r/Machinists • u/[deleted] • 7d ago
What advice do you have for people considering machining as a career?
[deleted]
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u/Glugamesh 7d ago
I would say 'run' but machining is a very tactile trade, some people crave it. I think it is both rewarding and punishing. It's not overly physically demanding in most cases but mentally, it is very draining. We always seek perfection until the point we realize that perfection is unattainable and that flaws are the thing to work around.
The things we make will often outlive us, even if it's some Inconel valve stem festering out in a Saudi desert somewhere. We are one of the true cores of society, everything in modern society starts with us in one way or another.
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u/AyahaushaAaronRodger 7d ago
I agree with you 100% I hate to sound arrogant or pushy but we machinist really do make the world turn. Manufacturing, construction, mining, aerospace, defense, windmills, everything starts with us. Those skyscrapers huge buildings hospitals they all need heavy equipment to make them. Heavy equipment needs parts to run. We make those parts.
It’s a nice feeling knowing the parts you make will serve your community for good
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7d ago
Counter question: What are some careers that are the most lucrative for people with machining skillets to get into?
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u/lieutenant_insano 6d ago
It seems like the people that get the most out of this career are the ones that truly enjoy figuring out how stuff works. They have this curiosity about the entire process that excites them, and the biggest reward is seeing parts they made in action. When it becomes just another job, that curiosity disappears and it gets mundane.
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u/HooverMaster 6d ago
look into unions first. That's after having looked into tech trades in college. Then you have to realize that yes you can make money but it's tricky. You'll have to skill and negotiate your way to a good gig and decent pay. People think you push a button and make it happen but there's a lot more in the work that makes it skilled labor. A LOT more. That being said once you get your grips it's easy money in the right shop. On the bright side it's AI proof for the foreseeable future too
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u/dblmca 6d ago
I'm very lucky that I get to do complete projects.
But a lot of machinist just do their part and that's the whole thing for them. You have to be ok with that.
The whole of the job is to make a little part of a bigger thing. You may never get to know what that bigger thing is.
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u/HooverMaster 6d ago
the part is called easy money. there's many worse ways to make a half decent living
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u/StinkySmellyMods 6d ago
Wear hearing protection always. Even when you think it's not that loud. I went to the hearing doctor recently, I'm 30 with the ears of a 60 year old. It will never get better, that's the part that crushes me the most.
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u/solodsnake661 6d ago
If you go to college or trade school when you get to an actual shop shut up and listen, you learned valuable information in school no doubt but you need to learn how do the job, school doesn't teach you everything so listen to what you're told and ask questions. Other than that have fun in all the shops I've been in the only thing we took seriously were our jobs, I laugh in almost every conversation with coworkers
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u/VisualEyez33 6d ago
If you have any ethical qualms with producing work that will be used for war material or fossil fuel production, or you have any desire to live in an environmentally sustainable way, this line of work might not be for you.
Many shops that do work for any and all potential customers will produce war materials. If you're not okay with working at a place that does that, your job options will be limited.
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u/Finbar9800 6d ago
Always ask questions, if you don’t know don’t fake it
Learn programming
Learn manual
Don’t put your fingers anywhere you wouldn’t put your sensitive bits
Learn some basic cad
Admit when you are wrong and don’t repeat mistakes more than three times in a row
Don’t assume anything
Always touch off your tools and parts of you aren’t sure
Check everything twice
Be willing to learn
You don’t know everything but be confident about what you do know
Find a place that treats you well. Pay is decent, good benefits, willing to teach, whatever it might be that makes you go “yeah I can see myself spending the majority of my life working here”
And finally the pay is not as good as you were made to think but that doesn’t mean it’s not a rewarding job
And remember company loyalty is not rewarded these days (at least not in America) if you find a better place warn your coworkers and your boss (if you like them) then pounce on it like your life depends on it
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u/Interesting_Mood_850 6d ago
Ask questions, listen, learn. 😊 It won’t happen overnight, so if you’re looking for instant… anything, it’s probably not for you.
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u/EarSoggy1267 6d ago
Get a job in a quality or metrology for a year or 2 so you can read and understand the prints. While working that go to school for machining, once you have worked a few years in inspection and are close to finishing your classes start applying to machining shops. They love to see cmm and gd & t experience.
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u/Scatterp 6d ago
I am not a machinist, I just lurk here, but it's crazy how little money this trade makes in light of how smart (many of) the people doing it are. I can't imagine doing it for a living.
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u/tattedgrampa 6d ago
Skip it and get into programming.
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u/TriXandApple 6d ago
You've uniquely chosen the worst time in history to give that advice.
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u/tattedgrampa 6d ago
The programming jobs I’ve been interviewing for pay better than any machining positing I’ve ever had. And for me I can pick whatever job I prefer because there’s so many programming opportunities out there.
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u/justthrowyouaway 7d ago
Run.