Contract programming

Hi all,
I would like to get into contract programming to help some people out and help me out as well. I've been programming for about 5 years now and us mastercam X9. I work for a job shop so I'm pretty versatile and we make several different parts for Raytheon so on and so forth. If you are interested pm. Trying to gain as much experience as I can while making a little extra money.

First post so I'll give you a friendly pointer.

Not the best idea to show up here looking for work on the first post. Hang around and after you've participated on forum a while maybe.

What happens if you crash someone's machine? You insured?

Welcome to the board Nathon....

Brent

programming for 5 years...and now your ready to be a contract programmer... LOL

You may want to try here first;
http://www.practicalmachinist.com/vb/career-opportunities/

And really not a very good Ad either, have no idea what the capabilities are. How comfortable with simultaneous 5 axis Milling, CNC Grinding, EDM, CMM, Vertical to Horizontal exchange on 3 axis Milling, or Mill/Turn (I already know because it is Mastersuk). Hourly rate? Do own the suite you are working with? What posts do you have? Post out for Mazak Integrex, Okuma Multus, and Citizen 12 axis????

The aerospace industry is the largest user of contract nc programmers. You'll need to learn Catia, they use that 99.9% of the time.

Not to be another source of discouragement, but make sure you have your boss's/shop owner's approval before using company resources. As a shop owner myself, I would be none too happy with an employee using company resources to moonlight possibly even for shops I am bidding against. Software licensing and overhead a major contributors to piece price. I'd hate to see you loose your full time employment arrangement just to make a few bucks on the sly.

You might find it more enriching to your skill set by doing a great job with the tasks you are given by your employer, and letting them know you are ready to take on more responsibility. Even doing some work to improve program optimization or even some nice macros or post enhancements might present a good showing to your superiors. They will appreciate your initiative. If they don't, find an employer who does.

Nathon said:

Hi all,
I would like to get into contract programming to help some people out and help me out as well. I've been programming for about 5 years now and us mastercam X9. I work for a job shop so I'm pretty versatile and we make several different parts for Raytheon so on and so forth. If you are interested pm. Trying to gain as much experience as I can while making a little extra money.

Click to expand...

One advice. To be a contract programmer you need to know your clients machinery very well. If you do not, keep your head down. As a teacher in a technical college for cnc, my students came up with same thoughts. I let them try. Most failed on the machine setup, and the way the machine react irl. You have to realize there is an operator to set everything up for each job. Do you, operator and the machine think on same level? That is the hardest thing to crack (not a program itself). If I would contract program I would at least like to know the machine, before I put my nose in the fire. (no pun intended) Anyhow, GL, may the force be with you. =)