If you have mechanical ability you may want to consider this if you need a new career. It can be satisfying, sometimes. :) and keeps jobs in America in a dying trade. 30 bucks an hour, on Cape anyway, is wishful thinking.

On The Job Hunt: Machinists In High Demand | Fox News (http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/12/15/on-job-hunt-machinists-in-high-demand/)

A lot of trade jobs are in high demand, you just have to be mobile.

-spence

$30 an hour to start? if so I'm in the wrong trade then

A lot of trade jobs are in high demand, you just have to be mobile.

-spence


Define mobile

I don't believe it for a second. I see so many machine shops going out of business or starving for work...It's #^&#^&#^&#^& work. It's a trade people don't want to pay you for your time. It's nickle and diming. If they can get it cheaper somewhere else they go.

Define mobile
Willing to move to where the job is.

You've got to have the skills as well. A lot more computer work and with some industries very complex processes. It's funny, we try to take the art out of machining but in the end if you aren't making chips the parts don't ship. It will always be a people job.

-spence

Willing to move to where the job is.

You've got to have the skills as well. A lot more computer work and with some industries very complex processes. It's funny, we try to take the art out of machining but in the end if you aren't making chips the parts don't ship. It will always be a people job.

-spence

Personally, I think it's more your willing to go where the machines are.

I would very much like to be able to have a CNC mill/lathe in the basement and CAD the stuff.

NPR did a interesting show about an the local library allowing to do 3d printing and cad/cam stuff
Libraries Make Room For High-Tech 'Hackerspaces' : NPR (http://www.npr.org/2011/12/10/143401182/libraries-make-room-for-high-tech-hackerspaces)

If you know solidworks, you can work anywhere.

:spam:If you know solidworks, you can work anywhere.

I'll check it out. Spence actually attempts to sell something like this.

There's going to be a huge vacuum of trade skills in the next 10-20 years. You don't see too many tradesmen in their 20s or 30s.

There's going to be a huge vacuum of trade skills in the next 10-20 years. You don't see too many tradesmen in their 20s or 30s.

Milling tool steel SUUUUUUUUUCKS. :hihi:

There's going to be a huge vacuum of trade skills in the next 10-20 years. You don't see too many tradesmen in their 20s or 30s.

Agree JD. Most people don't know how to change a light bulb. God forbid
they get their hands dirty!

I part time home school my Grandsons and try to include as much mechanical
education as I can. They love it.
I've found machinists to be high in intelligence,a knack for
inovation and solving difficult porblems. Under paid for what they do for sure.

I've found machinists to be high in intelligence,a knack for
inovation and solving difficult porblems. Under paid for what they do for sure.
It used to be mostly an art form. Technology has automated it a lot, but there still is a lot of skill (i.e. experience) involved. It's very common for machinists to hand edit g code on the fly to correct for a bad program or variation in materials. But with 5+ axis equipment that can get really tricky fast.

The technology trend is less art on the shop floor and more up front work to design the right process which is linked electronically to the 3D CAD model.

If you want to get really fancy, you can drive the milling operations, shop docs and the inspection routine from the same data.

SolidWorks is a popular mid-end design tool, but it's really limited when it comes to the more advanced stuff. But, seeing as how a lot of machine shops are really pretty small it fits a lot of needs.

-spence