I will be going to the Williamson Free Trade school www.williamson.edu in the fall. In three years I should be a grad. and working in the trade. On the side I plan to build unicycles. I was wondering how you other machinist got into the industory.
I hung out with the “guys in the shop” while working at a science facility for a summer internship and heard the following explanation:
One does not become a machinist by choice. S/He becomes a machinist after dropping / flunking out of school while pursuing a Mech. Engineering degree. A machinist is one who is trained to make other people’s designs; a Mech. Engr. is one who makes the designs in the first place, and has the option to produce them as well. A machinist comes home every night with metal shards in their hair and clothes, and smelling of machine oil, where an M.E. doesn’t necessarily have to get their hands dirty every day…
I think the explanation I received was encouragement to stay in school and develop machining as a hobby, not as a profession. I also think he may have been a bit jaded by his own experiences in school, or work, but this is one person’s perspective on the profession, nonetheless. Take it with a grain of salt.
Good luck in school!
I got into the machinist trade the same way as stated. Started out as an ME student, dropped out, and started machining.
As far as “engineers” designing things, I can tell you from personal experience that a lot of engineers need to spend time getting their hands dirty. Practical experience can not be taught in a class room. I’ve seen prints that I could only laugh at and proceed to make the part correctly. More than one engineer has been rescued by a machinist who knew that two mating parts would not mate if made to “print”.
We routinely make parts that were over-engineered by ignoring over-kill tolerances and make them as we see fit. You can only teach guidelines in a class room. Years of experience are much more valuable in the real world.
I met the owner of Balco in Aurora who started out as a machinist. He ended up founding his company that made valves for nuclear subs for the navy. The navy hired some engineer to develop a computerized method to check the roundness of the ball valves that controlled the steam flow in the reactors in the subs. After a month of “designing” some goof-ball fixture and a mile-long program that didn’t work, the navy asked the owner if he could design an inspection fixture. One week later the inspection fixture was done and worked to the satisfaction of the navy.
Good luck with your quest to “get dirty”.
Steve
I think this is true and false. Some people just aren’t the type of person to sit around designing all day. Some are the type to do just that. I’m a mechanical person I’d rather be doing all the shaping and manipulating metal.
Everyone who goes to Williamson for machine shop is doing contrary to the first statement. Some one going for a Mech. Engineering degree isn’t.
It must have been an encouragement to stay in school as you said. I hear you can make around 80k a year out of Williamson doing machining while like carpentry is around 30k.
Make sure you understand the job market for machinists. What skills are needed and what type of machinists are in demand.
Manufacturing is a sketchy field now with all the lower cost foreign labor available. Machinists in China are working for very little money. Of course, they also do crappy work.
There are a whole bunch of out of work machinists here around the Seattle area because of Boeing cutting back and laying them off. If there are experienced machinists looking for jobs and not finding jobs then the situation is not good for a new machinist.
Job prospects are also localized. Just because there are a bunch of out of work machinists in Seattle doesn’t mean that job market in other areas may not be good. Research the job market and know what you’re getting in to.
Machining is fascinating stuff. I can see the appeal.
Market is good for machinists here where I’m living right know. I hear that Florida is really good and high demand.
The machining I’ll be doing will be like specialty things like machining for power plants. Making like valves and what ever they need at the moment. I wouldnt be doing anything that could be done in China basicly.
Thanks for the warning John.
Oh yeah Boeing here is doing kinda the same thing around here. A lot of people dont know whether the next day they’ll have a job the next day or not.
Tim-
Just curious, how do you know that will be available when you finish school?
BTW, the machinist trade around Northern Illinois isn’t good.
The Rockford area has lost 15,000 mfg. jobs in the last 5 years - 20% of the mfg. capacity.
We have destroyed our tariffs and allow imports to enter our market paying taxes that you or I could only dream of getting away with.
“Globalism” is a decoy to conceal what is really happening. Today, imports represent 15.5% of America’s GDP, but only pay 1% of the taxes.
China GPD for 2003 = $1,409,852,000,000
Estimated Population 1,286,975,468
Per capita income = $1096.00 / year
U.S. GDP for 2003 = $10,881,609,000,000
Estimated Population = 290,342,554
Per capita income = $37,478 (Source - World Bank)
U.S. defense budget $396.1 billion (2001)
U.S defense budge per capita = $1,364
Note, my share of the US defense budget exceeds the entire years wage of the average Chinese worker yet in the name of “Free trade” I’m supposed to compete against Chinese labor but taxing China by tariffs is “evil”.
In 1905, total value of imported goods = $1,087,118,000.
In 1905, total duties paid = $257,898,000
In 1905, total Federal revenue = $544,000,000
In 2000, total value of imports = $1,532,300,000,000
In 2000, total duties paid = $20,000,000,000
In 2000, total Federal revenue = $2,025,000,000,000
Percent duties paid by imports:
1905 = 23.8%
2000 = 1.3%
Percent of Federal revenues paid by duties:
1905 = 47.4%
2000 = 0.9%
THE POWER TO TAX IS THE POWER TO DESTROY.
U.S. Constitution:
Article I, Section 8:
"The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defense and general Welfare of the United States…
The general Welfare has now turned into the welfare of the richest individuals who now send production overseas to avoid the taxes that the “general public” must now pay for.
This is what you young people are up against.
Steve
Re: another unicyclist machinist. [me (in threeish years)]
my uncle owns a machine shop and my grandpa works there they have 30 employees and have been in business for 13 years
i am learning how to weld this past month it is so fun . but it gives you sun burn on your finger tips … so what are you going to be training for.