Old School Machinists Disappearing

[01yellercobra]

I've ran into the older generation that don't want to teach out of fear of losing their jobs. I never understood that. I've always been willing to pass on my knowledge. I knew I'd move on one day and didn't want to leave a hole. And if the younger people know what I know, I don't have to work nearly as hard.

 

[SVT-BansheeMan]

I'm transitioning from quality control to the wire and sink EDM's at the machine shop I work in. Pretty exciting so far learning.

 

[wizbangdoodle]

I'm transitioning from quality control to the wire and sink EDM's at the machine shop I work in. Pretty exciting so far learning.

If you learn to properly run EDM's, you'll be in demand.

 

[ur bittn]

I'm transitioning from quality control to the wire and sink EDM's at the machine shop I work in. Pretty exciting so far learning.

That’s the future my friend. RC Rock Crawler Tire

 

[supercharged91m]

I work at one of the largest paper mills in the country and 1 of the shops i send out most of the fab work too has no quoted tens of thousands in work, claiming he cant get help. I went on the job boards to look and he has an ad posted for a certified welder with machining experience only paying $15/hr. Unless they just out of prison or in the country illegally no one will work for that. You can make $20hr in costco and be in A/C all day, so no one who can run a lathe, mill, cnc, tig/mig weld and do sheet metal work is going to do so for low pay. These people dont exist, hence a "labor shortage." The whole industry out of touch!

I agree with that completely it's so out of touch it's not even funny with the pay. A couple of years ago my business agent told me you can make more money delivering food than working as a first year apprentice now

 

[HudsonFalcon]

It’s a theme across many industries. We can’t get young, hardworking people on the railroad.

The last few students I had were 50+.

I’m hearing that Gen Z might be gravitating towards more trades oriented fields but that still remains to be seen.

 

[SVT-BansheeMan]

If you learn to properly run EDM's, you'll be in demand.

That is why I accepted when offered. There's only a few wire EDM's in the state and none around us. There aren't many plunge either from what I understand in the area.

That’s the future my friend. RC Rock Crawler Tire
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That is amazing. I have a traxxas trx4m. It's a lot of fun.

How is the tool that cuts that made? I thought about trying to laser some with the fiber I run just to see if it would work.

If you could share how the tools are made etc, I'd really appreciate it. I'd you can due to proprietary company stuff, I totally understand.

Somethings we have our 5 axis mono block or mills machine our graphite etc. Other times we special order it.

As for the original topic, one of our helpers who is doing well is 19. He took a slight pay cut to come here but he makes more due to more hours and over time. It is indeed hard to find young people to teach.

During my career, I've lost count of people who went chase a dollar over the years. I think I've been in a machine shop since 2008 besides a few oil field slow down lay offs. Around here, going off shore is where the big money is but you spend a lot of days and nights away from home. The other trades here are ship yards (welding, fabrication etc).

 

[Relaxed Chaos]

I work at one of the largest paper mills in the country and 1 of the shops i send out most of the fab work too has no quoted tens of thousands in work, claiming he cant get help. I went on the job boards to look and he has an ad posted for a certified welder with machining experience only paying $15/hr. Unless they just out of prison or in the country illegally no one will work for that. You can make $20hr in costco and be in A/C all day, so no one who can run a lathe, mill, cnc, tig/mig weld and do sheet metal work is going to do so for low pay. These people dont exist, hence a "labor shortage." The whole industry out of touch!

The pay is ****ed up out there. While in highschool and college, my son was making over $20/hr at Target taking Tide out of boxes and putting it on shelves. He thought it was an insane amount of money for zero thought/skill work.

 

[SVT-BansheeMan]

If I understand it all correctly, those very high starting hourly wages is one reason why the value of the US dollar is so low.

 

[robvas]

I'm getting my kid a HF welder for his 5th birthday.

 

[ur bittn]

That is why I accepted when offered. There's only a few wire EDM's in the state and none around us. There aren't many plunge either from what I understand in the area.

That is amazing. I have a traxxas trx4m. It's a lot of fun.

How is the tool that cuts that made? I thought about trying to laser some with the fiber I run just to see if it would work.

If you could share how the tools are made etc, I'd really appreciate it. I'd you can due to proprietary company stuff, I totally understand.

Somethings we have our 5 axis mono block or mills machine our graphite etc. Other times we special order it.

As for the original topic, one of our helpers who is doing well is 19. He took a slight pay cut to come here but he makes more due to more hours and over time. It is indeed hard to find young people to teach.

During my career, I've lost count of people who went chase a dollar over the years. I think I've been in a machine shop since 2008 besides a few oil field slow down lay offs. Around here, going off shore is where the big money is but you spend a lot of days and nights away from home. The other trades here are ship yards (welding, fabrication etc).

We have 3 Hurco 5 axis mills and we use Poco 2 grade graphite, the end mills are carbide with diamond oxide coating the smallest being .015 in diameter.

I have spent the last 5 years training 3 guys to take over so I can retire but just lost one to product development.

 

[wizbangdoodle]

Then you have the new guys that think they just have to stand there and press the go button. Can't tell you how much money I've made from these retards crashing machines, and not just once!

 

[SVT-BansheeMan]

Then there's the other side of things when shops have programmers and they just want operators even though people want to learn programing etc. I was one of those guys. Some of the senior people loved to talk trash but never cared to teach others. I know every trade has those types but it sure is frustrating. That's one reason I went from cnc machining on a lathe to quality control in the first shop I was at. But it was a great career move for me.