Advice on Learning Machining Skills

I just checked the course offerings at our local high school, and there are no "Shop" classes offered! What is the training pipeline for the future? I thought my son might be interested in this. Guess I could check local community colleges, but I wondered what you guys recommend?

How did you get into this? Are there apprenticeship programs sponsored by national organizations etc?

If he is interested in serving his country the military is a great place to get training. 1)Everything is paid for 2)You get to work on things that you would never even see in the civilian world 3)and you get to say you served your country. What more could you ask for.

NRCC has an excellent shop and so far the program is doing me wonders LOL.
not sure about the other CC out there.

I got into this on a whim. I saw a lathe/mill up for trade on another forum and made a deal. then I decided to take the classes
My pops for the longest time had a nice atlas lathe in the basement but wouldn't teach me and sold it off without a thought of me wanting to buy it.I guess I really wanted to learn machining for myself.
good luck Stephanie

Community college is a good choice. But I believe a even better choice is for him to get a job in a machine shop that is willing to train, maybe even sponser him as an apprentice

If you son elects to serve his country, earn money towards college, gain the rights under the G.I. Bill (like a VA loan for a home), AND learn a trade, have him consider joining the Navy

The Machinery Repairman rating (rate abbreviation is "MR") is, according to all I've read, the best initial machine shop training available fo the five military services (let's not forget the US Coast Guard).

Stan Db

Hmm, a "Drafting" course...if still offered, is a good way to get into one end of this.

Even though at that stage in life you're really not designing anything per se, you learn to "think" in 3D which is a most valuable skill later.

I would agree that the most powerful learning takes place with a skilled mentor....are there any "home shop" or "model engineer" or "live steam" metalworking clubs that are nearby?

We like to hire young kids at our shop. We start them out doing grunt work to see if they have any character, and then work them up, training them the way we want things done. Only 1 out of 10 works out, but we have several guys who are good CNC machinists who started with no experience. My advice is try to find a smaller shop who may need help of any kind (driving, deburring, cleaning, etc.) If your son is smart, reliable, and a hard worker, he will get more resonsiblilties and more training quickly. If you go looking to run machines right away, you will probably be turned away. We also provide tech school training also once a person has proven themselves as "trainable" and reliable. Good luck!

David S

i hate to be the devils advocat here but
military
yes
learn something serve your country
boot strap up in a small shop
maybe not so sure
this work is slowly but surely leaving the country
i love my work
and there will allways be some of it around
but the good old days are going away
mexico is so close you can truck parts to chicago
in 1.5 days
that's going to take the bulk of the work there
once they have the infrastructure.
company's like john deere,GM and all the rest are building plant's as we speak
if i was advising a youngster right now i would say
get a degree
in something
sciences if you can
anything else if you can't
then when he get's done he is ahead of the curve for what jobs are still around

Companies that offer apprenticeships like their potential apprentices to have the majority of their schooling done with for two reasoans. 1) Shows them how serious you are, and 2) saves them money, because they don't have to pay you to go to school for all the required classes!. They will be happy to pay for a couple classes you missed, but if you have most of them done, you save them money and they can see your grades up front, add's a little security for the prospective employer!!..., anyway, it worked for me--

Don't just check the local academic high school,
you need to also investigate local voc-tech
alternative high schools. Many of those still
offer trade courses.

I myself avail myself of the voc tech campus
nearby for welding instruction. Interestingly
thought even they don't offer machine shop
instruction.

Electrical trades, HVAC, automotive, welding,
carpentry, etc - yes.

But no machining.

Jim

I tried for years to find a machine shop that would "take me under their wing" and teach me a few things, but no one was interested. Hell, most of them didn't even want to let me pay them for small jobs, that I regularly had for them.
They were only interested in my presence, IF I had a run of 2,000 parts that needed to be made.
I did meet a nice older machine shop owner, that was interested in my projects, and would spend a little time talking to me, but it never amounted to anything. He was just too busy.
To this day, IF I could afford to quit my job, and start out as an apprentice, I'd do it in a second, but that just wouldn't pay the bills...
In the meantime, I'm trying to find someone who likes hanging out in the shop, and teaching the machining trade.. Or at least let's me do grunt work in the evenings, in exchange for a bit of knowledge. Only problem there is that most shops close, by the time I get off work....

Thanks to all for your ideas. I guess the highschools don't see demand for machining skills so are no longer offering that. I'm sorry about that because I think it's good for kids to get at least some exposure to the possibilities.

I look at the photos and posts on this bulletin board, and it is a fascinating glimpse into a world that I understand not at all. I wish I could figure out a way to get an overview myself. (You see, I wasn't just thinking about my kid! ) Guess I'll just keep reading and "lurking" (though I'm a little too noisy for a lurker)

I don't know where you are in VA. but James Rumsey near Martinburg,W.V. has machine shop classes. I don't know anything about the course itself.

Allen

Stephanie, In NY state there are a number of college schools that teach machining. My son took drafting, CAD-CAM actually. There was a course in machining at the time, 5 years ago. He then went to a PA school and got a BA in industrial tech. CAD-CAM is where its at today. If interested check out the SUNY system, DELHI college, ALFRED STATE has both vocational nen degreed and AS.

I may point out that an interest in metalworking is not synonomous with a future in the trades.

I am in a similar place as your son. My high school does not offer any trades, so I called up local machine shops and got a job at a small one. I have since earned enough money to make my own home metal shop.

I would reccomend taking a class or interning at a local metalshop to learn the basics. Then you can decide if you want to put together a home shop. I would advise against buying machines immediately, since this can lead to regrets once you know what you really want.

Good luck.

Hey Stephanie,

You never mentioned his age I don't think, nor whether his interest is more along the lines of a career or a hobby. Or yours for that matter (well, not the age thing, won't go there!).

I've always been an advocate of self education, primarily out of necessity. Hanging out here, surfing the myriad of nicely put together home shop web sites, maybe getting some old machine operations books and other literature is a great way to start.

I'd caveat the advice against buying machines right away by mentioning I wouldn't buy EXPENSIVE machines right away. If a decent little anything comes along at a good price, get it and have some fun. A nice little home shop lathe (Atlas 618 or a little larger, 9x20 imports, etc) really aren't that expensive compared to many "toys". No matter how much or how little you two decide to get into this, the little machine will always be useful.

I think the Gingery series of books are a great read for someone who knows NOTHING about this stuff and is interested in some history, practical stuff, how these machines came to be and are made, and how to use them. I'll probably be banned from this site for even mentioning it! But they got me off to a great start. Building one of his machines is an excellent self apprenticeship.

Like all new ventures, it takes a bit to even get to the point where you can ask a question which has a fairly finite answer. By a huge margin, this is the best online resource I've seen. Finding a local home machine shop is going to be your best hands on sort of stuff. Not much around in the way of clubs and stuff though, so finding someone to just show you the ropes isn't trivial, but keep your eyes open. Once you know what to look for, all sorts of opportunities come into view you never knew were there.

All answers to these sorts of questions just generate more questions, so ask away.

Tools

Stephanie ; my son graduated from Alfred state here in NY. We both feel that he recieved an execellent education. 1st year all manual machines ,2nd year cnc. Class size limited to abt 12. Both instructors came from industry.
Lee

I was going to post, but tools already said everything I was thinking to a T.

I especially agree with the Gingery books. That's what got me in this mess. Dave covered evey aspect of metalworking... casting, drilling, turning, boring, milling, scraping, the whole works. Even if you never build his machines, you will have a basic understanding of HOW that machine is made, and how ALL machines are made for that matter. I never looked at a mechanical object the same after reading his books.

Hmm, it's a little clearer now. Maybe it's
not for your son, *totally*.

If you want to get involved or to spark his
interest, simply purchase a machine tool.

Go out and buy a lathe and learn to run it.

One way to do this is to acquire a 'target
of opportunity' which means keep an eye on
the want ads or ask around for somebody who's
selling one.

Jim

Go out and buy a lathe and learn to run it.

Click to expand...

And then find out how really helpful this forum can be

In 1955 when they first turned me loose with an ugly piece of bar stock on a rickety old 9" SB in the basement of Waco High School, I was real sure this was for me. Still am.

John