Any machinists/metalworkers/engineers here?

[Eli]

Yikes.. I'm not sure I'd want that job.. Maybe if it pays good.

Must be hell when you first get the job. I'd hope they let you get the hang of things on some scrap, or something.


Yeah. It'd definately come in handy, then I wouldn't have to take it somewhere to have it bored over, or whatnot. I could probably even do stuff like valve seats.. and even valves(in a lathe?) myself, eh? Cool. hehe.

Man, I feel like I better get started now. Especially if it's going to take me like 10 years to get "good". :Q


Hmm.. I need a better paying job. 7.70 doesen't cut it when you want multi-thousand dollar machinery. :disgust:

Welp, I better get to bed. Gotta work tomorrow.. Er.. today.. heh

 

[Shack70]

I've spent 4 years in an machinist apprenticeship and now work in a shop the overhauls and repairs machine tools. I am currently going to school at night(IT) to get into the computer industry because I don't want to be working around this machinery all my life. For anyone thinking of starting a career as a machinist, just keep in mind that it's dangerous beacuse if you are not careful you can really get hurt and it can be pretty rough on your body. You hands tend to get beat up and you need to get used to oily skin.

 

[Eli]

LOL... knucklebusters and greasy hands are the least of my worries.


Oh yeah, I was supposed to go to bed.. heh..

 

[Stallion]

BlackFlagg, I'm looking at going into some kind of PC feild also. I'm a little tired of this but would like to stay at Boeing.

Eli, yep, the money is very good here as are the benifits and perks. They usually cut you some slack when you first start out as I have scrapped some a 747 web (only lost one) after my first month on the job.

Our apprenticeship program is very good also. The only bad thing about my machine is there is not another one like it in the US. Except for the 12 we have of course. So while I have the basic machining skills I don't have the knowledge of most of the basic peices of equipment. So I would be SOL in the market feild.

 

[Ornery]

You guys can all get a job in almost any machine shop, because there are no other applicants! I have no idea how, but the wages in this field have stayed flat for decades. Meanwhile government union workers, like teachers, have seen their pay go through the roof. It's BS I tell ya!

I figured once these businesses lost workers through attrition, they would have to start coming up with more money. Ain't happened yet. And they hate like crazy to train people, because it costs them a lot of time and money, and then the trained people drift off to other companies. Something's got to give. I'm disgusted with it. I'd go back into building and remodeling, since the money is good there, but damn, I'm too old to be bending and climbing anymore. Gotta pull some strings at city hall or something...

 

[Stallion]

I know I am way over payed. In the past 13 years I have been here my pay has gone up over 300% but my jobs have also been more demanding though. We also get a COLA (cost of live addjustment) raise every 3 months. Any where from 5 cents to 25 cents.

 

[Eli]

Damn heh. Well, at this point in time, I'm just happy to have a job. When they first hired me, things were going great. Then come christmas time, things fell through the floor. We were streching our work out just so we would have something to do all day. Not good for your effeciency.. I was very close to being let go. But last week they hired me on permanent. rate of pay didn't change, but I'm due for an "evaluation" in 90 days.

The idea of working as a wage slave for the rest of my life leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I really want to start my own business, whether it be computers, mechanics, or botanics, and anything inbetween.

It's a very tough decision whether I want to get started in machining. I do want to do it, but if I do persue it, will it ever really happen, or will it be a waste of time? The way I see it, I could spend the same 10 years it'd take me to become profficent at metalworking on anything I wanted to, and I'd be good at it. Is metalworking really what I want to do with such a large portion of my time and money? I guess I don't really know yet.

 

[Ornery]

If you're halfway handy, you could be making money for a shop the first day you're there. There is always grunt work to do, where you just pull a handle on a drill press and tap holes etc. That's worth more than what you're making now and you would have benefits too. My gripe is that it levels out too low. But I think you could be pulling down $16.00 per hour within five years. That's when you gotta decide whether it's worth staying in that field or not. At that point you should be able to run most of the machines with little help. And being proficient comes with doing different types of work over time. You would still be valuable to any machine shop with five years under your belt.

I think there's more money in building and remodeling, though. Hard work, but at least it pays well. If you can master plumbing, you could be very much in demand. Again, it's a tuff job, but good money.

 

[Eli]

Yeah, I'm pretty handy. I'm not looking forward to finding a new job though. Getting this one wasn't a pleasant experience, and I don't hate this job. I think I actually like it.. Is that possible? It suites me well right now. It's not hard(diffrence between not hard and fun...), I get to ride my bike to work, the hours are just right for me(swing.. 2:30pm to 11:30pm).. And best of all, all the supervisors and "big" people go home at 2:30 - 3:30

But the pay sucks. If I could be making more than 7.70 doing something I actually enjoy doing(making molds out of silicon rubber isn't exactly the most exciting thing on the planet)

I work for ZMAN Magnetics, making molds for their line of Miniature High-Voltage transformers. Each one of those parts has a diffrent mold. After they wind the core, each part is put into a mold. A machine called the MOOV machine(ancient thing.. To "program" it, you insert diffrent long cards with old, 70's looking circuits on them, into slots. Anyway, hehe.. The machine pours just the right ammount of epoxy into the mold. The mold serves 2 purposes. 1) to encapsulate the core, wires, etc. in epoxy, and 2) to bring the part to certain tolerances(typically +/- .025 - .075, depending on the part). The molds have to be perfectly level.. If they aren't, then the epoxy will run to the low side.. making the parts there too high(thick). Then, of course, the other side will produce parts that are too low.

