D Murphy wrote in news:Xns97FB7CFF1DC81BW12BU20MU38SY@130.133.1.4:
That's exactly why I am still at my work. That, and the fact that my company deems it extremely important to stay on the cutting edge of technology and they put the money out there to do it with and I get to help determine where that edge is.
"BottleBob" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@earthlink.net...
Well Bob, I'm going to drag down the experience average. I'll be 53 tomorrow.
Dad bought an Atlas lathe for the shop in our garage when I was 10 and a Swiss guy from the plant where he worked fitted a chuck on it and showed me how to use it. I made axles and steering shafts for minibikes on it. I worked in the family electrical business until I was 30, we owned a lathe and mill that I used to make parts for our trucks, cranes, trenchers and such. I then started my own business to build a robot watering machine that I patented. For the next 8 years I made quite a few parts on the lathe and mill. It was all simple stuff though.
I always found CNC interesting though, and a boss and I took a college engineering course on PLCs, CNCs, robots, and vision systems. Then I bought a couple of CNC mills at an auction, just because I was interested. I sold off one and recouped my entire investment plus $4000. So I played with them for a few months and got a design job in a machine shop. A week later they fired the guy running a Fadal 4020 and asked me if I thought I could run it. I took the manual home that night and told them the next morning I thought I could handle it. We were doing mostly one off casting work and all the programming was done manually. I quickly learned to do all the programming parametrically using the macro language. Three months later they hired a real CNC machinist to replace the guy they fired, and kept me doing programming for 3 machines. My moment of glory came when the new machinist asked how long I had been doing CNC programming. I said 3 months. He said "Yeah, I know you've only been here three months, but how many years have you been programming? You really do some trick stuff with that macro programming!" I've been programming for three months, it's just a big printer hooked to a PC, and all my mistakes have been written in metal. After that we became good friends and he taught me a lot about machining. At my next job, a startup with a friend I brought in the CNC knee mill I had bought and we used it to make parts for the next 4 years.
Now I design and install waste water treatment systems, glorified plumber. So I'm just a wannabe machinist hanging out with big boys trying to learn more, just because. Shot the experience average all to hell!
Gary H. Lucas
BottleBob wrote:
This should be fun......
My last paying job before being a machinist was running the service department for a Rainbow vacuum cleaner distributor. That began when I left the Air Force to take a job with the Navy in Washington, but somewhere in between the time I interviewed and the time I showed up for work the DoD instituted a hiring freeze program I was eligible to participate in. The classifieds revealed a job opportunity I was qualified for at the time, and soon I was trying to lie to myself about enjoying be a vacuum cleaner salesman. That lasted longer than it should have, but I lasted until there were enough people asking for service that I opened up the service department. At the same time I got a job working at Target stocking shelves. After a while I demonstrated a consistent ability to speak clearly, shower and show up for work, so I was promoted to Electronics lead. That was where I met a guy wearing grubbies asking about graphing calculaotrs. When I asked him what he did with something like that, he told me about being a machinist at Boeing. I asked how he got enough experience to get a job like that, and he told me about Renton Technical College. So I quit the job I hated most (Target), and soon after school started the job I kept went bankrupt. No, I don't pick stocks. Before Target and Rainbow, I pumped gas into airplanes and other things for the Air Force. That was seven years of a truly mixed bag of experiences. Before the Air Force I worked at Marmon Motors in Texas, building the finest trucks on the road. If they were the best built trucks, I would be scared to ride in anything else. ;-) Before Marmon I worked for a welder who owned a portable service, but he wasn't as smart as he thought he was. Those are the jobs I got the most out of. There were the usual McD's and grocery store jobs, and what 20th century childhood would be complete without a paper route? That's about it.
Later,
Charlie
Charlie:
Thanks for sharing that. That would be one well rounded resume.
I always like personal interest stories that let me see more of what makes up the regulars in here.
Well lets get that average down a bit :)
3212, All in the same place.
Cobra
I'll drag down the average plenty.
My interest is hobby, and someday building a cnc router for my model building. It's kind of the opposite of KISS. I can make it as needlessly complex and interesting as my pocketbook allows. At work (R&D)I've invented and designed stuff that I had machine shops build. That always made me envious, watching them make stuff, so I finally got my own lathe, shaper, etc. once I moved to Michigan. Love it, can't wait to retire and piddle full time.
Pete Keillor
John
Time to look for a new job. Unless you've switched jobs a few times you'll never believe just how much you haven't learned! It can be a real eye opener.
Gary H. Lucas
Age 56 next month 57
Started 1968 drill press operator in Mi. now Sr. Mfg. Engineer.
Been lurking here off and on since early 90's when, believe it or not, 5 posts a week was something, keep returning to peek instead of active participation because too many flame throwers.
Absolutely love manufacturing and have a passion for it.
I have to apologize, after reading my post it sounded like I flamed the group, wasn't my intension.
Chuck: You (and all the other lurkers this survey may have brought out), should consider posting more. I'm sure that a greater variety/experience of posters would be a positive influence and welcome addition to the group as a whole. *I'd* certainly welcome it. IMO, this group is stagnating with the same 10 posters making most of the posts. Please don't let a few trolls dictate how you choose to respond.
Chuck:
I don't see where an apology is necessary, or warranted. Your comments seemed like an honest and accurate evaluation of the situation here. There ARE a number of kooks/trolls/stalkers in here that may make posting for many an unpleasant experience.
aw come on some are real fun
49 30 voc school radial drill vert mill horz mill lathe vert and horz edm ram/ wire surface grinder currently shop manager usally 2 yr stint longest 8 yr shortest 8 hr
Terry:
Yeah, it can be fun, for the first 300 times. After that it gets tiresome.
Sounds like an interesting story in there.
no tooling, fat finger programming 5 axis machines and a heavy german brogue demanding vy dis is nut dun
StaticsJason
Age: 27 Years of Trade experience: 11. Started working as a volunteer trades assistant after school and on weekends on an old steam tug in Melbourne Australia. I've had limited CNC experience since then, the highlight being machining a triple start leadscrew nut for a bed type mill on a Mazak CNC lathe. Used an over sized insert ground on a tool and cutter grinder as a form tool. Used Aluminium Bronze for the material. This was five years ago, and the mill still runs like a dream now.
50
27 in machine tool and precision motion system design, add another dozen playing in my grandfathers machine shop making toy cannons and such.
They make those things about a 1/2 mile from where I work.
Wes S
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