Going for a machinist degree, advice?

[psilogen]

I'm moving to Colorado because there's nothing here for me in the winter, and I'm hoping to go into CNC machining so I can get an interesting and well-paid job and still have the energy to come home after work and accomplish things at the forge (or work on my car or teach myself this or that). What advice can you offer to a budding machine tool operator? Jobs/tasks to avoid, supplemental classes to take, where to go from there?

[trying-it]

Machining is a great profession that includes a lot of self satisfaction as one of its rewards. Anything and everything (not made by God) has machinist(s) fingerprints all over it.

On the downside (and not trying to change your professional dreams), prepare yourself mentally and financially for possible employer layoffs, down sizings, plant closures, labor strikes, etc. These have been a way-of-life for me many times since the early 1970's. It seems like no employer, product line, job location, etc. is immune to any of these then or now.

In 1984 I opened my own machining job shop for a more stable form of job security. Little did I know then that personal health issues would eventually plague that income source too.

[yesteryearforge]

Strive to be a machinist and not a machine operator theres a pretty big difference in skill level and pay scale.
Its a honorable trade and has served me well .
But im old school and although I have several cnc machines both mills and lathes I can operate neither, ( I have employees that do that ).
Theres an old saying that anybody can run a new machine but it takes a machinist to run an old one.
Improvements are happening in leaps and bounds in the machine tool industry and if you blink your eyes you can be easily left behind.
Of course a machine operator nowadays pretty much only needs to know two things ( the go button / and the panic button

Mike Tanner

[psilogen]

Yes, good point. I'd like to be the guy turning out unique and complex parts for crazy research projects rather than just being one step in a mass-production line, but I guess that means I'll have to get really good, and keep up on my reading. What parts of the country tend to have the most stable employment in the field?

[hdwarner]

for stable and clean working envirement , the medical machining industry
" swiss type cncs"
seems to be a huge demand in my area ,northeast
synthes is the company that is predominant
i don't work in that field but headhunters call me on a daily basis
i have been a machinist for 30 years , i am a journeyman .
always worked never layed off .
i like it always have
if i can say this , and i can in this forum
being a machinist or blacksmith for that matter is a matter of "heart" to have any sustainability.
i have seen the guys with no heart come and then they go.
just like blacksmithing , being a successful machinist requires constant vigilance
and attention .
if not you end up being another"button pusher" that fades into obscurity.

if you are looking for a good shop to work for ask the local tooling supplier "street salesman"
they normally know where the good shops are to work for, not the propaganda adds in newspaper
another observation is the smaller jobs shops tend to in this day and age pay more and
contrary to popular belief manufaturing in the states is going thru the roof
don't reference manufaturing with gm or ford that is a whole other entity .
i have worhed unfortunatly 50 hours plus for years now.
chuck

[Trick]

Being a certified CNC programmer/operator, manual machinist, I've made my fair share of chips. That's what we machinist's do is make chips, parts are a by-product. Beware that you will have to start at the bottom and prove yourself, we all have. Listen and learn. Old school machinist's are a wealth of information. But just like any profession there are some who will be threatened by your presence, happened at my last job.

[J. Bennett]

Originally Posted by trying-it

Machining is a great profession that includes a lot of self satisfaction as one of its rewards. Anything and everything (not made by God) has machinist(s) fingerprints all over it.

On the downside (and not trying to change your professional dreams), prepare yourself mentally and financially for possible employer layoffs, down sizings, plant closures, labor strikes, etc. These have been a way-of-life for me many times since the early 1970's. It seems like no employer, product line, job location, etc. is immune to any of these then or now.

In 1984 I opened my own machining job shop for a more stable form of job security. Little did I know then that personal health issues would eventually plague that income source too.

Yeah, buddy.

Try and not limit your skills to just CNC. You may like programming better, so study machining language. Know how to do complicated set ups, by hand. You may like tool design/fabrication better.

My experiences, is that the term "cnc operator", tends to be mass production, the same part, day after day.

I have a machinist degree, but I took extra classes to upgrade to engineering. Opened a lot more doors. Worked as an engineering aid, (fancy draftsman), when the economy was laying off machinists. Gave me more options. Good luck, Jerry

[fix]

if you please..CNC guys/gals are a dime a dozen..old skool hands on machinists are in demand big time. CNC is machine monkey work IMHO.but then some prefer that kinda stuff.
"the President him self would grind to a halt..if not for a machinist"

[MailleMas]

Well, I'm not sure how it works in the 'States but in Canada we have a national certifying body for the machinist trade. I'm mid-apprenticeship right now on the way to my ticket, so take my opinion for what you figure that's worth.

There is alot of 'bah-humbugging' of CNC machining, but it IS the present and the future of machining. There are many, many parts that would take many, many times longer with a manual set up. Having said this, there are nearly as many parts that CNC is total overkill for. They both have value, so you should try to find a place to work that has both types of machines and is willing to train you on them. There is nothing like holding the wheels and feeling a tool work for generating an understanding of what is going on.

As for CNC jobs to avoid... none. Take anything you can get and learn what you can! If you find that the job you have is no longer challenging you, either ask to move machines or find another shop. every chip made is a lesson you can learn.

edit: the most important thing I've found is a shop that welcomes progress. Always doing things the same way doesn't yield progress. They should be willing to let you experiment to SOME degree. New/different tooling, varying speeds, feeds and depth of cut, changing clamping etc can all yield big improvements in productivity. Always strive to make it better, faster. Course, the guy before you has probably looked at alot of ways for that so ask first before you change things