The Role of a Machinist...

It is tough in the manufacturing sector right now. I suggest if you can to continue your education. And ask yourself what you want, so your education yo can is what your want. If it goes into manufacturing, then as a manufacturing engineer.

i.e. do not get an education for the sake of an education, the market is flooding with these lackluster, unmotivated degreed morons. Get an education you are interested and have a passion in.

p911

Due to the economic environment most manufacturers production is slow. Those hiring will be hiring if at all production personnel. Support personnel are on the back burner. So I don't thick its the best time to be rash and give up your plans for your education. I understand the needs of your family come first. Look at an employer that offers educational assistance that maybe able to use your skills when you finish your education. In some areas that operator job may look good.

I work for a machine shop as CNC programmer in Phoenix, AZ we are looking to open a 2nd shift and we need Machinist, to me looks like the manufacturing industry is picking up

I think you should pursue your education.Im also a machinist.i graduated from Don Bosco technical Institute major in mechanical technology and now im working in a die and mold company.being a machinist is tough good but here in the philippines, it takes alot og guts to be a highly paid machinist but in other country like canada its pretty good with high salary.

Good reply.

Actually if you look into developement in Science & Technology it had been the way of creation of new jobs / Equpment fading out the old ones'.

The fastest grow of Electronic Technology, them IT I see the climax of jobs of engineers & Techs. Now ???? Throw-away types, Cost-effectiveness caused the lowest of demand in these lines; while the jobs in most necessary items like Automobiles will always be growing.

My son trained as machinist [also worked on CNC machines] got good job in UK.

Learned & worked in IT as well.

Got a good job as a machinist; firm was going to CNC machines and got good salary.

But just after 2 years industry in UK collapsed due to recession he lost the job and have to look to IT job. It ran well for sometime ... now he is on call basis.

Hope it is may reflect the condition of jobs on the whole.

Have a nice day !

If relocation is not a an issue, GE is always looking for trained machinists. They are now hiring only degreed machinists with a minimum of Associate's. You can find their web site and search for the many location in and out of the country where there are machinists positions available. As GE is an OEM, you may wish to search through its vendor base, as well. Although, they will not be a stable as GE. Through this financial difficulty affecting many sectors of our economy, Ge has been relatively unscathed in so far as lay-offs are concerned. As for pay: you can expect from $20/h to over $30/h depending on location. And, of course, there is always overtime. I hope this helps.

A footnote to the above. I don't know where you are as many other have stated, but My son I speak of has been at the trade for about 3 years now and is getting around $16.00 per hr.

I don't know where your figures come from but he started freshout of school at $11.00.

Thank you guys for your nice comment.my location is philippines if your a newly grad machinist without experience the basic salary was $1 per hr its sad but its true.now guys im 34 yrs old i handle conventional milling,lathe, drilling,grinding and also NC lathe machine and machining center . can i still find a company outhere for much higher salary.can u send me any website or compny address that i can apply for.By the way i need some suggestions we have a fanuc wirecut machine w/c is now under maintenance the main problem is whenever we we cut or process a metal normally tool steel we encounter some micro holes on the surface and the lower knozzle becomes hot after process and some lower ground cables burnout it seems their is a shortage on the system.we also ask fanuc to diagnose the problem but still they cant answer can u help me guys on this matter . hope to hear you soon thanks a lot.im still hoping that i can get better company in other country like yours thank you very much

I am sorry to say I have no information on that particular type of machine. I'll leave that to the experts.

I am very sorry that you wage base out there is so low. There are definately companies that would hire you based on your previous experience. However you may very well have to pay your own rel;ocation fees. If you Google machinist positions in the US the first hit up is this link.

http://www.careerjet.com/machinist-jobs.html

Give it a once over and you will find what a typical machinist requirement is. There are a variety of jobs to be had in the US if that where you want to be.

Good luck with your search.

I am in western NC...Murphy, specifically. The mfg industry has virtually disappeared from the area, and the few companies that are left, one of which I was employed by until March of last year, are simply not hiring. Or, in the case of the company I worked for, are bringing in temp workers, many of which were former employees, at $8 per hour. SO, I am looking over Asheville way, or even further east. I would like to stay close to the area, but as I progress in my search, this doesnt seem possible.

I have taken the advice of some of the former posters, and am looking at some of the smaller shops, because until now, I had limited my search to larger companies.

The small machine shop is the place to go if you truly love being a machinist. The big shops need to have tooling, fixtures, and gages made... where do you think they go?