It's quite a process to make the molds. Each part/mold has a "master mold" which is, obviously, the opposite of the mold. Looks kinda like a waffle iron, only round..heh, anyway.. They have these aluminum rings that clip around the master mold, forming walls(The molds are circle).

You then have to make your silicon rubber. It's a two part mixture, 10:1 ratio. So you measure out 1.5500lbs of your very thick, white, base, using a ladle to pour it into your small bucket(which is on a scale). And then you pour in .15500lbs of your extremely runny, blue, catalyst. You then cheerfully, because you got the ratio perfect(+/- .0010lbs), walk over to the small drillpress, and mix your goop up. Gotta make sure to get the sides and bottom good, grin.. Then you go over to the vacuum chamber, put your bucket of goop in it, turn the pump on(after closing the lid...) and wait for 5 minutes. If you can't figure it out, this gets all the air bubbles out of it. As a fun note, you have to watch it with a flashlight through a little peephole, to make sure it doesen't "boil" over. There's a lot of air in it from mixing it up, and when you first turn it on, it all tries to come out, making it rise. If it rises over the edge of the bucket.. It's quite a mess. :Q After a few big bubbles, it settles down, and you go begin the process on another mold. Heh.

After its de-aired, you spray your master mold down good with release(oily stuff in a spraycan), then you pour the silicon into the mold master, and put it into the vacuum chamber. Another 5 minutes, and it comes out. See, the top of the mold that you see after you pour it, is really the bottom when its done. It's the part it sits on, so its the part that has to be perfectly level. So you have to put a perfectly flat steel plate onto the mold and press down, making the goop ooze up onto the plate.. There are pins around the circumference of the mold, and you push the plate down until it hits these. Then you place a 15lb weight on the top, and put it into a 160F oven for 1 hour. You then take the mold off the master(which is generally pretty easy, assuming you sprayed it.. If you don't spray it, you can't get it off, and it's 2500$ and a months work down the crapper. ;Q(I kinda wonder if he was just trying to scare me with the "month" figure.. It couldn't really take that long for someone to machine one of them.... could it? ) Then you start the whole process over again. I make about 20 molds a day at full capacity. But since it's been slow lately, the molds haven't been being used, so they don't go bad.. Which means we reach maximum stock on each mold(20 to 140 depending on the part/mold), which means I don't have a job, grin.

So they trained me how to test all their parts. Using oscilliscopes, volt meters, big, 80s looking inductance meters, HiPot testers, and other gadgets. I'm glad I've been busy in the MOOV room the last couple weeks, because testing was REALLY boring. You'd test 800-2000 parts a night.. Ugh.

Yes, I'm bored.

 

[Eli]

Aww, nobody replied. :Q

 

[Stallion]

Sounds like fun. I would tell you what I do but you might laugh.

 

[Ornery]

Yeah, I ain't gonna tell ya working in a shop is more "interesting". Work is work. I can't think of a single job to get into that wouldn't become boring and routine before long. Although, running your own business would keep ya hopping, I don't know if that's preferable. At least you would have the potential to make some serious bucks. Also to lose your shirt, but I won't dwell on that

The thing to do is maximize the return for your skill. At this point, I'm just coasting where I work. There's no more money to be had, so I ain't bustin' my ass for the hell of it. Either I move on or keep on coasting. Guess I'm in limbo the same as you.

 

[Eli]

Man, they're droppin like flies, people at work are. They laid off 15 people today. Everybody wonders whos next.. or worse, if they're next. Well, I'll be pissed if I get laid off, but I could also look at it as an opportunity to find a job at a shop.


But it still sucks. I'd rather not get let go, not yet. heh..


Pick up, you stupid economy :|

 

[Stallion]

Boeing is the same way. It goes in cycles. They hire like mad and 5 years later they lay everyone off. But the layoffs are about 15,000 at a time. :| It gives me a litle incentive to start looking at other job opportunities.

 

[Eli]

Yep. They hired a whole boatload of people around Oct. - Nov... And then when christmas hit, everything fell through the floor. They let most of the people they hired during that time go. I'm one of like 2 or 3 left. We're a pretty small place, employing about 100 people, give or take 25, but there are manufacturing facilities in Oregon and Washington.


I feel weird because they just hired me on permanent(I was temp), while they're letting all these long time employees go. It's probably a good thing everybody doesen't realize I was just hired last week. :Q Probably be some hard feelings floating around heh..