Have a look at this news article. It states that jobs for machinists are becoming more in demand. This seems to fly in the face of the opinions garnered from some in here. Perhaps the information is skewed. I thought many of you would find it to be interesting anyway.

http://channels.isp.netscape.com/careers/package.jsp?na...rjobs&floc=NI-slot1a

So now that charlie got all this manufacturing work to do he got real real busy and thought to himself, I'd better raise the shop rate. Charlies' life style got better, Charlie liked that. So Charlie raised the shop rate some more. Charlie had so much work that his current equipment was no longer fast enough to keep up.
Charlie decided it was time take the plunge and invest in the latest greatest technology and to pay for it all Charlie had to raise the shop rate some more, then to top it all off Charlies' employees wanted benefits, so they all got together and worked out a deal. Charlie said it's ok, we've got lots of work to pay for all this. Charlies' good job became such a great deal for everybody that everyone and his dog got a piece of the action. Charlies' government got a big piece of his action. Charlies equipment dealers and tooling reps have the sales dials turned up to 11, 24-7. Charlies' now really rollin in the dough and suddenly it occurs to Charlie that he is no longer the lowest bidder for the job. The lowest bidder has been whatching jobs go to china since 1975 and still enough manufactureing muscle to put in a bid on a few new Evil Kenevil plastic injection molds, as the old ones back in china are 30 years old and all worn out now and need to be replaced. Not to mention all the new airplanes and weaponrey that need to be made so we can keep up with currrent demands of homeworld security. You can bet your ass Charlie won't be bidding on it for security reasons. The guy who can link Manufacturing to security will make millions, his company will make billions, some of his key employees will make hundreds of thousands. The basic employee will fight for the American dream and a white picket fence. If he wants to go thru all the hoopla he might even own a firearm.
Timan

The key phrase is "machinist". In today's manufacturing world, a lot of people that should be called "machine operators" are classified as "machinists". These people are simply operators of production machines. They may check a few dimensions on the parts and make small adjustments or change cutters but they are no skilled machinists. Most have no tools of their own, where a top machinist/toolmaker will have thousands of dollars worth of personal tools.
I'd suggest that you visit a State Employment office (whatever it might be called in your state) and do a bit of research into the job descriptions and requirements of jobs for "machinists".

Matt, you can talk yourself into what ever you want. You were given some good advice by folks when you asked for it. I think a key phrase is in the bold type intro of the article you referenced. "It depends whom you ask." I strongly agree with the advice of learn a skill/trade or get a degree in a profession that will pay well enough to allow you to pursue the gunsmithing initially as a hobby while you support yourself and family in the style you would like. Heck, from the same article a librarian starts at $16.5k a year more than a machinist. Higher starting than the median for a machinist. You could buy a lot of toys/tools with that. Industry is changing constantly, but it is always getting more technical. I have been involved in electronics as a technician or engineer since 1967 and from the technician level it has gone from troubleshooting to the component level to letting the system tell you what circuit board to replace for most of our problems. Those that stayed abreast of technology are still gainfully employed; those that didn't are working on legacy (old) systems and going the way of the dinosaur.

quote:

Originally posted by Thaine:
Matt, you can talk yourself into what ever you want.

Thaine

I'm not trying to talk myself into anything. I simply saw this link on my Netscape homepage, and saw it as an oportunity to gain more input from professionals. I did say, "Perhaps the information is skewed." I did not say that all of you professionals are full of crap. I just wanted to get a response to this article. In order for a person to make an informed decision about a career, I think one must become informed. That is my motive for posting this link. Thanks for the rest of your opinion anyway.

Mark Stratton is the perfect guy to talk to on this subject. He was smart enough, and fortunate enough, to learn and refine his computer skills as well as his machining skills when industry started turning to CAD and CNC as the standard. He has the best of both worlds because he can function in both the old and the new with equal ease and skill, which many of the younger and newer guys cannot.

People that expect (demand?) to retain 20th century jobs requiring 20th century skills are going to be sadly disappointed I’m afraid.

