Becoming a machinist as an amputee?

Hi everyone

Im still in highschool but will be starting some after school help at a machine shop this winter to start learning the trade and seeing if its something I can do. My grandfather was a machinist and I really want to follow in his footsteps and make it my career! My dad found this forum and thought I should post to see if anyone has anyy advice for me. I am a amputee from meningitis when i was a little kid. I am missing both feet, my left hand and I only have short fingers on my right hand. I have prosthetics and I can do alot and am taking auto tech class and doing super well! but I am worried that I will be limited and not get into trade school or get a job as im obviously slower at doing things is there anyone on here that has advice or experence as a amputee too? How does doing precisioon things work for you? thanks so much!

Interested to hear folks advice to you. Good on you for exploring the possibilities.

I’ll start by saying nothing would prevent you from programming. Designing, engineering and writing code should be just fine.

Exactly my thought. The programming is probably where the money and comfort is....sad to say, perhaps.

If you can design the part, create the program, and then let someone else go out and push the buttons you're a valuable asset to many companies.

Thanks! Im actually really interested in cnc machines. I just want to do hands on work and not be stuck at a desk all day so any type of mahcining is ok with me! I know that the exact kind of manual machining my grandpa did is probably not as common anymore sadly

Your short intro suggests you're bright, clear-headed, and motivated young man -- so I think "YES." As has already been mentioned, more and more of machining requires CAD and CNC skills whether it's subtractive machining or additive methods. There are plenty of aids that will allow you to input and design stuff about as fast as anyone.

If you're good at math (and you can WORK at being good at math), I'd suggest at least a two year engineering program. More if it suits you. It does sound that you don't want to be stuck near a desk; but some of the most rewarding jobs in manufacturing today are about half shop floor and half design/programming.

There is tremendous work going on in the fields of robotics and prosthetics. You just might find yourself becoming both personally interested in having the best aids and a star employee (or even eventually a business owner) in some related field. Be cool if you could co-op with someone like Dean Kamen. You don't say what year you are in high school, but if you can volunteer in a "First Robotics" program (likely somewhat distanced now) that might be a great experience.

I'm continually amazed at how a motivated individual so often surpasses those who've had things come easily. As a reminder, I keep a Braille micrometer on my bookshelf . . .

PeteM said:

Your short intro suggests you're bright, clear-headed, and motivated young man -- so I think "YES." As has already been mentioned, more and more of machining requires CAD and CNC skills whether it's subtractive machining or additive methods. There are plenty of aids that will allow you to input and design stuff about as fast as anyone.

If you're good at math (and you can WORK at being good at math), I'd suggest at least a two year engineering program. More if it suits you. It does sound that you don't want to be stuck near a desk; but some of the most rewarding jobs in manufacturing today are about half shop floor and half design/programming.

There is tremendous work going on in the fields of robotics and prosthetics. You just might find yourself becoming both personally interested in having the best aids and a star employee (or even eventually a business owner) in some related field. Be cool if you could co-op with someone like Dean Kamen. You don't say what year you are in high school, but if you can volunteer in a "First Robotics" program (likely somewhat distanced now) that might be a great experience.

I'm continually amazed at how a motivated individual so often surpasses those who've had things come easily. As a reminder, I keep a Braille micrometer on my bookshelf . . .

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Thanks!! I try really hard to do my best at everything. I became a amputee at 2 years old so i honestly dont remember life any other way. I would love to get an engineering degree but im working on scolarships first as I cant afford it right now. A half desk job would not be bad, Im not sure I could stand all day out on a factory floor anyway.

I will be a junior when school starts back up. I thought about robotics but I in the past i would have to go to another school after hours and I didnt have a car. but I will soon though : ) dean kamen is a super cool guy! I actually have a electronic prosthetic left arm and its really cool!! I can grip even super small things and hold them perfect. Im waiting on insurance to approve electric prosthetic fingers for my other hand as its a new technology. I will be full cybrog : D

How functional is your left hand prosthetic? The reason I ask is with manual machines you usually need 2 hands to load tools and stuff. Even on some cnc's you need 2 hands to load the tools. Most of the other stuff would be fine, opening/loading a vise, etc... I say go for it, you sound determined and that will get you pretty far in today's society.

World is yours buddy. Good friend of mine retired from Lawrence Livermore Lab in 91 or 92, Polio stuck his ass in a wheelchair in the 70’s. Ran manual equipment most of his time. Has a shop at home for the last thirty years. Get it!

You’re off to a good start!
Where there’s a will there is a way.
A family member of mine was born without arms or legs, didn’t seem to slow her down much! Went on to become a semi well known painter. Not as physical work as a machinist but she had a lot less technology available in 1930’s

Adavid4 said:

Thanks! Im actually really interested in cnc machines. I just want to do hands on work and not be stuck at a desk all day so any type of mahcining is ok with me! I know that the exact kind of manual machining my grandpa did is probably not as common anymore sadly

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I 100% completely understand the not wanting to be stuck at a desk, and I understand wanting to be hands on. But let me tell you something...

Being a "machinist" in the classical sense, sucks balls.

On the other hand, chained to a desk sucks even bigger hairier balls.


What is fun, or can be. Is taking something from one end to the other.
Get a print, figure it all out, fixture it(you get to design the fixture),
program it, and then depending on the qty, run it.. That can be fun.

Even more fun when its your own design. Not as fun when its somebody
else's requirement, but its more fun. If its your own design for your
own "Thing", then it can be really fun.

Putting things in and out of a machine. That just sucks, I don't think
that's what you want to do. And if it is, it won't be after you do it for
a while. Unfortunately, sometimes you have to get in on the ground floor,
depending on your education.

