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Lil OT: No longer a Mechanic. Now a 3D printer?

david n

Diamond
Joined
Apr 13, 2007
Location
Pillager, MN
Some most of us have been there.
Them: "What do you do for a living?"
Me: "I'm a machinist."
Them: (99 times outa 100) "Oh do you work on cars?"
Me: I go on to the lengthy explanation of what I do and what I make.
Them: Empty blank smile and a nod. (They have no flippin clue)

Now it's:
Them: "What do you do for a living?"
Me: "I'm a machinist."
Them: (99 times outa 100) "Oh do you work on cars?"
Me: I go on to the lengthy explanation of what I do and what I make.
Them: (All smiley and a semi expert) "So you do 3D printing then?"
Me: Face palm.

I've had that response from a whole handful of people lately. Maybe it's better then being a mechanic?
 
I'm so fucking tired of 3D printing.

I suppose it's how CNC guys felt 10 years ago when cheap PC based CNC retrofit became possible, and everyone with $200 and an internet connection thought they were CNC machinists.

I don't think I have seen anything printed on a hobby level machine that was suitable for use as anything but a decoration. And they don't even look good. Terrible resolution, weak materials, limited shapes.

Real 3d printing is pretty cool, but it's not a DIY project.
 
I love when they say " so what does a machinist do? I've never seen anything made by a machinist ! "



The 3D thing with the common folks is a continuity of proof of how little the majority of people know about how stuff really gets made. Now they all think they'll be printing stuff like in Star Trek in their garage, while not realizing that most of them can't figure out which end of a screw driver to hold.


I think there's gonna be very good business in prosthesis manufacturing in the future.



I think when people tell me they work for the gov I'm gonna start asking them what being a "non essential employee " involves :D
 
I'm so fucking tired of 3D printing.

I suppose it's how CNC guys felt 10 years ago when cheap PC based CNC retrofit became possible, and everyone with $200 and an internet connection thought they were CNC machinists.

I don't think I have seen anything printed on a hobby level machine that was suitable for use as anything but a decoration. And they don't even look good. Terrible resolution, weak materials, limited shapes.

Real 3d printing is pretty cool, but it's not a DIY project.



Maybe you should look some more, the latest FDM printers are almost on par with Stratsys machines. Just because you see one bad print doesn't mean you group them all into it. I've printed tools with mine and am starting to do prototype work for my job. Some of the most common commercial 3D printers are FDM...are you saying those aren't real? The DIY ones also use the same model material...ABS and are capable of PLA, Nylon, HIPS, and other special filaments. Pretty cool that something limited to $15k printers was brought into a range of $500, I know...I have 2-3D printers, I also built my own CNC plasma cutter and I work as a manufacturing engineer so I'm above your "everyone thinks they are a cnc machinist class".

I see half the forum here doesn't have a clue about 3D printing, it's called "Rapid Prototyping" for a reason. It was not intended to produce production parts, it is for prototyping. Of course PLA and ABS layered are not going to be strong, every FDM printer in the world(commercial and DIY) will fail when stress is applied perpendicular to the vertical print area. Resolution is also very good, they are now easily capable of printing at .010mm layer heights and even lower with smaller diameter nozzles and to be honest, I have no idea where you got the limited shape idea... Many types of support material are available and you can even use model material as support so any shape can be printed.

I'd go into it more but I bet I am already wasting my time.


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It's entertaining to hear you guys gripe about being able to do something that few people grasp.

Yesterday I met a German fellow who seemed pretty bright, I struck up a conversation with him and asked him what he did. He looked dejected and said "Oh, I write software", I ask "what kind of software", he replies, "well, it is used for bar code scanners", I reply, "we use bar code scanners every once in a while in our systems, but we cheat and use an industrial vision system made by a company called Cognex, it is a pretty cool system but way more capable than for just reading bar codes"

He smiles really big and says "you are the first person I have ever talked to apart from where I work who has ever had a clue about what I do, I WORK for Cognex!"

We then spent the next few minutes listening to another chap describe what it was like to work for the UN in banking. Way more to it than I'll ever comprehend.

We all do unique stuff to one degree or another . . . If you aren't bitching about no one understanding what you do, you are bitching about everyone that does know what you do undercutting your price and whoring up the machining trade.

I think bitching about stuff like this is more chest thumping or self back patting about your perception of how smart or capable you are.

A smart machinist will have both the skill and patience to describe what they do to a three year old without getting their shorts in a bind.

Regarding 3D printing, we are looking at several laser sintered stainless parts now that are "printed" in such a fashion that would be impossible to machine. Pretty cool technology.
 
It's entertaining to hear you guys gripe about being able to do something that few people grasp.

We all do unique stuff to one degree or another . . . If you aren't bitching about no one understanding what you do, you are bitching about everyone that does know what you do undercutting your price and whoring up the machining trade.

I think bitching about stuff like this is more chest thumping or self back patting about your perception of how smart or capable you are.

A smart machinist will have both the skill and patience to describe what they do to a three year old without getting their shorts in a bind.

Regarding 3D printing, we are looking at several laser sintered stainless parts now that are "printed" in such a fashion that would be impossible to machine. Pretty cool technology.

Guru,
I really enjoy your posts, but this one is BS. No griping here. It's more about the annoyance of people that go through life with no clue of the world around them. And I don't mean just MFG, but just about everything. All they know is their job, their home life, and what they see in media(TV/web). Many people live in a bubble and really don't pay attention to anything else but what is trendy. And right now 3D printing is trendy.(I will add it is pretty cool technology.) And trendy I suppose is not a good term, but it's new and interesting.

I'm actually quite good at explaining to others what I do. A 3 yr old would be a breeze. Their mind is open and always looking for knowledge. But about 50% of the folks out there, you could explain 'til you're blue in the face. You could show them vids or pics of what you do. I have even brought people in the shop and still get that glossed over look like I was from another planet or something. I really try my best to get people informed and interested in Mfg, but most of the time I feel I'd be better off talking to the dog. At least he gets me.
 
It's entertaining to hear you guys gripe about being able to do something that few people grasp.


Well... that's the weird thing because its very strange that what probably is the largest industry sector in the world employing who knows how many hundred million of people, is unknown to most outside of it(although shows like How its Made help a bit) Maybe that was different when 40-50% were earning a living in manufacturing and now its down to 7-8%... same as most people think meat and eggs just magically appear now that so few are left in farming. I guess they all figure stuff just magically appears, and the 3D thing confirms it for them. " now they get it ".

brain surgery, nuclear stuff, nano technology, that's stuff that majority shouldn't grasp. Seems to me most should somehow still have an idea of what metal, or a butcher shop is.

Then again we also went from a time when everybody was born as home, and now the odd one that doesn't make it to the hospital on time is a news worthy miracle story filled with heroes that jumped to action and all get a medal.
 
So the gripe isn't really about people not understanding what you do so much as it is people generally being ignorant on a uniform basis? (Which I agree with to a certain extent) . . .

I guess it doesn't bother me that people don't understand what I do. I am always asked if I design motion sensors for stuff like yard lights or security systems. I just reply that I design systems that control the machines that make the sensors along with everything from beer bottles to toilet paper (our two largest markets). I got people covered at both ends :D

Yes people lack intelligence . . . What do we expect when we live in a post modern world where what is true for you is all that matters. Embrace the general ignorance as an opportunity to do a little education on their level. The level of ignorance displayed about machining is equally applied to topics as varied as politics, religion and healthcare.
 
I will be interested in 3D printing when they start making crankshafts and ball bearings. Until then I can only see it being used as a prototyping machine or making prosthetic limbs and other plastic parts.
 
I will be interested in 3D printing when they start making crankshafts and ball bearings. Until then I can only see it being used as a prototyping machine or making prosthetic limbs and other plastic parts.

Yeah, me too-I sure don't ever want to make anything that doesn't have either a crankshaft or a ball bearing......
 
Guru,
I really enjoy your posts, but this one is BS. No griping here. It's more about the annoyance of people that go through life with no clue of the world around them. And I don't mean just MFG, but just about everything. All they know is their job, their home life, and what they see in media(TV/web). Many people live in a bubble and really don't pay attention to anything else but what is trendy. And right now 3D printing is trendy.(I will add it is pretty cool technology.) And trendy I suppose is not a good term, but it's new and interesting.

I'm actually quite good at explaining to others what I do. A 3 yr old would be a breeze. Their mind is open and always looking for knowledge. But about 50% of the folks out there, you could explain 'til you're blue in the face. You could show them vids or pics of what you do. I have even brought people in the shop and still get that glossed over look like I was from another planet or something. I really try my best to get people informed and interested in Mfg, but most of the time I feel I'd be better off talking to the dog. At least he gets me.

I would bet that you are the same way when someone tries to explain their job to you, if it is not within your sphere of comfort. Unless you are truly interested, would you listen to an investment banker or an elementary school teacher explain their job, and really try to learn about it? Most of us have only a limited amount of effort to expend, so we use it in areas that interest us.

Most people are not interested in machining.
 
I will be interested in 3D printing when they start making crankshafts and ball bearings. Until then I can only see it being used as a prototyping machine or making prosthetic limbs and other plastic parts.

Economy of scale and part geometry. There's no need to additively manufacture crankshafts. It's stupid simple external geometry (comparably) and you have to make millions of them. The only time it would ever make sense for something like that is if the material can't easily be remelted and reused. In DMLS, the powder not used stays in the machine and is used on the next build. Titanium hip implants, on the other hand, are all one-offs. AM machines don't really care if theres a crevice that an endmill can't get to. They are limited by the spot size of the laser for SLA and DMLS; or bead width if using FDM; down to the pixel size on the liquid dot matrix 3D printers.

Now if you want to make a crankshaft with a solid external shell with a highly optimized interior honeycomb structure thats 40% lighter than anything else, then you may want to look into additive manufacturing.
 
david n


Default Lil OT: No longer a Mechanic. Now a 3D printer?



Some most of us have been there.
Them: "What do you do for a living?"
Me: "I'm a machinist."
Them: (99 times outa 100) "Oh do you work on cars?"

I used to sort of fit that conversation both ways as I used to be an Automotive machinist. I just finished my 1st week at a pipe fitting manufacturer running a Mazak Nexus 6000 HMC. pretty interesting lateral movement in the machining field.
Ron
 








 
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