that picture while the part was spinning.  Because I used a short exposure, it looks still.  The flying water droplets are the giveaway.  

I think I'm going to get a little drag-racing fuel tank, hide it in the trunk, and use it as the dry sump's oil tank.