CNC Machinists

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mjkaliszak

New member
Hard to beat a good education, pay your dues up front, You can play NOW and PAY later or PAY NOW and PLAY LATER. Go after a degree, take time deciding what direction you want to go in .
 
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Polarice

New member
yamahauler said:
Polarice, you must of had some bad experiences.
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I worked at many different shops in my short career. I had a lot of good and bad experiences. The most money that I made was $16.00 per hour. It sounds like you make a bit more.

Anyways, I'm glad that I have a technical background. I still think of everything in thousandths when measuring is concerned. I just think there are far more better careers to get involved in. If anyone is making less than 90k per year they're selling themselves short IMO.

I agree with Frosty. That sounds like a FAR superior job opportunity than being a machinist.

Look into a career in sales. There's little if any schooling involved. You can make a killing if you're good.
Look into a career in sales. There's not much school if any and you an make a killing if you're good.
Indy, if anyone tells you that the math is hard, that is crap. It's easy and the blueprints basically have it figured out for you. Then if you have to do trig or something like that, there's always little 'books' that you keep in your box that has all the information that you need. You just need to have some sort of work 'drive' and allow yourself to listen to the more seasoned guys (and not be a know it all) to excel in the field.

I've been on both sides of the fence here as it sounds like most of the others have not been on. I can clearly see both sides because I've walked them both. I would not choose a career in machining. As someone else said, the wages are low. Talk to some guys and find out what 'top' pay is where they work. You may change your mind real quick. Unless you can get a career working for a Nascar driver or something like that.
 
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miked

Member
The good news I am personally getting out of this thread is that there's actually programs out there for manufacturing in high school. Pretty much everything around me has been eliminated...and, as a business owner...I'm looking for kids like the OP. My employees are getting up in age, and I need to maintain the level of quality my customers expect...which is largely the result of the experience of my people.

Something else I might toss out there...it's not ALL about the $. You should really just do something you enjoy. I took over the family business last year after working in the shop for 15+ years....being the boss pays better, but I still enjoy getting my hands dirty over paying bills.
 
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Polarice

New member
You should look into a career in sales. Heck, be a salesman for a machine shop. There's little if any schooling for sales. You can also make a killing if you're any good.
 
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Noodles

New member
Poor guy is 16 years old.You have to START somewhere.The more you learn the bigger your foundation.If you change directions it isnt a waste.Every career goes through cycles.Sounds like you will do great whatever happens.The individual is the largest deciding factor on what they get out of any carrer.
 
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yamahauler

Active member
Indy, as far as debt, you mentioned they would pay for your schooling which would equal no debt. If they would pay for a your year degree, why not take it. If you don't use it is fine, if you do, then you have it.

Polarice: This joke is all in fun and after your last few posts I have to tell it. How do you know when a salesperson is lying??? When their mouth is moving. Sorry couldn't resist. Salespeople CAN make a good living but they can also be hammered when things go south like the last few years. It just depends on what area you are in I guess.

The pay thing also depends on what area you are in. If you live in small town don't expect to necessarily make as much as the city but then again that small town cost of living is usually less as well so it is an even trade.
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
yamahauler said:
Indy, as far as debt, you mentioned they would pay for your schooling which would equal no debt. If they would pay for a your year degree, why not take it. If you don't use it is fine, if you do, then you have it.
.
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They only pay to get a "machine tool technician" degree
 
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tealracing16

Member
Indy - I was very similar to you in high school. I loved to repair stuff, mostly in the automotive area. I talked with lots of people and somehow I became a mechanical engineer and graduated from Mich Tech. I wouldn't suggest it like you already said. You don't really ever get to put your hands on stuff and build it, that is what the machinists/welders/whatever do. After working for 3 completely different companies in three different fields my advice would be to stick to something you love to do. Forget about money and pick what you want to do, if you are good enough the money will follow.

As for welding, I think you can make a lot of money. But you could make more as a broker for stocks, selling insurance etc. There will always be jobs that pay more money than what you are making right now, just a fact. Find something you want to get up for each day and your life will be nothing but fun.

Oh yeah the internship with school. It can never hurt to get a degree, NEVER. I would do it, if nothing else you will be making boat loads of money while in school so you can ride your sled, put more sh*$ on your truck etc.
 