Keep after it. Making stuff is fun. Putting a piece of material in a machine
and pushing a button, that's not fun, especially if you haven't had your hands
in all the other parts of the process.

There's a Brazilian guy on YT who has no hands, and made his own lathe, milling machine, and all the tooling (great vid on making a 3jaw chuck); I remember a while back reading here about a blind machinist who did fine. If you want to do it you can. Can't find the Brazilian guy at the moment but really cool stuff- he doesn't make an issue of the hands, it just becomes apparent after a few vids that it's prosthetics.

Mike1974 said:

How functional is your left hand prosthetic? The reason I ask is with manual machines you usually need 2 hands to load tools and stuff. Even on some cnc's you need 2 hands to load the tools. Most of the other stuff would be fine, opening/loading a vise, etc... I say go for it, you sound determined and that will get you pretty far in today's society.

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Ditto this ^^^

@Adavid4

I've shattered my right hand wrist, then later severed a thumb tendon* and then later jacked up my left wrist / arm .

IME it's very difficult to do machining type work one handed especially for fixtures and stuff.

Back issues / injuries have set me back (no pun intended)

I don't think lack of human vs prosthetic feet would set you back too much. I assume your balance and getting about might not be too bad ?

Short fingers as long as you have some fine motor skills / touch / sensitivity shouldn't be a problem.

General "slowness" of setting stuff up - toolmaker toolmaking (kinda joking there but some set ups can take half a day or more (cough cough)).

Prototype work ?

Given you are young I would strongly advise that you get into automation / robotics for cnc + learn the snot out of those co-bots.

I suspect you will find ways to solve the problems as they arise (given time).

Also the jobs of the future that you ultimately get into may not actually exist right now, or maybe you pioneer something new that actually doesn't exist as a discipline to be studied or learnt at the moment.






@Adavid4 This ^^^ Is kinda the future - in essence 'We" have to design for the robots.




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* Thumbs are really important (at least one working thumb) had a 9" cadavered tendon put in , thumb doesn't close down full range but otherwise muddling through.

I have torn vertebral disk l5/S1 (as it turns out) so lifting anything over 30 lbs can be super challenging (pay for it later) : that is a big hinderance to conventional machining - I get it injected Tuesday (fingers crossed) other surgeon three years ago injected the wrong disk (face palm). So having to lift stuff properly is important YES there are cranes, hoists and "Other". Many more cobots are starting creep into various shop floors, and even five axis with a pallet system can greatly reduce repetitive strain injuries.

IF you have one hand only you probably want to keep it in good working order all your life and not knacker your good limb through doing "Dumb-er" work that you don't get paid very much for ? (I've gone through a totality of several years without a good functioning hand / arm - it's just not worth it to risk having zero good hands.).

A quick search turned this up
amputees running lathes

Hope it helps

Just about every Machinist over 55 that I can think of is missing some appendage. Sometimes it's their brain appendage, but usually it's fingers or partial hands.

R

litlerob1 said:

Just about every Machinist over 55 that I can think of is missing some appendage. Sometimes it's their brain appendage, but usually it's fingers or partial hands.

R

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Mine was an eye in my late teens. 1/10th of a second of rectal cranial invertitis can lead to a life altering event.

litlerob1 said:

Just about every Machinist over 55 that I can think of is missing some appendage. Sometimes it's their brain appendage, but usually it's fingers or partial hands.

R

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well not me yet but dirt bikes are pushing it :-) although i may have a couple scars

I think you are getting some good advice here.

My advice would be to go fro whatever you have in mind. A few minutes ago I got off the phone with an uncle of mine - my Mom's youngest brother, who is 90. He was born in 1929 with only 1 arm in a family of 8 kids to two immigrants - his father was a coal miner in Ohio. He put himself through Ohio State and got a degree in petroleum engineering. Took a year off in the middle, worked in two different manufacturing plants. Along the way worked as one of the earliest computer programmers but spent 30+ years in the oil patch, vast majority of it in the Middle East. Retired as a drilling superintendent for ARAMCO. He is one of the nicest guys I know and has had fantastic experiences - he should have written a book. He has always been positive and never let the one arm issue slow him down.

Can't offer any specific advice - weigh things and figure out what you want to do. And not every technical job is chained to a desk. I'm a mechanical engineer who spent time as a computer programmer but most of my career in some type of manufacturing engineering. Had a lot of fun figuring out how to actually make what was designed - sometimes that is harder than the design part.

Good luck.

Dale

In 4th year trade school , one of my classmates was missing his right hand.
He was probably one of the best in class, able to do anything anyone else did.
Attitude is everything, good for you and good luck.

My mother was missing both thumbs (genetic) and worked in an airplane repair shop during WW2. Later cooked in huge meals in a veteran's home. I suspect getting the opportunity is the problem. Attitude goes a long way though.

To get you started, sign up for Fusion 360 (so far free to hobbyist)and get an inexpensive 3d printer. It will teach you about making solid models. I have a problem with some prints that on a paper print look good. but radii don't intersect. Not so much a problem on a manual machine but it all needs to be defined on a cnc.

Good practice learning tolerances by making assemblies.

Dave

I fell and screwed up my wrist a couple weeks ago. Didn't realize how much I use my left hand until I couldn't lift anything or grip anything with it.

But there hasn't been much that I haven't been able to do, I'm just slower because I have to figure out how to do it.

Given that you've been figuring out how to do it your whole life, I doubt you'll be set back much...and you'll probably be more driven to succeed.

Your hardest obstacle is going to be finding someone to give you your first chance...and probably the best way to go about it is to get in to a trade school, where you have rights under ADA or even better, secondary level where you have rights under IDEA. Prove yourself to the instructor and they are likely to help you get your foot in the door somewhere.