--- In DSN_klr650@y..., "davidlwilhite" wrote:
> I have noticed that the technical trades in general have very
little
> respect. At least within production or manufacturing types of
> facilities. Many people still think that it is a dirty nasty job,
> but I don't suppose they've seen the shops with all the CNC and
EDM
> type of equipment.
I worked as a CNC machinist in a job shop/prototype/production
facility. It was dirty, though not nasty, because we didn't have the
time to clean things and make them purdy. We were too busy making
parts to worry about the niceities. Big corporations will hire
machine janitors - I've seen it - that's their job and that's all
they do. As for us, we had to repair, maintain, program,
alterprogram, load, and time keep the machines. Then keep track of
inventory, time when and what needed to be run with the pattern
torch operators. We had to be able to repair our own, because of the
nearest dealer being in Denver (250 miles away) and having to set an
appointment for them to fix it.
> Even Jay Leno authored an article in Popular Science (I think) a
few
> years ago talking about the importance of the machinist trade and
how
> there are not enough people in it. He gave an example of how hard
it
> was to find a machinist that could make some new gears for one of
his
> antique cars. He ended up finding some guy in Mexico or South
> America. It was something that could not be made on a CNC machine
> and had to be done on a regular mill.
I find it VERY hard to believe that he couldn't find anyone here
that COULD make it, much less on CNC. Chances are they either
wouldn't make it or he was unwilling to pay what they wanted to
prototype and make just the one piece. Another thing, I ran a
machine that was used primarily used as a lathe that had milling
capabilities. It was still limited as to what it could do, but you
could transfer to another machine and do the finish up work.
> There will always be a need for machinists. No matter how
> sophisticated we get with computers and such, there still has to
be
> someone to study a design, read the blueprints and fabricate
> components for any new piece of machinery. Someone still has to
be
> able to make the CNC or the EDM machine to begin with.
I totally agree.
> Sorry it's so long, and I could go on and on, but if I had been
aware
> of the machinist trade, I would have gone into some form of the
trade
> instead of getting an Engineering degree. There is just something
> about designing a part on CAD, getting a chunk of material,
setting
> it up on a mill (or lathe, or surface grinder, etc.) and creating
a
> nifty little doo-dad out of it.
You don't even need to CAD it, I've made lots of parts on CNC and
manual machines from chicken scratch on scrap paper or napkins. It's
all in how the designer relates to the creator. Made all kinds of
doo-dads and did a lot of "government work", because the shop was
small enough that I could do my own work when the shift was over.
> It seems that Engineers are a dime a dozen and a true good
machinist
> is hard to find.
I can agree with that too. The sad thing is, a handfull of engineers
working for a company we supplied for, had a tendency to change
prints for their parts because "so and so" designed it, so they just
HAD to change it. Made for a lot of grief on our part. We even
produced our own products for sale, not an engineer one in the
place, and it was a mighty fine product, if I do say so myself.
Needless to say, it was partly the engineers, partly the management
that made me decide to leave that work.
Swede