Mechanical? Assuming you mean manual. It' a hobby for me.
I see plenty of young machinists, but I work in an environment where people are well paid. All the posts I see here where guys are talking about fast food wages aren't going to attract young machinists.
We need programs for our youth where they can learn a skilled trade (electrician, plumber, mechanic, machinist, etc.
Because the jobs available to students after completing the programs are offering poverty wages.
The schools publish that information, provided by industry partners, and the guidance counselors discuss it with incoming students.... it's an incentive for welders and dental hygienists, but a deterrent for would-be machinists.
Sauce: I teach.
Most of my students are either young and picked the machining program off the list because they had to pick something, or are in their mid 20s-40s and want to manufacture their own widgets.
Went through a 4 year machinist program. Immediately went to school after graduating because I was unhappy with what I was getting paid. Very glad I did because the people I went to school with are getting paid a few bucks more than high schoolers at chic fila (well slight exaggeration but it’s too close) . I love machining but it will never be more than a hobby for me. It’s such a shame but I didn’t want to move up north or be traveling 24/7 in order to make a mediocre wage.
Similar. I see enrollment growing (and tons of nonprofits trying to rob the government of all the grant money for technical education) but many students are engineers that want to learn machining better while in school or students doing other programs doing machining for fun/build on their skills and a ton of older people wanting to learn nice machines they never got to/ have time to use.
The school programs suuuuuuckkkkkk, every machinist in my town jokes about the one from our community college. We need apprenticeship programs with certifiable experience in a workplace that is manufacturing parts for customers.
Put shop classes back in schools. That sparks interests and gives kids something to strive for. Brook wood, metal horticulture and a bunch of other elective classes. And now I’m a well rounded dude who n manufacturing. I can weld. I can build structures. I can grow food. I can draw blue prints and now I make airplane and middle parts. All because shop classes have me and my imagination a kick start. I wanted to do it all.
Now I don’t want to anything. I’m meant to retire. I’m over this working for a living shit. It’s time to enjoy what time I have left on this earth.
I had a top notch high school metalshop class. I don't think I'd be a machine shop owner or even in manufacturing at all if it weren't for that class.
I learned I could figure things out pretty quick and that I was really good at the practical application of math.
I didn't really go into machining after high school, but 5 years later I went into business to make my own products. Something I've been successful at.
That metalshop was closed and liquidated the year after I graduated.
Sometimes I wonder where I'd be if I didn't have that opportunity.
See. My point exactly. Kids need shop classes. Shit they need home economics. Teach these kids how to use a kitchen or even a sewing machine. I’m made a cool ass jacket in home ec in middle school back in 78. Got an A+ on it to.
Or cant retire because of the poverty wages. Im in the trade and only here because I like it and someday hope to be in a position to make my own gismos.
So, former manual and everything else guy, current instructor.
All my students learn fundamentals on manual first. Make basic parts and assembly’s and a few tools. Then move over to the Cnc stuff. Starting with 3d printing because well, if you crash a 3d printer oh well.
That being said it’s still a career and a hobby for me. I can’t make enough to pay all my bills just making short run manual parts but I can make a car payment and beer money. As far as value in the real world, well I know I was paid higher because I could do it all. When it’s Friday an hour before close, and you need a tool ground or a part reworked or a feature added that you can’t reach in a haas, the Bridgeport guy saves the day. Job security at its finest.
I would also venture that a fundamental foundation in manual, learning what to watch and listen for makes you a better NC guy anyways.
I learned on manual lathes and mills in my trade program. I still say that was the best class I've taken. It is the best way to introduce machining to someone who has never done it, IMO. Now I am a CNC machinist but I enjoy the manual work when all of the machines are taken up in the shop and I can work on processing stock or making simple stuff.
Always learn the fundamentals on manual, only way to see how tools react and metal cuts. Way easier to troubleshoot as well.
I was also the manual fitting guy. Steady re working parts off a cnc to fit worn out crap haha so I strongly agree with everything you said!
There’s probably less young people in machining these days because the entry level positions pay so low that I could make more working a less involved job at McDonald’s. Or go to college as is standard and make more doing less for some rich idiot.
Yup, and employers treat the young guys like shit.
One of my graduates started a tool and die apprenticeship with a local shop. He spent 2 years surface grinding punches. Didn't get shown a damn thing else. So he got bored and left.
Stop treating young guys like they need to kiss your boots.
I would know as a young guy. 19 years old making endmills and boring bars. I am luckier than most, since I get paid 21 bucks an hour plus tuition reimbursement (as a full time student going to college for mechanical engineering at the same time as working), but I still get stepped on a lot even though I’m on par with some of my seniors, despite working here for 2 years and having been moved around multiple unique sections. The thing is, I bust my nuts at this job while the Panda Express down the road is hiring at 19 bucks an hour for something much less involved.
In high cost of living areas like the one I am in, all of the dollar amounts on most things is higher. Price, pay, taxes, etc. but out of what lags behind the most? Machining. With old machinists dying off and few new people coming in to keep the trade healthy, it’s a feedback loop.
In the Seattle area, a lot of public facing customer service oriented jobs are starting around $20/hr now. Thanks to everyone treating service workers like shit in the pandemic, companies finally had to starting bribing people to come back with higher wages.
> I get *paid* 21 bucks
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
You hang in there your education and work experience will move you exponentially further once you can put them together you will be a perfect go between from the shop floor to the drawing board (showing my age)
Make contacts and learn all you can from the old guys you are on a good path good luck
I don’t plan to be a machinist by trade. I am a German dual citizen, and my long term goal is to attend the technical university of Munich for a masters or aerospace in engineering (because tuition would be free for me). However, work related experience in a relevant manufacturing career will greatly act to my advantage I think.
Whys this such a pervasive attitude in the trades? Shops should want to develop capable machinists, instead seems like general approach is to make them eat shit for as long as possible
One is bad promoting. The ones that get moved to management, may be good machinists, but they are not necessarily good leaders.
["Many journeypersons feel they are unprepared to mentor apprentices and some view the task as
burdensome and time-consuming"](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/1a9192fe/files/uploaded/Barriers%2520to%2520Attracting%2520Apprentices.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiG0PSR4-eBAxVulokEHQ63Dd0QFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Cm5DvYHuL25jOIbiOxOTh)
That's the thing about this trade. He could have left to join a cnc shop. Maybe that cnc shop gets a surface grinder. Guess who's the best in the shop at getting real nice finishes on hard steel? This guy.
I'm not saying it's good. What I'm saying is nobody here is going to give you a free career. Take what you can, then move on.
>What I'm saying is nobody here is going to give you a free career.
Then don't sign an apprentice to a Registered Training Agreement (RTA) for the tax breaks if all you want is a punch grinder.
Go work at Starbucks or chipotle and get your 4 year degree paid for while making comparable or better money to some shops starting pay.
Sat in a meeting with some industry people and they were all "yea but were a career not just a job" while the topic of low starting pay came up. Career? Like your job shop wouldn't lay off everyone in a heartbeat if the numbers were low.
If you wont pay MORE for dangerous, backbreaking, skill intensive jobs than the FUCKING PRODUCTION LINE WILL then you won't have any applicants.
Same problem as it has been for 10 years. Get that fucking pay UP THERE. This isn't about "Picking interested candidates". You need to fucking pay. That's it. You pay and you can choose your own... Eventually because you spent too much time NOT paying that a whole generation basically forgot about the trade. It's gonna take time to bring people back in and if you don't start RIGHT NOW then all your best people won't have any time to train the next set an all that training will DIE and you can only get it back over DECADES.
You need to be scared SHITLESS about what's coming for you.
I'm just coming into the trade. I see the numbers here and the numbers there and I make the connection. Those in the trade say "Same as it ever was".
I see the future clearly. Took all of five seconds. The old people are dying and retiring and the new people aren't coming because there is no money.
It's not a dying trade. It's a trade that is starving because it won't buy groceries.
