Br0WN&$h4RP3
Plastic
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2018
Need Some Life Advice On finding a New Machining Job
Hello,
18-25 years of age. Have basic machining/welding course I took for one year in
High School.
Currently working in a small machine shop (under 10 employees) for the past 20 months
(close to 2 years). Started out at around $13/hour wages doing production work,
basic shop chores, cutting stock in saw, deburring parts, quality control, sweeping the floor, easy mig welding jobs, and very occasionally making parts on manual machines by myself.
By the end of my first year I had my own tools, and was moved up to making parts off
prints on conversational cnc/manual machines. Production work is still occasional,
however I'm primarily doing "brain work" at this point. I am definitely far from a
machinist, however I can figure out with little help how to make even some technical parts to machine which makes the boss very happy.
SKILLS:
At this point I'm doing more assemblies of parts which can be quite mentally frustrating
and requires mechanical abilities. Can confidently work down to .0005" though we're not
a climately controlled shop. Proficient in CAD programs as most of us must draw our own
prints since the shop does significant one-off work. Proficient in sheetmetal fabrication, mig welding hardwire
and fluxcore. Confident in miking shafts, press/slipfits to .0005". Have a general
understanding of calculating my own speeds and feeds, proper tooling, machine maintenance,
shop maintenance, working with ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
WEAKNESESS:
G-code, nothing, no experience. The only thing I can do on our G-code mills/lathes is
confidently change tool offsets, hit go button, stop machine if tool breaks, reset fixtures, manually jog axis.
Experience in general of making parts. Here I am going on 2 years and every part/assembly/drawing produced makes me learn from more mistakes/improvements in machine setup time.
I'm not real great at the complex machining like manual threading, any 3-axis milling,
turning tapers manually within minutes and seconds of a degree, etc.
THE POINT/QUESTION:
At this point I know this is my passion, the question is should I stick around for lower wages and learn or is it the smart time to jump into a larger machine shop? The management at this shop never mentioned anything to me about wages (although many times they would compliment me for improving my skills) until I asked them what they thought about me after 1 1/2 year. They keep promising a raise and putting it off till later. This company does not offer benefits much other than paid holidays. That being said I feel that I learn more skills here than any other shop because being a small shop each employee must take the role of welder, customer service, machinist, sheetmetal fabricator, mechanic, draftsman, programmer, jack of all trades.
Some opinions suggest to use the "run" technique. By finding a big company with big benefits, throwing in a two week notice and that's it. Others recomend to start looking for another job. However my greatest fear of going to a big shop is due to my weakness in G-code I'll become a brainless operator and never make parts on my own again unless I go back to tradeschool. The 2 machine shops I've went to looking for work said they need someone who can program g-code so right there my manual/conversational experience makes me just as dumb as a highschool dropout.
I feel that I need to sit down and have a talk with management, and if they can't take care of me will really start looking for another job (already looking). The bottom line is I'm not a journeyman yet (maybe in 3 or four years) but I'm MAKING, not just setting up, but MAKING parts. Why should I go through all this thinking to turn tight tolerance shafts for press fits and make a little more than $13/hour when I can go press "GO" in a big shop for $15 or more? Let alone a forklift operator which some positions in the big warehouses are paying $18/hour? Is asking management for a $15.50/hour compensation sound greedy and too much for a small machine shop? College dropouts are making more money than me for doing brainless work at the amazon warehouse, or a friend who makes about $14/hour making shovels and hoes at the local wheelbarrow plant.
Sorry to be so longwinded but I'm young, an idiot and feel between a rock and a hard place, don't know what to do. Then again feel like the smart thing may be to stick it out get my 5 years experience in, get my journeyman papers and leave if they can't take care of me. Some days making certain parts I feel like I'm being used and underpaid.
Went from nothing to building two big complicated assemblies (yes, made all the parts and everything all welding and machining); one with eccentrics, the other with fully functional brake pistons. Working on a third one now, if I keep working at this place I'll end up primarily doing assembly work and custom one-off machine work.
