New member intro: New to machining

Hello, my name is Gem and I am relatively new to machining. My little experience includes turning brake rotors and drums, along with a few simple cuts made on a Bridgeport.

I am starting the "manufacturing technologies" program at my local junior college tomorrow with the end goal of finding myself a job in an automotive machine shop... I want to build engines, not just high performance stuff, grocery getters need engines too.

I figured this forum could be a good resource for me for school and for my projects.
I have a pretty cool project in the works at the moment, building a turbocharged EFI 300 Ford straight six. It will require quite a bit of machine work and it would be really cool if I could perform even one of the processes myself, perhaps at school... but that is a ways off.

Anyhow I thought an introduction would be a good way to start things off, I apologize in advance if I have posted this in the wrong part of the forum.
I hope to learn and be continually active in this forum to the point where I have more to contribute than take away.

Thanks,
Gem

Welcome. Don’t mind the grumpy old men, they have nothing better to do.


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Glad to have you with us, Gem. There is a huge store of knowledge and experience here. Like endgrainandiron suggests, some here can be more than a little difficult. One thing you can do to get off to a good start with this group is your homework! By that, I mean for any given problem hit the books, do some research, try to figure it out and then ask for help. If you tell us what you've done to help yourself you'll get much kinder, more helpful responses. Other than that, just expect to have some less than civil feedback. Ignore those and pick out the good stuff and you'll be set.

Welcome, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but automotive machining is becoming a dying trade. This is because most engines these days are kamikaze engines...meaning they run until they die, then put in a replacement.

By all means follow your dreams, just don't end up in a nightmare.

plastikdreams said:

Welcome, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but automotive machining is becoming a dying trade. This is because most engines these days are kamikaze engines...meaning they run until they die, then put in a replacement.
By all means follow your dreams, just don't end up in a nightmare.

Click to expand...

So true! But I don't think the problem is with the engines, the ones I've been into have been marvels of design and workmanship. The problem is that skilled labor and specialized equipment for overhaul and mods is so expensive that people will opt for 'all new' for just a few more dollars than the cost of rebuilding.

I have a dear friend and mentor who for decades has built race engines. In that arena and also in other specialty applications there is still no substitute for the right guy and the right shop. My friend also occasionally takes on 'grocery getters', I think.

Welcome , do you have any brother or friends willing to learn with your willingness? Lol just a hope for the industry. But on a little more serious note, dont forget the medium diesel work, lots of work between city trucks to tractors, farm power and gen sets in the right area. Through some truck/tractor pulling in for the performance end and dive in. Watch the local race circuits, good way to run out of money everybody wants the world on a worn out shoestring budget. And like was said before research your questions and be humble


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Agree in general with the previous.

I worked in an automotive machine shop- Lots of repairing remans out of the big rebuild houses, then SBC heads. But the shop and all others like it in the area are closed now.

Engines and oils have become so good that it's not at all unusual to see hundreds of thousands of miles on an engine, and it still be good (The slushbox will likely kill the vehicle) that there just isn't call for repair.
Men have also become effeminate, many have no idea how many cylinders their car has. They have zero interest in modding.
Last, there's a trend, like it or not, to other forms of propulsion.

But hey, there's still people who make/repair wagon wheels, so if you think you're going to be that one guy ...

In short, great hobby- Like fishing, chasing girls, or hunting, but don't be the guy that opens a livery in 1911

plastikdreams said:

Welcome, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but automotive machining is becoming a dying trade. This is because most engines these days are kamikaze engines...meaning they run until they die, then put in a replacement.

By all means follow your dreams, just don't end up in a nightmare.

Click to expand...

Gordon Heaton said:

So true! But I don't think the problem is with the engines, the ones I've been into have been marvels of design and workmanship. The problem is that skilled labor and specialized equipment for overhaul and mods is so expensive that people will opt for 'all new' for just a few more dollars than the cost of rebuilding.

I have a dear friend and mentor who for decades has built race engines. In that arena and also in other specialty applications there is still no substitute for the right guy and the right shop. My friend also occasionally takes on 'grocery getters', I think.

Click to expand...

Gordon Heaton said:

Glad to have you with us, Gem. There is a huge store of knowledge and experience here. Like endgrainandiron suggests, some here can be more than a little difficult. One thing you can do to get off to a good start with this group is your homework! By that, I mean for any given problem hit the books, do some research, try to figure it out and then ask for help. If you tell us what you've done to help yourself you'll get much kinder, more helpful responses. Other than that, just expect to have some less than civil feedback. Ignore those and pick out the good stuff and you'll be set.

Click to expand...

Thanks, this I am familiar with, I belong to another forum that is the same way
(ford six.com)... I like to compare these forums to university where facebook groups are like grammar school. I am also familiar with grumpy old men, and the wealth of knowledge they posses.
Thanks for the welcome and the advice, I look forward to future exchanges!
Gem

Thanks for the advice. I know how hard it is to find a good machine shop these days, so I have figured what y'all have said about it being a dying industry to be true. I do not expect it to be the easiest field to break into, but it is what I have decided I want to do for a living. I am sure with strong will and perseverance I will find the spot in the industry where I fit in... I am confident of that.
Thanks again,
Gem

Good luck on your first day!

GemK said:

Hello, my name is Gem and I am relatively new to machining. My little experience includes turning brake rotors and drums, along with a few simple cuts made on a Bridgeport.

I am starting the "manufacturing technologies" program at my local junior college tomorrow with the end goal of finding myself a job in an automotive machine shop... I want to build engines, not just high performance stuff, grocery getters need engines too.

I figured this forum could be a good resource for me for school and for my projects.
I have a pretty cool project in the works at the moment, building a turbocharged EFI 300 Ford straight six. It will require quite a bit of machine work and it would be really cool if I could perform even one of the processes myself, perhaps at school... but that is a ways off.

Anyhow I thought an introduction would be a good way to start things off, I apologize in advance if I have posted this in the wrong part of the forum.
I hope to learn and be continually active in this forum to the point where I have more to contribute than take away.

Thanks,
Gem

Click to expand...

I can't give technical machining advice, per se. These forums are chock-full of people with that knowledge, across a multitude of disciplines.

Having said that, in general what I'd offer in advice:

Keep organized notes, and don't discount that glaringly obvious statement as obvious.. Keep organized notes using Excel or Word or something, and start building your own, personal, knowledge base. Bit by bit. Why? It counters "Tribal Knowledge" that many of us, this industry or any other, operate from. It's in our heads, we pass it on verbally, but because of that it's often hidden.

As you learn Methods, Techniques, Procedures, and what conditions or variables affect those (e.g. machining differences between materials, what materials are resistant to wear or shock, etc.), diligently record and organize those.

I often like to use Excel for this, because I can setup open Comment cells for miscellaneous information I glean from Person K that I didn't hear from Persons A, B, or C.

Being a Machinist, IMO, is what I would call a "High Art". Or maybe "High Craft". It's amazing really, to see what we can make nowadays, with the technology and tools at our disposal.

Not the least of which is, in the end, what comes out of the heads of engineers and machinists who have been doing it for some time growing a pool of experience. That's an ocean of information distributed across a bunch of "bubbles": Formal schooling, on the job training, individuals at work giving advice and training, professional forums like this one, etc.

Sounds like you have a Vision and a Goal for yourself. Best I have is keep your head up, your ears open, be willing to test/experiment/validate advice, grow your own, and one of the core tools that, in the long run will turn into a major resource for you are organized and "living" notes.

Good luck to you, and you'll find this forum a wealth of help and experience.