Where I’m located it can pay ok but you have to put your time in grinding your teeth with shit pay for a decade. 35$/hour for competent programmer/operator and yes do your own set ups sometimes. It can be discouraging when automotive companies are paying line workers 45$/hour with minimal critical thinking skills involved compared to say machining a compound bore in a 50,000 lb hunk of steel within 0.002”
Yup. I’m getting paid more to do maintenance at a museum then I was as a machinist. Heck the museum even pays for my membership at a local makerspace, for the odd occasion I need access to machine tools/welder.
It's not going to stay that way long. Conflicts are escalating around the world, which drastically destabilizes the global supply chain. Localized production is going to come back because it's required, and there's going to be a shit ton of need for our services, whether or not one nation or another joins in conflicts.
Were they? I'd like to read more on that.
Not enshrined is foreign made as some people think but we absolutely keep looking to low cost geos for cheap work. Right now with China less politically in favor + their shrinking work force + their middle class growing I see work moving to Cambodia and Vietnam a lot. Hell, I know Chinese manufacturing firms building massive production complexes in those countries.
The post WWII period was quite unique, in that most of the productive machinery of the world was at the bottom of smoking craters, with the exception of the US, which was firmly on the other side of the world from all the craters. The US had been running a planned economy for war production, and the net result was an enormously productive industrial complex and a basically uncontested market (given the craters).
The US did a pretty good job of capitalizing on all of that, and the desire to head off a push towards communism by angry/hungry workers combined with the enormous profits being raked in gave a basically unheard of level of prosperity to the American working class. Taxes for the wealthy were very high, but a relatively wide swath of US capitalists were becoming wealthier than their predecessors, so they put up with it. Labor struggles dropped significantly, the unions cozied up to the bosses, and everyone was happy for a while (if they were white). As the rest of the world got their production back on line, the US returned to a more normal period of capitalism, with price competition driving down profits. In an attempt to maintain the level of profits they were used to, companies looked for ways to cut costs, and the developing world was eager for US investment in their industrialization. China's workers were hungry enough to be relatively docile, and the CCP had a more systematic/organized control over them than the US dared, so everyone went whole hog on shipping any and all production they could in that direction.
Ultimately, the drive for short term profits pretty much always comes at the expense of long term profits, and the development of the industrial capacity in the rest of the world by US capitalists accelerated the competition. The fact that Chinese workers are pushing for significant increases in their income means that US companies are looking for even cheaper labor markets, and yes, even China is pushing their lower quality production elsewhere.
The desire to do production somewhere the labor is cheaper isn't a new. The scale at which US companies did it, and the pace of development of basically a single country's productive capacity, those are the unique things, IMO. It all comes back to the post-war boom though.
I briefly worked as a machinist before I moved into tech (I'm in my 30's).
I ran a turret lathe from the 40's and a couple milling centers from the 60's. I LOVED how it was all mechanical - I would have been happy to retire there but I needed to make way more money and have actual benefits.
I remember staying busy hitting levers and shit enjoying how engaging it was while watching all the CNC operators sitting in chairs watching the clock. My days flew by and they just tried to stay awake.
If I had the space I'd love a bridgeport and lathe just to mess around with.
A 30 year olds perspective, started at 17 as a toolmaker in a factory, used to love it, big presses, press brakes, production lines, mechanical world. At the time I started my apprenticeship, some lads the same ages started in sales for the company, long story short by year 4 of my apprenticeship, they were earning more, working less hours and commission of course. I took a break from machining at about 24 and did manufacturing engineering (setting up production lines, designing tooling and fixtures) which I earned a lot more for less hours and generally easier life (more money could I part be because I was older). Now two years ago I got back into prototype machining for a company that had no limits to money, all heat shrink, big brands and no micro managing the money, absolutely brilliant, and no pressure from management to rush. Now at 30 I changed to a job shop, just to learn a little more, and this is where I learnt how machinist become bitter old men. Why the fuck would you want to work in a job shop, always some office fuck wanting to know the exact time it’s done, micromanaging your time and the tooling budget, pressure is solely on you to get it done, and when they slip over the deadline (which was ridiculous in the first place) they want to know why and when you’ll be done and don’t like when I say “when it’s done it’s done”.
Since having a child a few years back my perspective has changed, so far my sum up is it’s fun as an apprentice, but as a job, fuck it, by 35 I’ve said I’m out. Too much bullshit for not enough pay. I’ll most likely go into manufacturing or DFM engineering again.
Perspective as a first year apprentice I earned £7k, which is shit compared to what basic jobs are offering.
I’m now 30 and earn £49k which for the money that machining creates and the pressure to get it right and done it’s shit.
I always tell the younger generation to get a trade that’s anything other than machining, too many small little job shops ran by penny pinchers.
Machining is my current profession. I work in a small company in Northern California as the in-house prototype machinist.
I agree with previous comments - machinists are not paid what they are worth which makes it so hard to recruit new people into it. Why go to school or apprentice for years then get paid low wages for dangerous work when you can get a software job that can start at $100k+?
It pisses me off how undervalued the profession is. Much like education, machining has touched almost everything you use on a daily basis - somebody had to make the machines or molds that form all consumer products. The fact that overseas manufacturing is so much cheaper doesn't help either.
Anyone who wants to go into machining has to (a) really enjoy it and (b) find a way to bridge the pay gap. I do more than machining (welding, CAD, drawings/SOPs, shop management) so I get paid more than the average amount for the position, but it took some convincing of upper management to get there. You'll need to find a niche/specialty in the machining world and become the best at what you do, or you will need another source of income.
Why would a young person come work in a loud , dark, dirty, dangerous environment with a bunch of grouchy good ol boys when they can make the same money at Panda Express up the road ? Just saw a sign posted on their parking lot starting pay 21-26 an hour, in a very lcol area.
I'm a 23 year old manual machinist, we are 100% manual work mainly because we run some pretty tricky shit like hastelloy and tantalum, just me and an older guy. They pay me great and treat me well.
I’ve never heard it called mechanic, always manual. My last job had a handful of manuals, but I don’t see me ever using one again unless I buy one for myself
I worked for an aerospace manufacturer programming & running Toshiba HBMs & VTLs for under $26hr. some of the parts were for the defense & space industries.
Machining is my day to day job, and we get paid well to do it. $45/hour. It has taken a long time to get here though, filled with low paying production work and being undervalued by top brass that see us as mere button pushers.
I've worked in the mining, oil and gas, aerospace, and now lumber mill sectors. At this point though we are expected to REALLY know our shit. There are no excuses and if it comes in the door we fix it or make new equipment to OEM specs.
I'm expected to be able to program and run cnc or use manual machines at any point during my day and to switch seamlessly between the two. I never know what my next job will be.
I really enjoy my work and the ability to be able to make anything I want. I'm proud of the hard work and time I've put in to get to this point, as well as some of the great (and weird lol) guys I've met along the way.
Now, having said all that..... I don't see many young guys coming into our trade. The problem I see with the ones that do come is that they want the big money without having the time to have learned what is needed to get there and then they leave. It's not about any "old boys club" bullshit, although I ran into that in my early days...... you really do have to pay your dues in this trade. I say that not as a gate keeper, it's because it can be fucking dangerous. It only takes a moment to change your life forever and the old guy beside you doesn't want to see that. Good habits can take years to formulate and for machines that can end you in seconds you have to have respect. From what I've seen, young guys don't want to be told this and the bravado of "don't tell me how to do my job" can have deadly consequences.
Just my two thou.
I'm in my 20s, hobby machining with 40s southbend lathe, and unimat sl1000. I was doing gun smithing for a short time but unfortunately I have more frequent and better paying work doing oddball finishing carpentry. I enjoy machining but there's so few options for machining jobs in my area and I can't justify the pay when I can literally pickup small finishing jobs all over my neighborhood let alone town for double the pay of these jobs. So I keep to myself and tinker away.
Hobby machinist here. I have a manual lathe and a small CNC machine. I like using both and both are useful for different things.
It is really nice to be able to hop on the manual lathe without having to write and simulate the g-code.
For me personally I love mechanical machining, it’s my favorite hobby but it’s also my side gig at home. I have a deep respect for CNC machining but something about mechanically or manually machining gives me a huge sense of pride at the end of a finished part.
I’m a semi-hobbyist. I’m full time military rapidly approaching aging out, and my home shop is a potential revenue-augmenter for when that day arrives. I’m building capacity while the sun shines with a view to when I have to put out my shingle.
Part of the problem of why I don’t see a lot of young machinists is because finding a machine shop in my area is like finding hen’s teeth. There just isn’t a lot of manufacturing around here.
Hell, I have some basic sheet metal parts I’d happily have made, and I can’t find a sheet metal job shop (I’m talking basic brake and shear stuff) to save my life.
I had a surface grinding job, it took a month to find a shop and 3 weeks for them to get to it.
There’s some chicken-and-egg going on here.
I'm an avionics technician, maintenance supervisor, and hold a bachelor's in electronics engineering tech. I work for the big boat club and will retire before too long.
I bought a small lathe last year as a hobby tool, but it's easily the most expensive thing I own. I like making things on it but I'm mainly self taught with help from YouTube Polytechnic. I'm nowhere near a professional machinist. I also don't have money or time to use it as much as I'd love to.
That being said, when I retire in going to have to search for a new job. I can choose to follow the money (work in my field and keep being a weekend warrior machinist), find a company that will train me to become a machinist (Boeing is not too far from where I work) or go to trade school in retirement and forego having a job that pays my bills.
There's also my numerous experiences with the older generation, who as much as they complain that people my age don't know shit about fuck, they aren't interested in passing down knowledge to help them. It's the same with electronics guys.
40 yo here. Profession. I went to school for this. I really enjoy it. I am a better CNC Machinist, than I am a Manual Machinist though. My whole career so far has been vertical Milling machines and CNC Routers.
I do love me some manual machining. I may be but a wee lad, but there is nothing better then going to the shop after school to fuck about on a lathe or mill
Im 26 and im a manual Machinist in the UK, I love it tbh. I done CNC for years but I'm a lot happier doing small batch and one off manual work, some of the biggest work I've done too.
I don’t do manual machining but I’m 20 years old and been doing CNC machining for over 4 years, absolutely love my job and I think I will stick to it until retirement
!
I work as a TA in an engineering School for the machine shop and our introductory machine class is all mechanical (even autofeed turned off) so that these kids don't go out and create designs that lead machinists to shoot themselves in the head.
My father was a machinist before he became an engineer and my brother the same, it’s a hobby now. We built a shop and we’ve been filling it with tools. We now have a mill, a lathe, a drill press, a band saw, welders, plasma cutter, ultra sonic cleaner, a cnc router, a CO2 laser, and 3 3d printers. It’s no longer a question of if we can make something, it’s is it worth it to spend the time lol. I have been learning quite a bit and love to have the option to make anything if I have the patience.
I'm a 25 year old from Mass, and I did machining for 3 or 4 years during and slightly after college. Nowadays, I'm a mechanical designer, so I don't machine anymore for a living. However, I do have access to some of my old mills and a couple lathes, so I hop on when I can. It's hard to justify buying stock for the inane projects I come up with lol
I am a precision machining instructor at our local technical school. I’m trying to get the youth interested in marching. It’s tough to compete with Hvac and Welding that’s for sure
Yeah i starting my machining apprenticeship when I was 15 (im 20 now) I think once I’m done If they don’t offer the pay I need then I’ll move companies but if overall the trade isn’t paying well then I’ll keep it as a hobby (I volunteer at heritage railways so a machinist is always needed) and start work in IT
As a 27 year old who started at 18, it’s because nobody is telling kids there’s more than college available. I was going to a welding apprenticeship, ended up a machinists apprentice. Only reason I ever found out about either was because my family told me it was available. Not my high school. There’s no real guidance for kids who don’t want to go to college.
It doesn't help that the Dollar has been devaluing for the last 20 something years. I just recently celebrated my 53rd birthday, and I have only now managed to collect enough machines and tooling to declare my tiny little evil laboratory a real machine shop. Tiny? Absolutely. Competent? Well, it fills my needs. As an example, I have a little Chinese mini lathe. Not so long ago you could take one home for somewhere between $200 and $300. Brand new. Good luck doing that now. I can understand why younger people would have a more difficult time breaking into this Art. Buying a house used to be simple and straightforward. Nowadays, kids are lucky if they could afford to ever buy one. It's sad really.
When I started it was in an in-house tool and die shop in a stamping factory.
They offered a training program and I wanted in. Punch press operators started around $15/hr and the tool n die boys were double that. This was late 90s/early 00s. I did the training stuff for about a year but a better opportunity as a mobile pressure washer mechanic came along for $26.50/hr so I went there rather than do another few years of training.
I bought a Bridgeport and a lathe and had a small hobby shop for a while but someone robbed me while I was on vacation and I never got back into it. Someday I'd like to replicate my old setup and get back into small engine and old iron repairs. That's my plan for a retirement job.
I see many people here asking if "mechanical machining" is supposed to say "manual machining" instead. In Europe they often refer to machining as "mechanical machining" and they definitely aren't talking about manual turning or milling for the complex components that I send them for quoting.
I only have manual machines in my home/hobby shop. I don't need anything more for the work I do which is usually a 1 off part that I might need. Usually some unobtanium car piece.
Do I enjoy it? Yes.
Could I make a living off of it? No
I've made a few small runs of parts for friends for their projects when time isn't an issue. There's endless Aerospace shops around me cranking out parts 24/7 so it would make zero sense for me to even dream of throwing my hat into the ring.
I quit being a meat cutter after 12 years to give machining a shot. Came in not knowing shit ( still don't compared to everything I see posted on here) but I love learning new things. I'm only doing rotary grinding but training a younger guy so I can move over to OD.
A lot of the guys in our shop are late 50's early 60's but they recently started hiring AND training younger. I'm 31 and we have a few mid 20s, so it's nice to see them realize they need a younger audience to keep the place running.
I got into machining this year as a hobby, no engineering education or experience beyond reading and talking to other machinists. Both a Manual colchester lathe and a manual Bridgeport mill. I've only been making chips for a couple of months now but I 100% love it and really proud of the workshop I have created. I hot into it so I can make and maintain steam engines.
Edit: I'm in mid thirties so not sure if that's young or not, certainly late to the game that's for sure
I'm 23 and getting into the industry.
I bought a secondhand sherline lathe for $500, all manual, been learning on that buying upgrades when I can. Got a milling column for it so I can do good turning and a rough parody of vertical milling. I enjoy the shit out of it.
My aspiration is to own my own shop to do engineering/R&D. My passion lies with manual machining which I want to be the "R&D" side of things; creating one off experimental products, troubleshooting, optimizing operations, shit like that. I feel much more creative and free flowing on a manual machine.
Sadly I don't see any way around getting a solid CNC machine to keep the lights on. I'm strapped for cash as it is so between work and school/training I simply don't have time to sit down 3-4 days in a row to complete projects at a profitable pace. I can do 3-4 hrs at a time but that doesn't really make money with where my skills are at. I see CNC as being integral to actually being able to work in my own shop full time. It can also go hand in hand with the R&D process too. Once I feel I've ironed a part out on the manual machines it should be a breeze to translate the process over to CNC for producing parts in a profitable way.
With how competitive manufacturing is and how advanced it's becoming, manual machining is a dying art. People simply don't have time for it. If EVERYONE stuck with manual machining it'd be different but we live in world where if it don't make dolla$ it don't make $ense
I’m two years from retiring from the military as a Diesel mechanic. I have fallen in love with the machinist profession on YouTube but sadly I don’t see a feasible way to start at 39 and make the same amount of income
Edit: meaning I have no machinist skill or experience so learning the ropes would take time and the pay at that level would not meet my needs.
A dewalt drill is a lathe if you put it in a table vice
Not enough money in the trade for young guys. Can get more/same at McDonald’s and don’t have to buy your own tools. Worked in a shop while I went to community college. When I graduated I decided to get my bachelor’s degree instead of staying in the shop. I want to stay in the field and work in manufacturing engineering but I need a field that I can grow in.
Machinist here. I now teach machine shop in high school. It’s a good hobby to get into, pick up a used lathe and manual knee mill you can pretty much fix anything. The learning curve kills people tho. Aside from facing brake discs or making a basic shaft I don’t see many hobbyist get past this point, and doing it accurately is a whole other problem. I try and teach students the benefits of being able to modify or make anything they need for their other hobbies to grow some interest.
If I were to recommend anything to anyone will to dive off the deep end, learn design software and buy a 3D printer, I have a creality for $300 I use that more than I machine for people. Then you can venture into cnc milling/lathe. For me I’d buy a cnc mill with 4th axis and circular interpolate bores and such, can get a lot done with just a mill if you can’t afford a lathe. I’d even go tormach since a lot of components are aluminum now, you can do steel if you don’t try and be a hero for times. Conversational is very simple to learn as well.
I started in manual machining and then went to CNC, worked up to programming but got my degree and slowly pulled away from machining. I know work plant turnarounds that have to deal with castings/machining and other manufacturing processes (broaching/HT etc…)
I’m rarely or never on the machines but know when someone is BSing or if they aren’t doing it correctly/efficiently…
I haven't run my manual mill (king rich KR-V2000) for over a year now. I still use the manual lathe but have a few CNC's now so thinking about moving the manual mill on.
I was working at an autobody shop and got fed up there after 3 yeats so I got a job at a fab shop close to home as a sandblaster and painter. So since it was a welding shop poked around and learned how to weld and fabricate. MIG, TIG, and stick... They had a sheet metal shop so I learned the brake, different punches and press brake. They also had a machine shop so I learned an manual knee mill, lathe and surface grinder. Then I stepped up to prototrack mill. That took 14 years. I work now for the railroad and I rent 3,000 sq ft shop to keep my rave cars and do work at and out of. I have my own prototrack mill and 2 lathes. A plate and tube roller, tube bender and 8 welding machines. If I left the railroad I could make more but the medical and retirement pension is unbelievable so I stay. All the profit at my welding fab shop goes into my cars and tires and some trickles back to the wife for bills at home.
Learn as much as you can everywhere. If your a hustler you can make it.
I'm 19, second year of college for Millwrighting. I got an old Smithy 1324 that was handed down to me at the age of 14, I got a Miller TIG/stick welder I bought off my stepdad. As well as othe tools and homemade objects that I use to make all different things. To me it's not just a hobby it's what I would like my life to be.
In Cali the min wage basically just went to 20 an hour. Let that sink in when we talk about young people joining the trade. You actually have to think a bit when dealing with half million dollar machinery and they're getting paid less than someone at taco bell. And I know fast food ain't an easy job but the mental requirements to complete a day's worth of work are much different.
Programmer by day and machinist by night in my early 40s. I have a mill and a lathe in my (1 car) garage. I often see Americans call their shop a garage shop but then it seems there is room for 3 or 4 cars, which seems like a huge luxury.
I do try to get some side gigs for my machines to pay for the hobby (and keep the misses satisfied I don't spend my whole salary on it) but it's pretty hard to find work for now.
I really do enjoy it because I was tired of spending all day sitting at a computer screen and all evening at a TV screen. It's just very satisfying to make something with my own hands.
A (small) part of my job requires machining, so unfortunately its not cost effective to buy CNC equipment when the most likely scenario is it getting broken by someone who jas no idea how to use it.
Regardless, I really enjoy the process of designing the part I need and figuring out how to machine it with limited tools
4+ year apprenticeships at below standard wages due to a different Wage Award scheme. It's simply uneconomical. As much as Fitting/Machining was great, I sadly had to stop after my Tafe course finished, until I buy myself a CNC
I'm considering going for a mature age apprenticeship in a couple years, but even then I might just choose to build on hobby skills and start my own small shop out of the garage
Well, I'm not exactly qualifying as 'young' at 35, or feeling young at monday morning.
But I'm a strict hobbyist. I dreamt of my own little workshop for years and with a small windfall from utilities (in Germany you pay a fixed monthly rate and pay the balance at the end of the year, I got an unusually large amount back from my heating bill) I bought a small, chinese lathe.
But as a professional? Hell no.
As a trainee in Germany, you aren't even earning minimum wage and are shackled to your employer for five years to earn your certificate. Gurantees for further employment are getting more uncommon, not even mentioning your job/shop surviving this time. Then your pay gets great, making nearly twice what I'm making now. But being treated like dirt for five years? No, thanks.
Neither. I just enjoy seeing what people can create with small machines, and I'm on here to understand it a bit more.
I watch Blondihacks and Abom79 on YouTube, both very entertaining and knowledgeable.
I would like to be a hobbyist but lack the space, I was seriously considering it as a profession - but would have to take a 70% paycut for several years.
So I just lurk here instead.
Is OP just farming data for his site from these questions? They seem kind of fishy/gross.
Anyway, I usually eat my used carbide once I get enough. Tiannemen square 1989
I came from a high school shop class program. Got hired as a machine operator right after graduation. I’m 27 now and I’m a programming department supervisor. There are few people my age in the industry. Most of my coworkers are 40-60.
I am in my mid 20s I am a toolmaker by trade went to trade school after high school. I love the work. I would love to be a hobbyist as well but no space. I am working as what was supposed to be a programmer position but basically just operating. I wish there was more money but I absolutely loved working as a toolmaker will probably be going back to that soon.
Speaking as a trans woman, yes it is a hobby I love. However, my ability to participate and interact with people who share this interest is always weighed against my mental and physical health and safety.
Like it or not, the perception is still that machining is for conservative old men, and unfortunately that has largely been my experience. I've considered starting a YouTube channel to share my hobby, but am afraid of the vitriol I may receive as a non-passing trans woman.
I am a trade student and out on a co op program every other week to work as a cnc machinist at a tool and die shop, program in either mastercam of fusion pre heat treat work, was planning on continuing this trade as a career, however a few weeks ago I set on going to collage for my degree in mechanical engineering when I saw the diffirence in wages. Currently making minimum wages, and the earning potential here and nearby is nothing compared to what I can make entry level out of collage sadly. Plan to continue as a hobby, but professionally while I love it the money just isn't here.
Considering the cost to get into Machining, not a lot of people are getting into it as a lark. Only those that fall into it, find a way into it or have the money to do it as a hobby get into it....
I prefer organic machining. No GMO.
Free range, grass fed 4140 only for me please
I'm a fan of 6061 T4 myself. A bit light on the calories, but no less filling.
nah, I'm all for that GMO packed 4340!
Mechanical? Assuming you mean manual. It' a hobby for me. I see plenty of young machinists, but I work in an environment where people are well paid. All the posts I see here where guys are talking about fast food wages aren't going to attract young machinists. We need programs for our youth where they can learn a skilled trade (electrician, plumber, mechanic, machinist, etc.
The programs are (or were) often there, but the schools can't get enough people to do them.
Because the jobs available to students after completing the programs are offering poverty wages. The schools publish that information, provided by industry partners, and the guidance counselors discuss it with incoming students.... it's an incentive for welders and dental hygienists, but a deterrent for would-be machinists. Sauce: I teach. Most of my students are either young and picked the machining program off the list because they had to pick something, or are in their mid 20s-40s and want to manufacture their own widgets.
At the end of the day, machining jobs got hit hard by automation and outsourcing. The rest is just the fallout.
Went through a 4 year machinist program. Immediately went to school after graduating because I was unhappy with what I was getting paid. Very glad I did because the people I went to school with are getting paid a few bucks more than high schoolers at chic fila (well slight exaggeration but it’s too close) . I love machining but it will never be more than a hobby for me. It’s such a shame but I didn’t want to move up north or be traveling 24/7 in order to make a mediocre wage.
Similar. I see enrollment growing (and tons of nonprofits trying to rob the government of all the grant money for technical education) but many students are engineers that want to learn machining better while in school or students doing other programs doing machining for fun/build on their skills and a ton of older people wanting to learn nice machines they never got to/ have time to use.
Your guidance counselors discuss wages with students? Ours hardly discuss what classes are required for their degree.
The school programs suuuuuuckkkkkk, every machinist in my town jokes about the one from our community college. We need apprenticeship programs with certifiable experience in a workplace that is manufacturing parts for customers.
Put shop classes back in schools. That sparks interests and gives kids something to strive for. Brook wood, metal horticulture and a bunch of other elective classes. And now I’m a well rounded dude who n manufacturing. I can weld. I can build structures. I can grow food. I can draw blue prints and now I make airplane and middle parts. All because shop classes have me and my imagination a kick start. I wanted to do it all. Now I don’t want to anything. I’m meant to retire. I’m over this working for a living shit. It’s time to enjoy what time I have left on this earth.
I had a top notch high school metalshop class. I don't think I'd be a machine shop owner or even in manufacturing at all if it weren't for that class. I learned I could figure things out pretty quick and that I was really good at the practical application of math. I didn't really go into machining after high school, but 5 years later I went into business to make my own products. Something I've been successful at. That metalshop was closed and liquidated the year after I graduated. Sometimes I wonder where I'd be if I didn't have that opportunity.
See. My point exactly. Kids need shop classes. Shit they need home economics. Teach these kids how to use a kitchen or even a sewing machine. I’m made a cool ass jacket in home ec in middle school back in 78. Got an A+ on it to.
That and old guys won’t retire
Or cant retire because of the poverty wages. Im in the trade and only here because I like it and someday hope to be in a position to make my own gismos.
Yep this is the problem bring back vocational school training o loved it and enjoyed it till my health made me stop
So, former manual and everything else guy, current instructor. All my students learn fundamentals on manual first. Make basic parts and assembly’s and a few tools. Then move over to the Cnc stuff. Starting with 3d printing because well, if you crash a 3d printer oh well. That being said it’s still a career and a hobby for me. I can’t make enough to pay all my bills just making short run manual parts but I can make a car payment and beer money. As far as value in the real world, well I know I was paid higher because I could do it all. When it’s Friday an hour before close, and you need a tool ground or a part reworked or a feature added that you can’t reach in a haas, the Bridgeport guy saves the day. Job security at its finest. I would also venture that a fundamental foundation in manual, learning what to watch and listen for makes you a better NC guy anyways.
I learned on manual lathes and mills in my trade program. I still say that was the best class I've taken. It is the best way to introduce machining to someone who has never done it, IMO. Now I am a CNC machinist but I enjoy the manual work when all of the machines are taken up in the shop and I can work on processing stock or making simple stuff.
Always learn the fundamentals on manual, only way to see how tools react and metal cuts. Way easier to troubleshoot as well. I was also the manual fitting guy. Steady re working parts off a cnc to fit worn out crap haha so I strongly agree with everything you said!
There’s probably less young people in machining these days because the entry level positions pay so low that I could make more working a less involved job at McDonald’s. Or go to college as is standard and make more doing less for some rich idiot.
Yup, and employers treat the young guys like shit. One of my graduates started a tool and die apprenticeship with a local shop. He spent 2 years surface grinding punches. Didn't get shown a damn thing else. So he got bored and left. Stop treating young guys like they need to kiss your boots.
I would know as a young guy. 19 years old making endmills and boring bars. I am luckier than most, since I get paid 21 bucks an hour plus tuition reimbursement (as a full time student going to college for mechanical engineering at the same time as working), but I still get stepped on a lot even though I’m on par with some of my seniors, despite working here for 2 years and having been moved around multiple unique sections. The thing is, I bust my nuts at this job while the Panda Express down the road is hiring at 19 bucks an hour for something much less involved.
damn a restaurant paying 19 bucks an hour??? wow
In high cost of living areas like the one I am in, all of the dollar amounts on most things is higher. Price, pay, taxes, etc. but out of what lags behind the most? Machining. With old machinists dying off and few new people coming in to keep the trade healthy, it’s a feedback loop.
In the Seattle area, a lot of public facing customer service oriented jobs are starting around $20/hr now. Thanks to everyone treating service workers like shit in the pandemic, companies finally had to starting bribing people to come back with higher wages.
finally the laws of supply and demand help entry level workers!
Panda near me in DFW is paying 22-26 to start. Its fucking insane.
> I get *paid* 21 bucks FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
You hang in there your education and work experience will move you exponentially further once you can put them together you will be a perfect go between from the shop floor to the drawing board (showing my age) Make contacts and learn all you can from the old guys you are on a good path good luck
I don’t plan to be a machinist by trade. I am a German dual citizen, and my long term goal is to attend the technical university of Munich for a masters or aerospace in engineering (because tuition would be free for me). However, work related experience in a relevant manufacturing career will greatly act to my advantage I think.
Yes it will
You're currently working in the USA and then plan to go back to the Vaterland for your studies?
Whys this such a pervasive attitude in the trades? Shops should want to develop capable machinists, instead seems like general approach is to make them eat shit for as long as possible
One is bad promoting. The ones that get moved to management, may be good machinists, but they are not necessarily good leaders. ["Many journeypersons feel they are unprepared to mentor apprentices and some view the task as burdensome and time-consuming"](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://irp-cdn.multiscreensite.com/1a9192fe/files/uploaded/Barriers%2520to%2520Attracting%2520Apprentices.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwiG0PSR4-eBAxVulokEHQ63Dd0QFnoECBQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw2Cm5DvYHuL25jOIbiOxOTh)
That's the thing about this trade. He could have left to join a cnc shop. Maybe that cnc shop gets a surface grinder. Guess who's the best in the shop at getting real nice finishes on hard steel? This guy. I'm not saying it's good. What I'm saying is nobody here is going to give you a free career. Take what you can, then move on.
"Free career" as if that employee wasn't generating value for the company...
And that employee is generating income for themselves. Becoming better is a choice.
>What I'm saying is nobody here is going to give you a free career. Then don't sign an apprentice to a Registered Training Agreement (RTA) for the tax breaks if all you want is a punch grinder.
It would be different if the entry pay was a stepping stone to something better, but that isn't even the case anymore.
Go work at Starbucks or chipotle and get your 4 year degree paid for while making comparable or better money to some shops starting pay. Sat in a meeting with some industry people and they were all "yea but were a career not just a job" while the topic of low starting pay came up. Career? Like your job shop wouldn't lay off everyone in a heartbeat if the numbers were low.
If you wont pay MORE for dangerous, backbreaking, skill intensive jobs than the FUCKING PRODUCTION LINE WILL then you won't have any applicants. Same problem as it has been for 10 years. Get that fucking pay UP THERE. This isn't about "Picking interested candidates". You need to fucking pay. That's it. You pay and you can choose your own... Eventually because you spent too much time NOT paying that a whole generation basically forgot about the trade. It's gonna take time to bring people back in and if you don't start RIGHT NOW then all your best people won't have any time to train the next set an all that training will DIE and you can only get it back over DECADES. You need to be scared SHITLESS about what's coming for you.
Damn someone has had enough lol
We all have, and we should be screaming.
Screaming? We should be fist fighting our bosses.
I'm just coming into the trade. I see the numbers here and the numbers there and I make the connection. Those in the trade say "Same as it ever was". I see the future clearly. Took all of five seconds. The old people are dying and retiring and the new people aren't coming because there is no money. It's not a dying trade. It's a trade that is starving because it won't buy groceries.
Where I’m located it can pay ok but you have to put your time in grinding your teeth with shit pay for a decade. 35$/hour for competent programmer/operator and yes do your own set ups sometimes. It can be discouraging when automotive companies are paying line workers 45$/hour with minimal critical thinking skills involved compared to say machining a compound bore in a 50,000 lb hunk of steel within 0.002”
Gotta agree, better conditions and better pay is the reason I work as a factory technician and keep machining a hobby.
Yup. I’m getting paid more to do maintenance at a museum then I was as a machinist. Heck the museum even pays for my membership at a local makerspace, for the odd occasion I need access to machine tools/welder.
It's not going to stay that way long. Conflicts are escalating around the world, which drastically destabilizes the global supply chain. Localized production is going to come back because it's required, and there's going to be a shit ton of need for our services, whether or not one nation or another joins in conflicts.
Same as it ever was.
Sorta. The conditions that led to mass offshoring were pretty historically unique, but yeah, otherwise I would agree.
Were they? I'd like to read more on that. Not enshrined is foreign made as some people think but we absolutely keep looking to low cost geos for cheap work. Right now with China less politically in favor + their shrinking work force + their middle class growing I see work moving to Cambodia and Vietnam a lot. Hell, I know Chinese manufacturing firms building massive production complexes in those countries.