Hello,
18-25 years of age. Have basic machining/welding course I took for one year in
High School.
Currently working in a small machine shop (under 10 employees) for the past 20 months
(close to 2 years). Started out at around $13/hour wages doing production work,
basic shop chores, cutting stock in saw, deburring parts, quality control, sweeping the floor, easy mig welding jobs, and very occasionally making parts on manual machines by myself.
By the end of my first year I had my own tools, and was moved up to making parts off
prints on conversational cnc/manual machines. Production work is still occasional,
however I'm primarily doing "brain work" at this point. I am definitely far from a
machinist, however I can figure out with little help how to make even some technical parts to machine which makes the boss very happy.
SKILLS:
At this point I'm doing more assemblies of parts which can be quite mentally frustrating
and requires mechanical abilities. Can confidently work down to .0005" though we're not
a climately controlled shop. Proficient in CAD programs as most of us must draw our own
prints since the shop does significant one-off work. Proficient in sheetmetal fabrication, mig welding hardwire
and fluxcore. Confident in miking shafts, press/slipfits to .0005". Have a general
understanding of calculating my own speeds and feeds, proper tooling, machine maintenance,
shop maintenance, working with ferrous and non-ferrous metals.
WEAKNESESS:
G-code, nothing, no experience. The only thing I can do on our G-code mills/lathes is
confidently change tool offsets, hit go button, stop machine if tool breaks, reset fixtures, manually jog axis.
Experience in general of making parts. Here I am going on 2 years and every part/assembly/drawing produced makes me learn from more mistakes/improvements in machine setup time.
I'm not real great at the complex machining like manual threading, any 3-axis milling,
turning tapers manually within minutes and seconds of a degree, etc.
THE POINT/QUESTION:
At this point I know this is my passion, the question is should I stick around for lower wages and learn or is it the smart time to jump into a larger machine shop? The management at this shop never mentioned anything to me about wages (although many times they would compliment me for improving my skills) until I asked them what they thought about me after 1 1/2 year. They keep promising a raise and putting it off till later. This company does not offer benefits much other than paid holidays. That being said I feel that I learn more skills here than any other shop because being a small shop each employee must take the role of welder, customer service, machinist, sheetmetal fabricator, mechanic, draftsman, programmer, jack of all trades.
Some opinions suggest to use the "run" technique. By finding a big company with big benefits, throwing in a two week notice and that's it. Others recomend to start looking for another job. However my greatest fear of going to a big shop is due to my weakness in G-code I'll become a brainless operator and never make parts on my own again unless I go back to tradeschool. The 2 machine shops I've went to looking for work said they need someone who can program g-code so right there my manual/conversational experience makes me just as dumb as a highschool dropout.
I feel that I need to sit down and have a talk with management, and if they can't take care of me will really start looking for another job (already looking). The bottom line is I'm not a journeyman yet (maybe in 3 or four years) but I'm MAKING, not just setting up, but MAKING parts. Why should I go through all this thinking to turn tight tolerance shafts for press fits and make a little more than $13/hour when I can go press "GO" in a big shop for $15 or more? Let alone a forklift operator which some positions in the big warehouses are paying $18/hour? Is asking management for a $15.50/hour compensation sound greedy and too much for a small machine shop? College dropouts are making more money than me for doing brainless work at the amazon warehouse, or a friend who makes about $14/hour making shovels and hoes at the local wheelbarrow plant.
Sorry to be so longwinded but I'm young, an idiot and feel between a rock and a hard place, don't know what to do. Then again feel like the smart thing may be to stick it out get my 5 years experience in, get my journeyman papers and leave if they can't take care of me. Some days making certain parts I feel like I'm being used and underpaid.
Went from nothing to building two big complicated assemblies (yes, made all the parts and everything all welding and machining); one with eccentrics, the other with fully functional brake pistons. Working on a third one now, if I keep working at this place I'll end up primarily doing assembly work and custom one-off machine work.
Last edited: