Machinist work? Good for future?

[TacomaJD]

I'm at the point to where I'm about to start back to college after a couple year break for good reasoning, and am curious about Machinists. I have a good job now and not looking to leave it anytime soon (hopefully) until I finish my education. I want to complete a Business Management and Supervision degree, as I think that, along with my current experience, will help me with future jobs of my interest, moving up within my company, or even accepting a better job elsewhere if the opportunity is given. But that's not what this thread is about.

As long as I attend college for something work related (Engineering, Business, Accounting, Machinist, etc), I get full reimbursement for tuition and books upon submitting a grade report with satisfactory grades. We have several machinists that work here. They only make a few more dollars an hour than I do, but if it came down to a layoff, I believe they would be a more valuable asset and might get to stick around longer than some. I know there are several machinists on this forum and seem to make good money. I am curious about what certifications, education, etc that you have as a machinist. My idea is, it's always good to have a backup plan. If something ever happened to whatever my current job at the time is, it would be great to have something to fall back on, having a machinist education. Being that I could get machinist education paid for, in the back of my mind I think, why would I not do that. What do you think? I may not even ever mess with being a machinist, but before I discard or pursue that idea, I wanted to hear other machinists feedback and what their background is.

 

[pushrod-racing]

Ive been a programmer/machinist around 4 years now. I actually went to trade school for industrial maint. I scored my current job from an interview to be a welder. I had some but not much button pushing/parts swapping experience prior but not a lot. We run our own programs at my work which I love( if machine crashes or parts scrap you know here to point the finger). Honestly job security in this trade is really good right now due to people just aren't going to school for it anymore. But with that being said most shops start out a machinist 10-14.00 range and I can understand why people don't want to get into it. If you buy new, which most don't, your tools alone can range $2200-7000.00 just for the basics. I got tired of working places with great pay for 5-8 months then being laid off or work going south. So I finally made the decision with my wife as long as the bills get paid and we can store away some extra cash I am staying where I am. It def a plus to have some machinist training theres always jobs available.

 

[TacomaJD]

Hmm, didn't know some machinist jobs paid that low. I know there are tons that pay really good, but I imagine they are not as readily available as the $10-14 an hour ones. I don't plan to pursue a machinist career, just assessing whether or not it would be worth having the education to do it, in case of an emergency.

 

[B.DRAKE]

Unless you wanna be broke and poor like me don't be a Machinist! :****:

 

[bluetoy]

JD, say you go to school for machining, would you be able to move into the machine shop at your current job ?

Anytime you can learn something new is a good thing. However, if you had to get a job somewhere else as a machinist with just what you will learn in school, you will probably be taking a pay cut for a while. Starting pay is not great at all. It takes on the job experience to make any money as a machinist. If they will let you transfer into the shop and get some on the job training I say go for it.

One thing I will say though. If you want to become a machinist, be a machinist, not a machine operator. The market is flooded with people who can run a machine once it is programmed and setup, but there's a huge shortage of people who can take a print and build good parts with no help. Nearly every shop I know of in this area is looking for top level guys. They are hard to find, and most places will pay good for a good machinist.

I've been working as a machinist since I was a senior in high school. You won't get rich by any means, but it's a good trade. Every job I've had, someone called me. I've never looked for a job, and if I lost mine tomorrow, I'm confident I could make a few calls and have another job lined up the next day. There's a lot to be said for that.

I've had some good jobs in bigger companies, but I took a job managing a smaller shop a few years ago. The next step for me is owning my own shop. This is where the real money is in the trade.

 

[pushrod-racing]

That's what non cnc positions start out at in this area. This is start out with no experience numbers not a guy with plenty of experience.

 

[TacomaJD]

That's the stuff I was looking for, so experience is more valuable, so that tells me the worth of learning it isn't as much as I figured it to be. Like I said, I'm only inquiring about this as an option for if something happened to my current job, whatever it may be, in the future...I would have an emergency plan. Always good to have options.

I could get a machinist certificate or whatever it is they require here, but I would just have to bid on the next job that came open and it's a seniority thing, although to do hire some outside machinists during special times. But there's very little turn around for machinists here. They all make mid $20's and have gravy ass jobs and we have great benefits, so they usually don't leave or go anywhere else. If I go anywhere within this place, I want a management or front office type job.

I applied for a Production Planner job in the front office recently, but was eliminated earlier than some after my interview, due to lack of education.....even though I had sufficient experience at my current job, that would carry over to that job. Would have been an easy $20k a year pay increase too, had my fingers crossed on that one.....all the more reason to finish college degree though. Saw firsthand what possessing a degree can get you.

 

[TBItoy]

Re:

The industry you are in will play a huge role in machinist/tool maker pay.

Around here there are a lot of machine builder/automation companies, and most pay in the low 20s/hr +OT for an experienced machinist that has their own setup and measuring tools.

It's never a bad idea to have some education or experience in your back pocket.

I have a bachelors in mechanical engineering, worked for TRW and Cummins on internships/co-op, took a sales rep job with an industrial lubricant company (JAX INC) out of college and spent 4 years running around 4 states peddling oil/grease and automated lube systems to food processing plants.... Now I work at a local family owned custom machine builder 5 miles from home as a fabricator/builder/machinist and I just started getting to do some design work and dip my toe in Solidworks.


There is better money in sales, but running all over the damn country can get old.

 

[B.DRAKE]

All joking aside, being a Machinist has been very good to me. I have been working as one for about 10 years and 8 of those years being in the Aerospace field. I had to dance around from job to job for several years til I got the job I have now about 3 1/2 years ago and I hope I can retire there. Like Nick said the OJT experience is the name of the game, the degree doesn't really matter as much as experience and what all you have done or can do on a machine but that is my $ .02!

 

[TacomaJD]

Re:

The industry you are in will play a huge role in machinist/tool maker pay.

Around here there are a lot of machine builder/automation companies, and most pay in the low 20s/hr +OT for an experienced machinist that has their own setup and measuring tools.

It's never a bad idea to have some education or experience in your back pocket.

I have a bachelors in mechanical engineering, worked for TRW and Cummins on internships/co-op, took a sales rep job with an industrial lubricant company (JAX INC) out of college and spent 4 years running around 4 states peddling oil/grease and automated lube systems to food processing plants.... Now I work at a local family owned custom machine builder 5 miles from home as a fabricator/builder/machinist and I just started getting to do some design work and dip my toe in Solidworks.


There is better money in sales, but running all over the damn country can get old.

I thought I was gonna be in sales with the prosthetics company. Sounded like a solid deal at first and I don't know what has happened to that now. I'm tired of pestering them about it to be given no answers, so I'm ready to pave my own road. If I thought I could stick with Engineering classes all the way through obtaining a bachelor's degree, that's what I'd do. Being that I already work in the energy field, it would be easy to grab an engineering job at a power plant or within Siemens (where I work now). I have a good friend that has a BS in Electrical Engineering and makes bank at Sequoyah Nuclear Plant in TN. He drives a lot to and from work, but makes money. I could deal with a drive to make some major cash. Plus I just really like the energy field, it will always be around too. Nuclear energy is interesting to me, but that **** is way over my head.

 

[TacomaJD]

the degree doesn't really matter as much as experience and what all you have done or can do on a machine but that is my $ .02!

That's the kind of info I was looking for! Thanks! Mr. Space machiner man....

 

[Sseal]

What does Siemens do?

 

[TacomaJD]

What does Siemens do?

We make Siemen, everyday!!!


They dabble in all sorts of junk. I work in the Energy Sector. They are also into healthcare technology and electronics. The plant I work in builds rotors and stators for power plant generators, we make what makes yer lights come on. We also make gaskets and insulation components in house, for said power plants. We send over half of our stuff to our big brother plant in Charlotte, NC and the rest of our stuff goes straight to the field - either new sites or when revamping/fixing current running power plants during outages.

 

[TacomaJD]

Re:

The industry you are in will play a huge role in machinist/tool maker pay.

Around here there are a lot of machine builder/automation companies, and most pay in the low 20s/hr +OT for an experienced machinist that has their own setup and measuring tools.

It's never a bad idea to have some education or experience in your back pocket.

I have a bachelors in mechanical engineering, worked for TRW and Cummins on internships/co-op, took a sales rep job with an industrial lubricant company (JAX INC) out of college and spent 4 years running around 4 states peddling oil/grease and automated lube systems to food processing plants.... Now I work at a local family owned custom machine builder 5 miles from home as a fabricator/builder/machinist and I just started getting to do some design work and dip my toe in Solidworks.


There is better money in sales, but running all over the damn country can get old.

What do you have to say about your experience over the years it took you to earn your BS in ME?

 

[ROKTOY829]

What about having your own shop outside of the start up price of buying equipment. Being in the mechanic field seems the machine shops are falling by the waste side. Drake you at ULA?

 

[TBItoy]

Re:

What do you have to say about your experience over the years it took you to earn your BS in ME?

It's a **** ton of theory and projects and takes up an extraordinary amount of time to do well (at least at TTU which from what I understand is a particularly rigorous undergrad program compared to a lot of other schools)

basically a BSME teaches you a little about a LOT of subjects. My concentration was in mechanism design/motion.

Other concentrations include anything from microstructure analysis, HVAC design, fluid dynamics, heat transfer, etc

ME is an extremely broad field, and the coursework you pursue steers you toward a concentration.

The upper division courses I took were mostly project classes in which we formed groups or teams and went through the entire design process from initial problem to delivered product.

3 projects I can remember right off hand were:

Design/build a tractor frontend loader with self leveling, stabilization, and digital weight readout and warnings (we built a fully functional 1/3 scale)

Designed/built/delivered a lightweight collapsible chair/safety restraint for a handicapped child so his mother could safely carry him in a regular shopping cart and still have room for groceries (she had been having to keep him in a special stroller and push the grocery cart separate)

Redesigned and rebuilt several pieces of the the basketball teams mechanized training equipment to make it throw balls more realistic and capable of multiple types of throws.

 

[hold my beer watch this]

I'm at the point to where I'm about to start back to college after a couple year break for good reasoning, and am curious about Machinists. I have a good job now and not looking to leave it anytime soon (hopefully) until I finish my education. I want to complete a Business Management and Supervision degree, as I think that, along with my current experience, will help me with future jobs of my interest, moving up within my company, or even accepting a better job elsewhere if the opportunity is given. But that's not what this thread is about.

As long as I attend college for something work related (Engineering, Business, Accounting, Machinist, etc), I get full reimbursement for tuition and books upon submitting a grade report with satisfactory grades. We have several machinists that work here. They only make a few more dollars an hour than I do, but if it came down to a layoff, I believe they would be a more valuable asset and might get to stick around longer than some. I know there are several machinists on this forum and seem to make good money. I am curious about what certifications, education, etc that you have as a machinist. My idea is, it's always good to have a backup plan. If something ever happened to whatever my current job at the time is, it would be great to have something to fall back on, having a machinist education. Being that I could get machinist education paid for, in the back of my mind I think, why would I not do that. What do you think? I may not even ever mess with being a machinist, but before I discard or pursue that idea, I wanted to hear other machinists feedback and what their background is.

Glad you brought this up im in the same boat,I work for Eaton corp and they offer free tuition so I was looking in to machinist or engineering,but after seeing starting pay for machinist can't take that kind of a pay cut,so might go for engineering degree and try and land a internal job were im at.I saw you said you work for siemens we build some saftey switches for yall didn't know if we ever sent stuff your way?

 

[TBItoy]

While I was in school I had intentions of getting in the medical field of ME (prosthetics and medical equipment) but jobs like that tend to go to people who are either more experienced in machinery and design, or also have a medical background/education.

I may start looking that way after I get a more years of design work in.

 

[Shortbus]

I like machinist work and did that while going to school for my BSME. If you have experience you can get a good paying job. But you've gotta start somewhere and jump on every opportunity that comes up to further your skills. Robotics is a good field to get into. A lot of the programming carries over to many other fields.

TBItoy you're lucky to get to use solidworks. That's what I used in school. We didn't have the full version but used patran / nastran to run simulations. At work I have auto CAD and inventor.

Like said above you learn a little about a lot until you branch off into your concentration.

 

[ldwoodruff]

i went to a trade school here in knoxville for machinist, fell in love with it right off the bat. it was a 2 year program basicily went in not knowing much at all came out knowing the basics on manual and cnc, that was 7 years ago, got a job with a local aerospace company workin with very tight tolerences, my favorite part of the field is that you can learn something new every single day. i just got a second job workin for a shop programming and setting up cnc machines its some long days with both jobs, money is decent not going to get rich by no means but i feel its a very good trade to know, but i like the challenge of it all. technology in the field is changing daily, if your work is willing to pay for it i think you would be crazy not to jump on it