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Polarice

New member
Noodles said:
Poor guy is 16 years old.You have to START somewhere.The more you learn the bigger your foundation.If you change directions it isnt a waste.Every career goes through cycles.Sounds like you will do great whatever happens.The individual is the largest deciding factor on what they get out of any carrer.
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That's true that you do have to start somewhere. I'm trying to help give a different perspective. Perhaps not 'positive' but 'constructive.'
 
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Polarice

New member
yamahauler said:
Polarice: This joke is all in fun and after your last few posts I have to tell it. How do you know when a salesperson is lying??? When their mouth is moving. Sorry couldn't resist. Salespeople CAN make a good living but they can also be hammered when things go south like the last few years. It just depends on what area you are in I guess.
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A 'bad' salesman is a liar. The economy does hurt but a sales position is a very good career. Just like machining though...you have a 'trade' to fall back on. Starting out though as a machinist you're on the bottom of the totem pole. As a salesperson, you could be on top really quick if you're good.
 
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Hoosier

Well-known member
Indy - people more familiar with this line of work have given you good advice above. I work as a business financial consultant (have a CPA background). I recently had a CNC shop as a client (made parts for Delta faucets and Bilstein shocks) and I spent about 8 months working there onsite. I'm assuming you want to be the guy doing the designs and set-ups, not the hourly operator. You seem to be way too creative to be satisfied in the long run for the operator role. But that was a fairly "basic" shop - high volume, low difficulty of parts - so I don't want to give you advice as to this field. If I were you, I would probably do this program. Sounds like a good opportunity to figure out if this is something that interests you. However, I would implore you to also take as much math and science as you can in high school, because those skills and more importantly the thinking skills developed in learning them will be critical in any field that is likely to interest you. Just my $0.02, which isn't worth much any more.
 
indy_500

indy_500

Well-known member
Thanks for all the replies so far! If anybody has anything else to add, feel free! This is REALLY helping. The only problem is my mom. She really wants me to go to a 4 yr. college while my dad really wants me to do this. My dad worked in a machine shop for the first 5ish years of his adult life, but mostly as an operator and realized paper milles payed a lot more LOL. I think it's a really good opportunity, too good to pass up. I get hands on training, and if I decide I don't like it, well, I'm still a senior in high school and have the next few years to go to tech for something else, or do whatever else I decide.
 
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Polarice

New member
Good point about still being in high school. You could do something else. Another good option would be the medical field. If you like to help people you won't be wandering around when you get out of school to find a job.
 
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Skylar

Super Moderator
Staff member
Indy I say do it, get a feel for it, you may find that you don't like it, which will be fine because you still have time to change your direction. And while you are there, learn EVERYTHING you can learn, don't just think, " I am here to learn this, and this only". The more experience you have doing whatever, the more valuable you are.

If you find you love it, that is awesome, it is no fun getting up to go to work hating what you have to do to make a living!
 
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mn_mxz

Member
Indy- I did a similar program when I was in high school, except I worked on building fire trucks. I learned so much stuff about manufacturing and the real world. I think that if you are willing to put the time in the machine shop it will at least give you a chance to see what you think of the work and you can ask yourself if it is something that you really want to get into. It is experience that you will never lose. I was considering to be a CNC machinist but I decided that I would go into CAD and design. I went to school for 2 years and I got a AS degree in engineering and design. Once I started working the company that I worked for needed a CAD/CAM programmer, so they sent me to training and I started creating the programs for the machines. I enjoyed that but I liked designing better.

I look back at what I have learned and I think that it makes me a much better at my job. I now work for a large medical device company designing equipment. I think that if machining interests you I would jump on the program. From the posts that I have read you seem to be very creative and willing to learn. Like Skylar said, Learn everything you can. The experience that you gain will help out in the future. Good Luck!
 
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tomxc700

New member
Look into going to school for heavy equipment operator, They get paid pretty good and you get to play with some cool stuff.
 
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racerx

Active member
tomxc700 said:
Look into going to school for heavy equipment operator, They get paid pretty good and you get to play with some cool stuff.
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This is what I was going to do but at the time I wanted a steady paycheck and did not want to be off in the winter (this is before I was into sledding go figure, I would like to be off now). So I opted for the steady pay as a machinist altho I did go into the miltary and drove heavy equipment in order to get the experience. Now instead of driving CATS, Deere, Bobcat etc. I'm making tools that machine parts for them
 
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