Were the drawings in Mark's book up to your standards for drafting?

I went back to trade school and got a machining AAS degree. The first two course were manual machining the rest were CNC. I had 30 years experience in a manual shop. The newbies were lost when it came to knowing how to set up and tool job.

I don't consider myself a machinest but I know the difference in a machine operator and a machinest. A monkey can be a machine operator. It thakes a skilled man/woman to be a machinest.

I was told that a machinest could run every machine in the school shop.
When I left machining class I had completed a project on every machine in the shop. And some.
I still learn something new everyday.

Longshot

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
Were the drawings in Mark's book up to your standards for drafting?

If you are asking me that question I would have to answer by saying that I am not qualified to answer that question, being neither a draftsman nor a schooled machinist.

I won’t attempt to speak for Mark because I’m sure he could answer your question with far more authority than I could.

What I was referring to was his moving into CAD and CNC early on which allot of people didn’t seem to do.

quote:

Were the drawings in Mark's book up to your standards for drafting?

They are consistent with keeping the price of the book to a reasonable $75.00. As a non-machinist, non-machine operator I still know what the pictures mean and how to apply them. In that sense they are up to my standards.

LD

Have you been able to build anything with those drawings?

Yep,
I took the book to a local machine shop and 'splained what I wanted. That is what I got. I will post photos when the projects are done.

lawndart

Why would anyone go to school, for a job that pays $34k?

Heck,
I went to four years of college, four years of medical school and four years of residency training. Out here in rural Idaho I am making less than $34K. I do like the work, though.
lawndart

The only thing I would do for that little money, is be a Bush Pilot, PH, or a Bikini Waxer

quote:

Originally posted by tnekkcc:
Have you been able to build anything with those drawings?

Yes...I built the indexing fixture for surface grinding receivers.

Yes, the article says the demand for machinists will increase. If you look around, you will also find aritlces that say Elvis is still alive.

I storngly suggest talking to a variety of custom gunmakers and machinists from around the country. Just get on th ephone and start calling. Most people want to help and it is up to you to see what they really feel about things. From that info, you can decide if it is worth the risk to you and if you can be happy with htose life styles.

I strognly suggest doing the gun work on the side and you open another busienss to make the real money.

what do you do for a living major caliber? for me its not totally about money ,there is a great amount of satisfaction at the end of the day when you look at the piles of chips in the floor and a nicely finished,dimensionnaly correct part lying there on the table.dont matter if its for a roto tiller or a rocket (ive made both)the feeling is the same.school is pretty much just so a shop will give you a chance.without it and no experience you wont get the time of day.the learning will start on the first day and hasnt even slowed down.ive been in a steep learning curve now for 20 years.i can do manual machining of all kinds and cnc of all kinds (not just chucking parts) currently i design prototypes build production fixtures and write the programs (both by hand and mastercam) to run the new product,and when i get that done i will run the job till its bullet proof and give it to the operators.

as far as demand for machinists goes there is even more satisfaction in KNOWING that i dont have to take any s@#$% off anybody and can have a new job before the sun sets this evening.thats worth two year of school and 42k in my book any day.


thanks for hearing my rant

I have yet to find my mortgage company receptive to accepting my “job- satisfaction†in leu of a monthly payment in US dollars!

I am a 20 year Plastic Injection Moldmaker witha 4 year apprenticeship and 2 years of tech school. In that time I have seen the (Good Old Days) and nowdays. Today I must quote globaly to scratch out work that 10 years ago I quoted exclusive. I now fix more over seas CRAP!!! than I build new US. I used to build molds for Skill Boshe, Porter Cable and DeWalt Power tools all except Skill are now owned by China owned Black and Decker.

Ted,
I have seen some injection moulds that rival gun designs for being complicated 3D moving parts.

Here is Jay Leno on machinists:
http://www.jjjtrain.com/vms/callingallmachinists.html

quote:

what do you do for a living major caliber?

I'm a Senior Customer Engineer for a large computer company. Tha means I go to a customer's site, and work on a large array of equipment, servers, routers, tape libaries, etc..