If you need help finding a job in one of those shops, let me know, I use a lot of those shops and I'll send you in the right direction. They are always looking for a good machinist.

My cousin is a machinist, lives in East Tennesse, graduated from his machinist course over 30 years ago, has been been out of work only twice in the thirty year period, once when the company was turned over to a different contractor (govt work) and once when the union went out on strike. He makes more money than me, a degreed Electrical Engineer, hang in there there is a future out there.

Hi, I have run Machine shops and manufacturing plants in the UK for 28 years and I would have given anything for young competent men or women that could use cutting machines properly. I know lots of machine shops now run primarily CNC shops but if the setter has no real idea about cutting different metals, he is no use at all.

In the end I was employing some excellent Estonian engineers.

I have moved on now so can't actually offer any jobs but I know a few places in Hampshire that still need good machinists

I believe conventional machines still have their uses for prototype work and small batches where one needs flexibility.

I don't know where you are based but I hope you succeed in your chosen path.

Regards

Steve

Yes, Learn to write code for tool paths, make Tools, Dies, Jigs & Fixtures, short run special products and look for the gaps that exist in the CAD/CAM process so you can support the low paid automated manufacturing positions. Don't make the widget, make the machinery that makes the widget.

I certainly hope there will continue to be a need for machinsits!! I'm an Operations Director and worry that I might not be able to expand that capability in-house because I won't be able to find the talent. I lament the shrinking of this important technology sector over the past couple of decades by bone-headed, short-sighted executives looking for the 'easy fix' that offshore labor provided.

If you love the work then hang in there. (Too) many years back I started out as a tool and die apprentice with GE and, when faced with the option of staying with that or continuing on with the engineering degree (and later on, management), I chose the latter route. I often wonder if I'd have been happier sticking with it because I did so love the work! I have seldom derived the same level of satisfaction as when I could hold a part in my hand that I created from nothing more than a block of metal, a drawing and my own wits.

Anyway, I don't think it will ever go away completely and the remaining few who stick with it (and are good) will command higher and higher premiums. Plus, the knowledge base it provides will always serve you should you decide later to go into engineering or management or, run your own company as one respondent here did.

I wanted to take a moment to thank everyone for their encouragement and suggestions. I have been in the workforce for over 20 years, and I wish I had found machining much earlier in life. The idea of working a project from concept to finished product is something I have always wanted to do.

Thanks again for all the kind words.

There will always be a need for talented, creative machinists in this world.

While in college, I worked in a very small, non-CNC shop for a really old time machinist.

He was a genius at developing tooling and methods that allowed accurate machining with basic equipment. He always had projects and finally quit in his 80s.

The lesson I learned, was that turning the handles was not where the talent resided, but in planning the project to allow the best result. I took those lessons with me to a 30 year career as a buyer, ending up in Medical Devices.

My final company employed up to 14 R & D machinists, including a young kid right out of school. The better machinist were making $100 K, and earning it for the company.

Those talented men all worked at lousy production jobs in their early days and kept in touch, developing a network of trusted, talented professional friends. They were later drawn together at that company, and now are valued key emplyees in Medical Device Start-ups in Silicon Valley.

Not an overnight path to big money, but like in other endeavors,"The Cream rises to the Top!"

"ONLY a Machinist!"

Our company employed a talented group of R & D Machinists, who worked in all materials, and produced teeny tiny parts destined to work within the human blood vessel system.

The senior member of this group had been a long term Machine Shop/R&D process manager for Hewlett Packard during the 1970s,80s and 90s. HP was known for their total involvement in any process they used . If you wanted to learn about PCB manufacture, painting, plating or machine processes, they were the masters.

Bob, the machinist had lived through all of those years at HP and risen to the top .

We managed to convince him to spend a few years with us after his retirement from HP. His contributions to process improvement were immediate and his talents and views were valued by all the Machinists, engineers and management.

Early one morning while the machinist were having coffee in their shared cubicle, a bright young engineered stopped in to join in the casual conversation. The topic was automobiles.

A Mercedes model was mentioned, and Lou, the engineer asked whose car they were talking about. Bob responded that it was his wife's Mercedes Roadster that they were discussing. Lou then asked what Bob drove, which turned out to be an Acura coupe.

Lou was aghast ! "How can that be ? He gasped, "You're just a machinist !"

Lou might have just reached $50 K and drove a 300,000 mile Saturn while Bob was being paid a well earned $120 K ! )