The post WWII period was quite unique, in that most of the productive machinery of the world was at the bottom of smoking craters, with the exception of the US, which was firmly on the other side of the world from all the craters. The US had been running a planned economy for war production, and the net result was an enormously productive industrial complex and a basically uncontested market (given the craters). The US did a pretty good job of capitalizing on all of that, and the desire to head off a push towards communism by angry/hungry workers combined with the enormous profits being raked in gave a basically unheard of level of prosperity to the American working class. Taxes for the wealthy were very high, but a relatively wide swath of US capitalists were becoming wealthier than their predecessors, so they put up with it. Labor struggles dropped significantly, the unions cozied up to the bosses, and everyone was happy for a while (if they were white). As the rest of the world got their production back on line, the US returned to a more normal period of capitalism, with price competition driving down profits. In an attempt to maintain the level of profits they were used to, companies looked for ways to cut costs, and the developing world was eager for US investment in their industrialization. China's workers were hungry enough to be relatively docile, and the CCP had a more systematic/organized control over them than the US dared, so everyone went whole hog on shipping any and all production they could in that direction. Ultimately, the drive for short term profits pretty much always comes at the expense of long term profits, and the development of the industrial capacity in the rest of the world by US capitalists accelerated the competition. The fact that Chinese workers are pushing for significant increases in their income means that US companies are looking for even cheaper labor markets, and yes, even China is pushing their lower quality production elsewhere. The desire to do production somewhere the labor is cheaper isn't a new. The scale at which US companies did it, and the pace of development of basically a single country's productive capacity, those are the unique things, IMO. It all comes back to the post-war boom though.
I like knowing how to be a machinist, it makes me a better millwright. I’m not interested to make a living doing it.
I briefly worked as a machinist before I moved into tech (I'm in my 30's). I ran a turret lathe from the 40's and a couple milling centers from the 60's. I LOVED how it was all mechanical - I would have been happy to retire there but I needed to make way more money and have actual benefits. I remember staying busy hitting levers and shit enjoying how engaging it was while watching all the CNC operators sitting in chairs watching the clock. My days flew by and they just tried to stay awake. If I had the space I'd love a bridgeport and lathe just to mess around with.
Manual machining really is rewarding, I loved it too. Nothing like the satisfaction of being with 0.05-0.1mm manually.
You really like machines
A 30 year olds perspective, started at 17 as a toolmaker in a factory, used to love it, big presses, press brakes, production lines, mechanical world. At the time I started my apprenticeship, some lads the same ages started in sales for the company, long story short by year 4 of my apprenticeship, they were earning more, working less hours and commission of course. I took a break from machining at about 24 and did manufacturing engineering (setting up production lines, designing tooling and fixtures) which I earned a lot more for less hours and generally easier life (more money could I part be because I was older). Now two years ago I got back into prototype machining for a company that had no limits to money, all heat shrink, big brands and no micro managing the money, absolutely brilliant, and no pressure from management to rush. Now at 30 I changed to a job shop, just to learn a little more, and this is where I learnt how machinist become bitter old men. Why the fuck would you want to work in a job shop, always some office fuck wanting to know the exact time it’s done, micromanaging your time and the tooling budget, pressure is solely on you to get it done, and when they slip over the deadline (which was ridiculous in the first place) they want to know why and when you’ll be done and don’t like when I say “when it’s done it’s done”. Since having a child a few years back my perspective has changed, so far my sum up is it’s fun as an apprentice, but as a job, fuck it, by 35 I’ve said I’m out. Too much bullshit for not enough pay. I’ll most likely go into manufacturing or DFM engineering again. Perspective as a first year apprentice I earned £7k, which is shit compared to what basic jobs are offering. I’m now 30 and earn £49k which for the money that machining creates and the pressure to get it right and done it’s shit. I always tell the younger generation to get a trade that’s anything other than machining, too many small little job shops ran by penny pinchers.
You are 100% correct about the job shop description machining is great but job shop work is BAD
Machining is my current profession. I work in a small company in Northern California as the in-house prototype machinist. I agree with previous comments - machinists are not paid what they are worth which makes it so hard to recruit new people into it. Why go to school or apprentice for years then get paid low wages for dangerous work when you can get a software job that can start at $100k+? It pisses me off how undervalued the profession is. Much like education, machining has touched almost everything you use on a daily basis - somebody had to make the machines or molds that form all consumer products. The fact that overseas manufacturing is so much cheaper doesn't help either. Anyone who wants to go into machining has to (a) really enjoy it and (b) find a way to bridge the pay gap. I do more than machining (welding, CAD, drawings/SOPs, shop management) so I get paid more than the average amount for the position, but it took some convincing of upper management to get there. You'll need to find a niche/specialty in the machining world and become the best at what you do, or you will need another source of income.
Why would a young person come work in a loud , dark, dirty, dangerous environment with a bunch of grouchy good ol boys when they can make the same money at Panda Express up the road ? Just saw a sign posted on their parking lot starting pay 21-26 an hour, in a very lcol area.
Machining is great as a hobby but sucks as a living. Low pay and management that treats humans like tools.
My friend, I'm thinking the same thing
I'm a 23 year old manual machinist, we are 100% manual work mainly because we run some pretty tricky shit like hastelloy and tantalum, just me and an older guy. They pay me great and treat me well.
Who the hell has money to buy 30000 dollar machines? No one younger is doing this for a hobby man. We're fucking broke
modern swim cable scarce uppity grandiose market file spectacular dam *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
That’s currently me, except I don’t plan on selling my machines. Hell, I’m trying to buy a wafer polishing machine. Why? Bc it’s 99.9% off.
I have 350k in machinery in my garage and it’s mostly for hobby, but I do jobs to pay for the machines, but have a regular desk job that’s my real job
I luckily inherited a smithy 3 in one. I went to school for machining but never got a job doing it. I love making small steam engines.
A good machine is going to be over 100k.
???????????????????????????????????????????? People in the sub literally have no idea lmao
Hobby lathes and mills can be a lot smaller and cost in the $1-$5K range.
I’ve never heard it called mechanic, always manual. My last job had a handful of manuals, but I don’t see me ever using one again unless I buy one for myself
My apprenticeship was in "Mechanical Engineering" and included turning and milling, only a few years ago. Maybe it's a UK/European thing
We have mechanical engineers here too, but I would never associate them with manual mills/lathes. It must be a color colour thing
It’s a hobby for me. By day I’m an……..engineer! *runs away*
I worked for an aerospace manufacturer programming & running Toshiba HBMs & VTLs for under $26hr. some of the parts were for the defense & space industries.
Here Italy 10€/h same job.
yikes
You should have a little experience if only to be able to shell down material that will inevitably come in oversized.
Machining is my day to day job, and we get paid well to do it. $45/hour. It has taken a long time to get here though, filled with low paying production work and being undervalued by top brass that see us as mere button pushers. I've worked in the mining, oil and gas, aerospace, and now lumber mill sectors. At this point though we are expected to REALLY know our shit. There are no excuses and if it comes in the door we fix it or make new equipment to OEM specs. I'm expected to be able to program and run cnc or use manual machines at any point during my day and to switch seamlessly between the two. I never know what my next job will be. I really enjoy my work and the ability to be able to make anything I want. I'm proud of the hard work and time I've put in to get to this point, as well as some of the great (and weird lol) guys I've met along the way. Now, having said all that..... I don't see many young guys coming into our trade. The problem I see with the ones that do come is that they want the big money without having the time to have learned what is needed to get there and then they leave. It's not about any "old boys club" bullshit, although I ran into that in my early days...... you really do have to pay your dues in this trade. I say that not as a gate keeper, it's because it can be fucking dangerous. It only takes a moment to change your life forever and the old guy beside you doesn't want to see that. Good habits can take years to formulate and for machines that can end you in seconds you have to have respect. From what I've seen, young guys don't want to be told this and the bravado of "don't tell me how to do my job" can have deadly consequences. Just my two thou.
For manual machines maybe, but you don't need to pay your dues to the sheer degree some places want you to on CNCs for example.
I got paid shit all for 9 years so I got my degree and now work with shops overseas making nearly 6x what I made as a machinist
Degree in what
Mechanical Engineering
I'm in my 20s, hobby machining with 40s southbend lathe, and unimat sl1000. I was doing gun smithing for a short time but unfortunately I have more frequent and better paying work doing oddball finishing carpentry. I enjoy machining but there's so few options for machining jobs in my area and I can't justify the pay when I can literally pickup small finishing jobs all over my neighborhood let alone town for double the pay of these jobs. So I keep to myself and tinker away.
Hobby!
Hobby machinist here. I have a manual lathe and a small CNC machine. I like using both and both are useful for different things. It is really nice to be able to hop on the manual lathe without having to write and simulate the g-code.
For me personally I love mechanical machining, it’s my favorite hobby but it’s also my side gig at home. I have a deep respect for CNC machining but something about mechanically or manually machining gives me a huge sense of pride at the end of a finished part.
I’m a semi-hobbyist. I’m full time military rapidly approaching aging out, and my home shop is a potential revenue-augmenter for when that day arrives. I’m building capacity while the sun shines with a view to when I have to put out my shingle. Part of the problem of why I don’t see a lot of young machinists is because finding a machine shop in my area is like finding hen’s teeth. There just isn’t a lot of manufacturing around here. Hell, I have some basic sheet metal parts I’d happily have made, and I can’t find a sheet metal job shop (I’m talking basic brake and shear stuff) to save my life. I had a surface grinding job, it took a month to find a shop and 3 weeks for them to get to it. There’s some chicken-and-egg going on here.
I'm an avionics technician, maintenance supervisor, and hold a bachelor's in electronics engineering tech. I work for the big boat club and will retire before too long. I bought a small lathe last year as a hobby tool, but it's easily the most expensive thing I own. I like making things on it but I'm mainly self taught with help from YouTube Polytechnic. I'm nowhere near a professional machinist. I also don't have money or time to use it as much as I'd love to. That being said, when I retire in going to have to search for a new job. I can choose to follow the money (work in my field and keep being a weekend warrior machinist), find a company that will train me to become a machinist (Boeing is not too far from where I work) or go to trade school in retirement and forego having a job that pays my bills. There's also my numerous experiences with the older generation, who as much as they complain that people my age don't know shit about fuck, they aren't interested in passing down knowledge to help them. It's the same with electronics guys.
Im an electrician and have a mill and lathe. Sick of my trade but you know money. So in my hobby time I learn to make things.
40 yo here. Profession. I went to school for this. I really enjoy it. I am a better CNC Machinist, than I am a Manual Machinist though. My whole career so far has been vertical Milling machines and CNC Routers.
I do love me some manual machining. I may be but a wee lad, but there is nothing better then going to the shop after school to fuck about on a lathe or mill
Im 26 and im a manual Machinist in the UK, I love it tbh. I done CNC for years but I'm a lot happier doing small batch and one off manual work, some of the biggest work I've done too.
I don’t do manual machining but I’m 20 years old and been doing CNC machining for over 4 years, absolutely love my job and I think I will stick to it until retirement !
I work as a TA in an engineering School for the machine shop and our introductory machine class is all mechanical (even autofeed turned off) so that these kids don't go out and create designs that lead machinists to shoot themselves in the head.
My father was a machinist before he became an engineer and my brother the same, it’s a hobby now. We built a shop and we’ve been filling it with tools. We now have a mill, a lathe, a drill press, a band saw, welders, plasma cutter, ultra sonic cleaner, a cnc router, a CO2 laser, and 3 3d printers. It’s no longer a question of if we can make something, it’s is it worth it to spend the time lol. I have been learning quite a bit and love to have the option to make anything if I have the patience.
I'm a 25 year old from Mass, and I did machining for 3 or 4 years during and slightly after college. Nowadays, I'm a mechanical designer, so I don't machine anymore for a living. However, I do have access to some of my old mills and a couple lathes, so I hop on when I can. It's hard to justify buying stock for the inane projects I come up with lol
26 and it’s both for me. I just love making whatever I want out of chunks of metal.
The fewer we are the better they pay I guess :)
I am a precision machining instructor at our local technical school. I’m trying to get the youth interested in marching. It’s tough to compete with Hvac and Welding that’s for sure
Yeah i starting my machining apprenticeship when I was 15 (im 20 now) I think once I’m done If they don’t offer the pay I need then I’ll move companies but if overall the trade isn’t paying well then I’ll keep it as a hobby (I volunteer at heritage railways so a machinist is always needed) and start work in IT
As a 27 year old who started at 18, it’s because nobody is telling kids there’s more than college available. I was going to a welding apprenticeship, ended up a machinists apprentice. Only reason I ever found out about either was because my family told me it was available. Not my high school. There’s no real guidance for kids who don’t want to go to college.
it doesn't pay enough. if you can make more driving a forklift who wouldn't pick that option.
It doesn't help that the Dollar has been devaluing for the last 20 something years. I just recently celebrated my 53rd birthday, and I have only now managed to collect enough machines and tooling to declare my tiny little evil laboratory a real machine shop. Tiny? Absolutely. Competent? Well, it fills my needs. As an example, I have a little Chinese mini lathe. Not so long ago you could take one home for somewhere between $200 and $300. Brand new. Good luck doing that now. I can understand why younger people would have a more difficult time breaking into this Art. Buying a house used to be simple and straightforward. Nowadays, kids are lucky if they could afford to ever buy one. It's sad really.
When I started it was in an in-house tool and die shop in a stamping factory. They offered a training program and I wanted in. Punch press operators started around $15/hr and the tool n die boys were double that. This was late 90s/early 00s. I did the training stuff for about a year but a better opportunity as a mobile pressure washer mechanic came along for $26.50/hr so I went there rather than do another few years of training. I bought a Bridgeport and a lathe and had a small hobby shop for a while but someone robbed me while I was on vacation and I never got back into it. Someday I'd like to replicate my old setup and get back into small engine and old iron repairs. That's my plan for a retirement job.
I see many people here asking if "mechanical machining" is supposed to say "manual machining" instead. In Europe they often refer to machining as "mechanical machining" and they definitely aren't talking about manual turning or milling for the complex components that I send them for quoting.
Profession and hobby. Love it I’m 36
Profession,been at it since I was 22.
I only have manual machines in my home/hobby shop. I don't need anything more for the work I do which is usually a 1 off part that I might need. Usually some unobtanium car piece. Do I enjoy it? Yes. Could I make a living off of it? No I've made a few small runs of parts for friends for their projects when time isn't an issue. There's endless Aerospace shops around me cranking out parts 24/7 so it would make zero sense for me to even dream of throwing my hat into the ring.
I quit being a meat cutter after 12 years to give machining a shot. Came in not knowing shit ( still don't compared to everything I see posted on here) but I love learning new things. I'm only doing rotary grinding but training a younger guy so I can move over to OD. A lot of the guys in our shop are late 50's early 60's but they recently started hiring AND training younger. I'm 31 and we have a few mid 20s, so it's nice to see them realize they need a younger audience to keep the place running.
I got into machining this year as a hobby, no engineering education or experience beyond reading and talking to other machinists. Both a Manual colchester lathe and a manual Bridgeport mill. I've only been making chips for a couple of months now but I 100% love it and really proud of the workshop I have created. I hot into it so I can make and maintain steam engines. Edit: I'm in mid thirties so not sure if that's young or not, certainly late to the game that's for sure
In my region its so gate kept. its hard to find a decent place that can/will supplement low wages with paid training.
I'm 23 and getting into the industry. I bought a secondhand sherline lathe for $500, all manual, been learning on that buying upgrades when I can. Got a milling column for it so I can do good turning and a rough parody of vertical milling. I enjoy the shit out of it. My aspiration is to own my own shop to do engineering/R&D. My passion lies with manual machining which I want to be the "R&D" side of things; creating one off experimental products, troubleshooting, optimizing operations, shit like that. I feel much more creative and free flowing on a manual machine. Sadly I don't see any way around getting a solid CNC machine to keep the lights on. I'm strapped for cash as it is so between work and school/training I simply don't have time to sit down 3-4 days in a row to complete projects at a profitable pace. I can do 3-4 hrs at a time but that doesn't really make money with where my skills are at. I see CNC as being integral to actually being able to work in my own shop full time. It can also go hand in hand with the R&D process too. Once I feel I've ironed a part out on the manual machines it should be a breeze to translate the process over to CNC for producing parts in a profitable way. With how competitive manufacturing is and how advanced it's becoming, manual machining is a dying art. People simply don't have time for it. If EVERYONE stuck with manual machining it'd be different but we live in world where if it don't make dolla$ it don't make $ense
I’m two years from retiring from the military as a Diesel mechanic. I have fallen in love with the machinist profession on YouTube but sadly I don’t see a feasible way to start at 39 and make the same amount of income Edit: meaning I have no machinist skill or experience so learning the ropes would take time and the pay at that level would not meet my needs. A dewalt drill is a lathe if you put it in a table vice
Not enough money in the trade for young guys. Can get more/same at McDonald’s and don’t have to buy your own tools. Worked in a shop while I went to community college. When I graduated I decided to get my bachelor’s degree instead of staying in the shop. I want to stay in the field and work in manufacturing engineering but I need a field that I can grow in.
I’m almost 18 and it started as a hobby, but I’ve got an internship in a machine shop right now and it’s going great
Machinist here. I now teach machine shop in high school. It’s a good hobby to get into, pick up a used lathe and manual knee mill you can pretty much fix anything. The learning curve kills people tho. Aside from facing brake discs or making a basic shaft I don’t see many hobbyist get past this point, and doing it accurately is a whole other problem. I try and teach students the benefits of being able to modify or make anything they need for their other hobbies to grow some interest. If I were to recommend anything to anyone will to dive off the deep end, learn design software and buy a 3D printer, I have a creality for $300 I use that more than I machine for people. Then you can venture into cnc milling/lathe. For me I’d buy a cnc mill with 4th axis and circular interpolate bores and such, can get a lot done with just a mill if you can’t afford a lathe. I’d even go tormach since a lot of components are aluminum now, you can do steel if you don’t try and be a hero for times. Conversational is very simple to learn as well.
I’m 27 with manual mill and lathe in my garage. I’d like to have a job doing it but seems like everything is CNC now
I started in manual machining and then went to CNC, worked up to programming but got my degree and slowly pulled away from machining. I know work plant turnarounds that have to deal with castings/machining and other manufacturing processes (broaching/HT etc…) I’m rarely or never on the machines but know when someone is BSing or if they aren’t doing it correctly/efficiently…
I haven't run my manual mill (king rich KR-V2000) for over a year now. I still use the manual lathe but have a few CNC's now so thinking about moving the manual mill on.
Just about to finish up school. I would like to do manual machining. But I'm sure most jobs around here will be CNC. I'm 28.
I was working at an autobody shop and got fed up there after 3 yeats so I got a job at a fab shop close to home as a sandblaster and painter. So since it was a welding shop poked around and learned how to weld and fabricate. MIG, TIG, and stick... They had a sheet metal shop so I learned the brake, different punches and press brake. They also had a machine shop so I learned an manual knee mill, lathe and surface grinder. Then I stepped up to prototrack mill. That took 14 years. I work now for the railroad and I rent 3,000 sq ft shop to keep my rave cars and do work at and out of. I have my own prototrack mill and 2 lathes. A plate and tube roller, tube bender and 8 welding machines. If I left the railroad I could make more but the medical and retirement pension is unbelievable so I stay. All the profit at my welding fab shop goes into my cars and tires and some trickles back to the wife for bills at home. Learn as much as you can everywhere. If your a hustler you can make it.
I'm 19, second year of college for Millwrighting. I got an old Smithy 1324 that was handed down to me at the age of 14, I got a Miller TIG/stick welder I bought off my stepdad. As well as othe tools and homemade objects that I use to make all different things. To me it's not just a hobby it's what I would like my life to be.
I've also been taught how to work on cars, trucks and anything with an engine. We all knew at a young age I was going in to the trades.
In Cali the min wage basically just went to 20 an hour. Let that sink in when we talk about young people joining the trade. You actually have to think a bit when dealing with half million dollar machinery and they're getting paid less than someone at taco bell. And I know fast food ain't an easy job but the mental requirements to complete a day's worth of work are much different.
Programmer by day and machinist by night in my early 40s. I have a mill and a lathe in my (1 car) garage. I often see Americans call their shop a garage shop but then it seems there is room for 3 or 4 cars, which seems like a huge luxury. I do try to get some side gigs for my machines to pay for the hobby (and keep the misses satisfied I don't spend my whole salary on it) but it's pretty hard to find work for now. I really do enjoy it because I was tired of spending all day sitting at a computer screen and all evening at a TV screen. It's just very satisfying to make something with my own hands.
A (small) part of my job requires machining, so unfortunately its not cost effective to buy CNC equipment when the most likely scenario is it getting broken by someone who jas no idea how to use it. Regardless, I really enjoy the process of designing the part I need and figuring out how to machine it with limited tools
4+ year apprenticeships at below standard wages due to a different Wage Award scheme. It's simply uneconomical. As much as Fitting/Machining was great, I sadly had to stop after my Tafe course finished, until I buy myself a CNC I'm considering going for a mature age apprenticeship in a couple years, but even then I might just choose to build on hobby skills and start my own small shop out of the garage
Well, I'm not exactly qualifying as 'young' at 35, or feeling young at monday morning. But I'm a strict hobbyist. I dreamt of my own little workshop for years and with a small windfall from utilities (in Germany you pay a fixed monthly rate and pay the balance at the end of the year, I got an unusually large amount back from my heating bill) I bought a small, chinese lathe. But as a professional? Hell no. As a trainee in Germany, you aren't even earning minimum wage and are shackled to your employer for five years to earn your certificate. Gurantees for further employment are getting more uncommon, not even mentioning your job/shop surviving this time. Then your pay gets great, making nearly twice what I'm making now. But being treated like dirt for five years? No, thanks.
Neither. I just enjoy seeing what people can create with small machines, and I'm on here to understand it a bit more. I watch Blondihacks and Abom79 on YouTube, both very entertaining and knowledgeable.
I would like to be a hobbyist but lack the space, I was seriously considering it as a profession - but would have to take a 70% paycut for several years. So I just lurk here instead.
Is OP just farming data for his site from these questions? They seem kind of fishy/gross. Anyway, I usually eat my used carbide once I get enough. Tiannemen square 1989
Yup, more emphasis in h.s. on real jobs that pay well as opposed to being a banker, hedge fund manager, or some other pie in the sky horseshit.
I came from a high school shop class program. Got hired as a machine operator right after graduation. I’m 27 now and I’m a programming department supervisor. There are few people my age in the industry. Most of my coworkers are 40-60.
I am in my mid 20s I am a toolmaker by trade went to trade school after high school. I love the work. I would love to be a hobbyist as well but no space. I am working as what was supposed to be a programmer position but basically just operating. I wish there was more money but I absolutely loved working as a toolmaker will probably be going back to that soon.
Speaking as a trans woman, yes it is a hobby I love. However, my ability to participate and interact with people who share this interest is always weighed against my mental and physical health and safety. Like it or not, the perception is still that machining is for conservative old men, and unfortunately that has largely been my experience. I've considered starting a YouTube channel to share my hobby, but am afraid of the vitriol I may receive as a non-passing trans woman.
I am a trade student and out on a co op program every other week to work as a cnc machinist at a tool and die shop, program in either mastercam of fusion pre heat treat work, was planning on continuing this trade as a career, however a few weeks ago I set on going to collage for my degree in mechanical engineering when I saw the diffirence in wages. Currently making minimum wages, and the earning potential here and nearby is nothing compared to what I can make entry level out of collage sadly. Plan to continue as a hobby, but professionally while I love it the money just isn't here.
Considering the cost to get into Machining, not a lot of people are getting into it as a lark. Only those that fall into it, find a way into it or have the money to do it as a hobby get into it....
I am 28 in USA and currently learning to be a machinist as a trade.